A new rumor suggests how Marvel Studios will introduce the Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
At San Diego Comic-Con Kevin Feige confirmed the Fantastic Four would be joining the MCU. He told Variety, “I’m extremely excited about those characters and about bringing Marvel’s first family up to the level and platform that they deserve.”
Feige stated that they were not near casting as well as story.
Kevin Feige on bringing back #Marvel’s first family the Fantastic Four #SDCC https://t.co/KN7sAI9ED1 pic.twitter.com/IaQ6zsipdK
— Variety (@Variety) July 21, 2019
However, a new rumor out of Cosmic Book News indicates Marvel is tossing around at least one idea about how the Fantastic Four could be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
According to their source, The Fantastic Four already exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even operated alongside Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Wasp. However, they end up trapped in the Negative Zone. They somehow find a way to escape and arrive in the present day without having aged.
It will be similar to how Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man was trapped in the Quantum Realm for five years before being released by the mouse.
The idea of the Fantastic Four being time displaced and arriving in the modern day of the MCU is not new. YouTuber MovieBob pitched the idea of a time displaced Fantastic Four back in 2017. However, he theorized the Fantastic Four would be returning from 1961, and lauded the fan theory of Reed Richards being a cross between Tony Stark and Don Draper from Mad Men.
The Negative Zone and the Big Bad
Cosmic Book News does some speculation of their own based off their source’s inclusion of the Negative Zone. They speculate that the film could introduce the next big bad into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that big bad would be Annihilus.
The cosmic powered Annihilus was first introduced in Fantastic Four Annual #6 in 1968. He’s quite often depicted as the ruler of the Negative Zone and enacts his will with the use of his Cosmic Control Rod. In fact, in the Fantastic Four’s first encounter with Annihilus they steal his Cosmic Control Rod and use it to heal Susan Storm during her pregnancy. While, they do return his Cosmic Control Rod, it starts the beginning of a famed rivalry.
The Fantastic Four would confront Annihilus on a number of occasions especially when he attempted to invade Earth.
If Marvel Studios does decide to go the route of Annihilus, it will be a departure from previous film adaptations which usually see the team taking on Dr. Doom before facing cosmic entities.
At this point though, there was nothing at SDCC other than a mention of the Fantastic Four. So all of this falls under nerdy speculation. Let’s hope that D23 in August can shed more light on some of these upcoming projects.
What do you think about doing the time-displaced hero storyline with the Fantastic Four? Who should be the next big-bad teased in Marvel films going forward? Sound off in the comments below or let’s talk about it on social media!