How MCU’s Fantastic Four Will be Different From Past Versions

Kevin Feige, head of Marvel Studios, recently discussed the next Fantastic Four film and how it would differ from past versions. Little is known about

By Mabel Judith Andrady
August 14,2022
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Kevin Feige, head of Marvel Studios, recently discussed the next Fantastic Four film and how it would differ from past versions. Little is known about the film now, other than that the legendary superhero quartet will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

MCU’s Fantastic Four Will be Different

In 2019, when Disney purchased Fox, Marvel Studios gained the rights to the Fantastic Four. The film received negative reviews and bombed at the box office. The Hollywood Reporter first reported how the upcoming adaptation would differ from previous efforts: it will not be an origin narrative.

“A lot of people know this origin story. A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before? We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.”

Many projects, including the upcoming Fantastic Four film, were mentioned during the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con. Two additional phases of movies and shows are in the works from Marvel, with two new Avengers flicks making up Phase Six. Feige also used the opportunity to answer a question plaguing Marvel fans ever since the premiere of Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

Avoiding The Old Narrative

While it may seem counterproductive to bring the Fantastic Four film into the MCU without retelling the team’s origin narrative, the studio has already demonstrated why doing so is unnecessary. Kevin Feige has recently said that the studio is working on something entirely new for the fans to experience. Given that Marvel’s next project won’t be centered on the origins of the Fantastic Four, a wide variety of approaches to the heroes’ first cinematic outing are now possible.

MCU's Fantastic 4
Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four film, which will kick off Phase 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is scheduled for release on November 8, 2024. Six films and six television shows will have premiere between now and then, providing enough time for characters like Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and The Thing to make surprising debuts in the MCU.

Bringing In The Fantastic Four In The MCU

After the MCU’s Fantastic Four film is completed, Marvel will be able to focus more on telling a compelling tale and less on introducing new characters. In addition, if a specific theory concerning Ms. Marvel is correct, Marvel may be tempted to debut the Fantastic Four during Phase 5. If Kamala Khan’s bangle is a Nega-Band, then significant foes usually connected with the Fantastic Four may appear in The Marvels and other Phase 5 films and TV series.

Fantastic Four In The MCU
Fantastic Four In The MCU Imagined

There were no unforgettable performances in the previous Fantastic Four films, and Marvel surely wants to get it right this time. However, Marvel has time to honor earlier Fantastic Four iterations before revealing the individuals who will ultimately play those parts, as seen by John Krasinski’s Reed Richards appearance in Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness. Before their first big adventure together in the Fantastic Four movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it will be fascinating to see where Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing appear individually.

Ignoring The Origin Could Be A Mistake

That being said, ScreenRant believes it would be a terrible misstep for a significant Marvel franchise to ignore the formation of the superhero team. Spider-Man’s origin tale has previously been presented twice, and both films were well-received by reviewers and fans alike. When the Marvel Cinematic Universe ignored the origin of their Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming, audiences were happy to have avoided watching yet another instance of Peter Parker getting acclimated to his new abilities and accidentally causing the death of Uncle Ben via selfish acts.

The only real issue with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on Spider-Man is that, by omitting his backstory, he failed to deliver the same “with great power come great responsibility” message that the first two films in the series did. By resetting the plot with a new origin story and without skipping over the Fantastic Four’s defining characteristics, the Marvel Cinematic Universe may avoid repeating its error with the Spider-Man origin with the Fantastic Four adaptation.

Even if the Fantastic Four’s three previous film adaptations have all failed to portray one of Marvel’s most recognizable trademarks adequately, it’s still worth it to recount their origin tale once more if doing so would result in a film that does justice to the source material.