20th Century FoxSince the acquisition of 20th Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company, the possibilities for in-house crossovers has gone through the roof.
And though it may be a while before we see Woody and Buzz in the next Star Wars film, or Timon and Pumbaa rubbing shoulders with the X-Men, it seems studios are already envisioning an expanded Marvel Cinematic Universe.
While we’ve seen various iterations of the Fantastic Four over the years, even one with a young Captain America as the Human Torch, none of them have really landed with audiences as much as their relatives in the MCU.
20th Century FoxAccording to reports however, it won’t be long until we see the Fantastic Four – the Human Torch, the Thing, the Invisible Woman, Mr Fantastic – joining their comrades in the MCU, as it seems Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios are planning another big screen outing for them in 2022.
The last time we saw the four fantastic friends was in 2015, when director Josh Trank tried to reboot the franchise with Miles Telling as Mr Fantastic, Kate Mara as the Invisible Woman, Jamie Bell as the Thing and Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm (before he became Erik Killmonger in Black Panther).
The film fell flatter than a silver surfboard however, but now the studios have merged, it’s rumoured Peyton Reed – who directed Ant-Man and the Wasp – is pitching ideas to reboot the series, according to ComicBook.
20th Century FoxThe Fantastic Four have always been a popular strand of Marvel Comics, however their outings on the big screen have never quite matched their comicbook status, partly due to the film rights being held by 20th Century Fox, thereby restricting the possibility to expand the franchise.
However, that could all change now 20th Century Fox and the MCU fall under Disney’s massive umbrella.
Speaking about the new possibilities between the studios, Peyton Reed told ComicBook:
Well, listen: as a fan, I certainly find that intriguing, because in the comics realm, the Fantastic Four are the crown jewels of the Marvel Universe. They are the first family of Marvel.
I think there is a version of Fantastic Four that has yet to be rendered in the movies that would really, really excite me, and I certainly think there are at least six different ways to introduce Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a really satisfying way.
20th Century FoxReed also spoke about one of his ideas for the film, which would set the reboot in the 1960s, and wouldn’t attempt to explain their origin story.
While Marvel haven’t confirmed the release of a new Fantastic Four film just yet, they’re set to release three films in 2022, which is expected to include Captain Marvel 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, so the third slot could well be Fantastic Four.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.