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Insider teases exciting developments for Marvel’s Fantastic Four and X-Men projects

Published May 7th, 2020 7:31AM EDT
Marvel Studios
Image: Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Shutterstock

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  • A Marvel insider who shared accurate Endgame plot details before the movie launched is back with new information about the future of the MCU.
  • The leaker said on Twitter that Fantastic Four and X-Men will not be based on the central universe in the MCU.
  • Furthermore, the insider said that actors John Krasinski and Giancarlo Esposito are in talks with Marvel for leading roles.
  • Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is going to get even more exciting in Phase 4, as Marvel will likely place all sorts of events, characters, and Easter eggs in these movies and TV series that will pave the way for the arrival of the heroes you were dying to see in Avengers movies. The X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool will all make their MCU debut in the coming years, thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox. Only the Deadpool franchise will remain as it is, while both X-Men and Fantastic Four will be rebooted in the years to come. The latter is one of the highly anticipated Marvel movies, one that Marvel already confirmed it’s in the making. Kevin Feige name-dropped the project during the initial MCU Phase 4 reveal last July, without providing any details about it. Since then, we’ve witnessed an increased interest in the film as more and more rumors kept saying that John Krasinski and Emily Blunt will play two of the leading roles in the movie. Krasinski said he’d want to do it and teased the project as recently as a few weeks ago, but Marvel is yet to announce anything. However, an insider who provided plenty of details about Marvel’s plans in the past, including Endgame plot elements that proved to be correct, is back with an exciting revelation about Fantastic Four.

Roger Wardell is the mysterious Marvel insider that surprised fans last year with Avengers 4 details that turned out to be correct. He would reveal this information in quick bursts on Twitter before going silent for days or weeks. The person stopped tweeting at some point last year, but a new Wardell Twitter account surfaced a few weeks ago. Like the old one, the new account is filled with MCU information.

As with any leaks, there’s no way of verifying any of the information the new Wardell account offers, especially during the times of the coronavirus. The entire world has been on pause, practicing various forms of social distancing. The entertainment industry has been hit directly, as cinemas and theaters are closed and productions on new movies and TV shows are on hold. It’ll be quite a while until we can tell whether new-Wardell’s leaks are accurate. But they’re still worth investigating.

https://twitter.com/WardellRoger/status/1258040426159837184

One of his newest tweets tackles both Fantastic Four and X-Men, revealing a few interesting details. “MCU’s Fantastic Four and X-Men will be primarily based on their Earth-1610 counterparts,” the leaker says. “John Krasinski and Giancarlo Esposito in talks to portray the leading roles. Ultimatum WILL NOT be adapted to the MCU.”

First of all, the fact that Fantastic Four and X-Men will be based on their Earth-1610 counterparts is a great premise. As a reminder, the MCU happens in the primary reality of Marvel, Earth-616. If Wardell’s data is accurate, then Marvel might have a great way of explaining why there are no mutants or the first family in the MCU so far. Not to mention that in Earth-1610 all the other Avengers may still be alive and ready for action. That’s if Marvel plans to somehow bring Iron Man back for a significant Avengers adventure, as some reports speculate.

The fact that John Krasinski is said to be in talks to play leading roles is also an exciting detail for all the fans who want the Office star to portray Mr. Fantastic in the MCU.

But the inclusion of Giancarlo Esposito in that tweet is also fascinating. If Krasinski is related to Marvel’s Fantastic Four project, then Esposito would be linked to X-Men, according to the way Wardell formulated his tweet. It’s unclear who Esposito would play in the MCU, but I will remind you of a rumor that said that at least one of the leading X-Men in the MCU will be a person of color. In other words, Esposito may end up playing Magneto or Professor X — again, if new-Wardell is the same Marvel insider, and if the information is accurate.

We’d expect Fantastic Four and X-Men to debut at some point in Phase 5, although it’s unclear when Marvel will announce those projects given the current coronavirus health crisis.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.