The MCU’sFantastic Fourmovie is still a long way off, but it’s one of the upcoming franchise movies with the most potential to shake up the MCU. The film will open Phase 6, and that position on the calendar is significant. Bookending a new Phase usually means the movie either has some big conclusive event or will introduce interesting information to kick off the new story arc.
Update June 12, 2025: This article has been updated with more reasons why Marvel fans should be excited about the Fantastic Four in the MCU.
Beyond that, Kevin Feige revealed thatFantastic Fourwill not be an origin story, which has cross-title implications. No matter what executive decisions Disney chooses to make concerning the film, they’ll be dealing with one of the most important titles in Marvel Comics. The Fantastic Four are traditionally known as Marvel’s “First Family” and have held a revered position in the Marvel canon since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created them in 1961. In the comics, they stand alongside the Avengers and X-Men as one of the universe’s most powerful groups of heroes. With mainstays like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers gone, The Fantastic Four could be the new lynchpins of the cinematic universe.
How The Fantastic Four Might Be Introduced
What we know about theFantastic Fourreboot isn’t much. The movie is still a long way off, and only very vague, generalized plans have been made. It’s difficult even to draw conclusions based on the comics because the movie will not be an origin story, and there are many projects scheduled between now and 2025. But the MCU has already shown us one variant of Reed Richards – even if he did get spaghettified five minutes after he showed up. And there are a couple of ways Marvel can bring a character into the MCU without an origin story based on what they did in the past.
Related:Fantastic 4: What Went Wrong With the 2015 Reboot?
InThe Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord wasn’t given an origin story. Yes, you found out the truth about his past, at least part of it, but the movie wasn’t about where these individual heroes came from. It was about how they came together to form the Guardians.Fantastic Fourmight not be done in such a way since they’re a family, and they’ve always been together. But we were told about Star-Lord (and all the other characters) with one quick intro scene, and The Fantastic Four mightcome into the MCUin a similar way, with a plot too big to spend time introducing them.
Black Panther was also introduced without an origin story. Or rather, his origin story was attached toCaptain America: Civil War. After that, when T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) got his own movie,Black Pantherwas able to tell the self-contained story of Wakanda when we were already acquainted with the hero, the Black Panther.Fantastic Fourmight do something similar, showing us bits of them in other ensemble films or post-credits scenes so that audiences are familiar with the family before getting their big-screen story at thestart of Phase 6.
Reed Richards Could Be the New Tony Stark
Iron Manhad an interesting position in the MCU. Not only did it launch the entire franchise, but the character had the ego of a leading man in movies likeAvengers,which had numerous other heroes in them. While he and Captain America (Chris Evans) had the most prominent leadership roles in the Avengers, Tony Stark and Robert Downey Jr. had the advantage of taking the role to a meta-level.
Where Captain America’s character was humble, RDJ could mimic Tony Stark’s personality with the loud, raucous behavior he was already known for in the real world. So, while Captain America may have been the leader of the Avengers on paper, Iron Man had a greater stage presence by miles and was seen by most fans as the central figure of the MCU franchise.
Now that there is no Iron Man, none of the Avengers, or other top-tier heroes, have stepped in to fill his power vacuum. To be fair, there is no hero quite like Tony Stark. But each of the biggest names in the MCU (Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Thor) is either involved with their own lives or doesn’t have the strength of character to step up to the plate, so to speak.
Reed Richards of The Fantastic Fouris just about the only new character with a universal perspective and the leadership potential that Tony Stark once had. The Fantastic Four have traditionally been at the forefront of Marvel Comics, and now we might see them lead the MCU. Reed Richards is often dubbed the smartest man alive and could become a focal point for many corners of the Marvel Universe. Many characters could go to him for help, making him and the Fantastic Four very vital to the rest of the franchise.
The Leading Role of Marvel’s First Family
In the grand scope of everything representing the Marvel Universe, The Fantastic Four bring a lot to the table. It’s a shame Marvel’s first family wasn’t with Marvel Studios since their inception. In the hands of a competent, creative team, there is so much to get from their lore, especially when it comes to antagonists. The Fantastic Four have some of the most colorful and unique rogue galleries in comic books, and their adventures are on the universal and extra-dimensional field. Much of the concepts and characters closely associated with or introduced in Fantastic Fourhave already been brought into the MCUin some way, shape, or form, from Black Panther to Namor to even Uatu the Watcher and the Skrulls. While much of the team’s mythology has been utilized elsewhere, the team still creates a lot of interesting narrative avenues.
Since Kevin Feige has decided to introduce them as an established team, and flashbacks have shown super-powered humans active in the past way before Iron Man, it wouldn’t feel unnatural to have the team acquire their powers in the recent past, similar to what happened with Carol Danvers. Putting their focus to grow as industrialists can be beneficial, especially since Reed makes a living by being an accomplished inventor in the Marvel Universe. Saying The Fantastic Four have been around for a while doesn’t sound too out there; only Ben Grimm’s backstory would be affected as the character’s unique look would have brought attention to him.
However, when it comes to antagonists, there are simply too many characters to be used on such a grand scale.Dr. Doom is the ultimate Fantastic Four nemesis, but this character has so many layers of complexity that it would be a selfish choice to relegate him to a single storyline. The same can be said for Galactus.The world devourer has a looming presencethat can’t be understated or relegated to a single film. These villains command such a fierce presence that they could be lead antagonists for a complete phase or even a saga.
A Very Different Superhero Dynamic
The MCU is filled with incredible heroes who make up wonderful teams. Yet The Fantastic Four offer something very unique in terms of the other entries: they are just a normal everyday family. Despite their fantastic powers, at the end of the day, they are a family. While concepts of found family have been planted throughout the MCU, from The Avengers to Guardians of the Galaxy, there is something unique about the Fantastic Four. The Avengers are more like work friends, and theGuardians of the Galaxy are a found family. Yet the Fantastic Four has a unique bond that connects them all. No matter what, they cannot be broken apart. They may leave from time to time, but they always come back together.
Related:Rise of the Silver Surfer: How Fox Mismanaged a Great Fantastic Four Story
The MCU heroes have always been relatable, but they also have become more fantastical. Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel are dealing with large-scale problems, and their off time is almost unknown. Yet while Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben will go off into other dimensions to explore, they will still bicker about money or what to do for dinner. They have real problems, which make a great contrast to the larger science fiction stories going on around them. This is a level of relatability that made the Marvel heroes popular in the first place and has audiences returning to heroes like Spider-Man or Ms. Marvel.
Key To Secret Wars
Fantastic Fourwill kick off Phase 6, and the phase will end withAvengers: Secret Wars.Secret Warsis the title of two major comic book events, but with the emphasis on the multiverse, it is clear the film will be an adaptation of 2015’sSecret Wars. That storyline saw various multiverses collide, and Doctor Doom put them back together as one composite universe. The only one who could stop him was Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four.
Despite being a massive Marvel crossover comic event,Secret Warswas also very much a Fantastic Four story. At the time, it seemed like the last Fantastic Four storyline for a while as it was released in 2015 after Marvel decided to cancel their comic due to not owning the film rights to the characters and not wanting to promote the 2015 reboot.
WithAvengers: Secret Warsbeing a film, it will unite various corners of the MCU. Yet what makes it interesting now is that the story arriving so close to the Fantastic Four entering the MCU means the story changes. Where the comic was sort of farewell to heroes for a time, this could be their big grand introduction. Their solo film might be self-contained, but they will be key players inAvengers: Secret Warsandmaking them the new faces of the MCU moving forward. Just when it appears Marvel fatigue might be setting in, a group of legendary fan-favorite heroes arrives to take center stage and show that the MCU still has plenty to offer and has only scratched the surface.
