Fantastic Four is one of the most anticipated movies of the Multiverse Saga, right up there with the upcoming Avengers movies, Deadpool 3, and Spider-Man 4. Yet Marvel isn’t ready to spill any details about the most important aspect of the Fantastic Four reboot: the cast. That might change soon, as Kevin Feige has just teased the importance of the Fantastic Four team in the larger cinematic universe.
Apparently, the Fantastic Four team will be a big pillar of the MCU going forward. And the sooner Marvel unveils the cast, the better. Before we proceed, know that some spoilers might follow below.
Ahead of the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania premiere this week, Kevin Feige spoke about the future of the MCU beyond Ant-Man 3 in a wide-ranging interview with Entertainment Weekly.
That’s where he dropped a big spoiler about Harrison Ford’s Thunderbolt Ross character. Feige confirmed rumors that Secretary Ross will become President Ross in Captain America: New World Order.
This should be an exciting development if done correctly. After all, Marvel is about to turn the US President into Red Hulk, who is more of a villain than a superhero. Even without the transformation, President Ross isn’t exactly a friend to the Avengers.
Kevin Feige’s Fantastic Four teasers
Feige also talked about Fantastic Four, a point he brought up himself as if the high-ranking Marvel exec needed to address this particular topic.
“Well, we talked a little bit about Secret Wars. We talked about Kang Dynasty as related to Quantumania,” he said. “The only other one in terms of me personally and my 23-year history is the Fantastic Four. We sort of talked about mutants and that whole aspect to the Marvel world, but Fantastic Four is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics.”
It certainly seems like Feige came prepared for the interview with this particular talking point in mind.
“There’s certainly been versions of it [on screen], but never inhabiting the storytelling of the MCU,” he said. “And that’s something that is really exciting for us. People will start to hear more about that soon. We plan on that being a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they’ve been in the comics for 50 or 60 years.”
When will the Fantastic Four arrive?
That sounds exciting, but we can’t help but wonder how Marvel will turn the Fantastic Four into one of the MCU pillars by taking this long to introduce them. Forget about unveiling the cast that will play the first family. The Fantastic Four should appear in the MCU before the Fantastic Four reboot. As a reminder, the movie is slated to drop on February 14th, 2025.
One of the problems with the MCU Phase 4 is that Marvel dragged its feet before making any meaningful Avengers connections. That’s one of the biggest criticisms about the execution of Phase 4. Marvel has been telling individual superhero stories without providing more connections to the Avengers. But there’s absolutely no trace of the Fantastic Four in the MCU.
It’ll be interesting to see how Marvel will turn the Fantastic Four into a pillar of the MCU without having them appear in any movies or TV shows before their own movie. It seems an even more daunting task if the Fantastic Four don’t show up anywhere before 2025.
Of course, Marvel hasn’t been able to use the team in the first few phases of the MCU because Fox had the rights to the characters. But those reverted to Disney in 2019 when it acquired the Fox studio. And we’ve been waiting for the Fantastic Four reboot ever since.
Still, Kevin Feige’s specific Fantastic Four mention is important. Maybe the Fantastic Four cast announcement is indeed coming soon, as the movie gets closer to production. And maybe we’ll see them appear in some of the upcoming MCU attractions before the Fantastic Four movie premieres on February 14th, 2025.
