This is the Marvel ‘Fantastic Four’ news we’ve been waiting for

One of the most highly anticipated movies of Marvel’s MCU Phase 4 is Fantastic Four. Fox wasted its chance to successfully reboot the film a few years before Disney acquired Fox, bringing the rights back under Marvel’s control. Kevin Feige confirmed in late July 2019 that Fantastic Four projects are in the works, but he didn’t reveal any details at the time. More than a year later, in mid-December 2020, Feige gave fans the first official Fantastic Four detail. He announced that Jon Watts will helm the project without disclosing other information about the movie. Watts is the director of the MCU’s Spider-Man movies, with No Way Home set to hit theaters in less than three months.

The wait for Fantastic Four news has been worth it, however. We got plenty of great new Marvel stories to pass the time. And now, a leaker claims that Marvel might soon answer our biggest Fantastic Four question.

Fantastic Four release date rumors

We know the complete MCU Phase 4 schedule through 2023, so the Fantastic Four movie can’t hit theaters sooner than 2023. More recently, Disney announced Marvel’s release schedule through 2024, revealing new release dates for unannounced Marvel projects. As it stands now, we might get five MCU movies in 2023 and another four in 2024.

Two of the 2023 dates are already taken, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 scheduled for February 17th and May 5th, respectively. This leaves us with no fewer than seven Marvel release dates that are unaccounted for. One of them is bound to be Fantastic Four, and the most recent rumors suggest that the film might premiere on July 28th, 2023.

But the Fantastic Four release date isn’t even our biggest question about this particular project.

Who will play the Fantastic Four?

In December, Feige only revealed the Fantastic Four director, saying nothing about the film’s cast members. For months, fans have urged Marvel to consider husband and wife John Krasinski and Emily Blunt to play Reed Richard and Sue Storm. We’ve yet to find out whether Marvel had any success negotiating with the pair. Or whether Marvel even wanted them to begin with. We certainly saw plenty of denials from the two actors, especially Blunt.

Well, if I'm right, by the end of this year we will know more about Fantastic Four. Not later than the middle of next year. Even if they say no, we're close to finding out the names. Any solid info about it, I will update you on.

— Main Middle Man (@mainmiddleman) September 21, 2021

A leaker familiar with Marvel’s plans posted an update on Twitter claiming that Marvel might soon reveal the Fantastic Four cast. The person goes by the name Main Middle Man on Twitter, where they regularly post updates about unreleased Marvel projects. Here’s what they had to say about Fantastic Four:

Well, if I’m right, by the end of this year we will know more about Fantastic Four. Not later than the middle of next year. Even if they say no, we’re close to finding out the names. Any solid info about it, I will update you on.

Marvel will release Fantastic Four in theaters in mid-2023 at the earliest. That’s assuming it sticks to whatever release plans it might have, and the pandemic doesn’t ruin the current shooting schedule. That means Fantastic Four production has to start at some point next year, so the film can make its release date. As a result, Marvel will surely want to announce the big names joining the Avengers as the Fantastic Four.

Given that we’re nearing 2022, the leaker’s prediction makes a lot of sense. But we’ll have to wait at least a few more months for any big Fantastic Four news.