With Spider-Man: Homecoming coming out this past weekend I think its time we revisit the topic of The Fantastic Four joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fox has done a moderate job handling the series; with two and a half of the three films they released being pretty watchable. There is an unreleased original film from the 1990s, but it is best not to mention that mess. Clearly though, The Fantastic Four is a property that Fox could use a little help with. Fox is currently doing very well with their X-Men franchise and they should stick with that. The best bet for them financially, in regards to The Fantastic Four, is to broker a deal with Marvel/Disney to allow their characters to appear in the MCU. The deal has worked out very well for Sony and Spider-Man and could work out just as well for Fox. Also, the plethora of characters that would come with bringing The Fantastic Four into the MCU would be a fan’s dream come true.
Marvel Studios Chief, Kevin Feige, recently spoke to AlloCine (via Newsarama) about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where the Fantastic Four happened to come up.
“We have no plans with the Fantastic Four right now. No discussions about it.”
I would take those comments with a grain of salt, and here’s why. It is very normal for a studio chief, such as Feige, to make those comments. Even if he was working on a deal, he may not be allowed to say anything about it. Also, if they truly are not working on a deal, then it doesn’t mean that a future deal cannot be made.
If the studios did manage to work together, they could potentially make a great film. There are things that each of the studios does very well, and bringing those minds together would be beneficial to The Fantastic Four franchise. We have seen that Fox knows how to cast great actors in their Fantastic Four films, even if said films are not as critically praised as Fox would like. Two of their Human Torches have even been cast in the MCU. I still think Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan did fantastic jobs as Johnny Storm (no pun intended). Check out the images below.
In addition, the characters that would be introduced to the MCU would be phenomenal. The most wanted being the villain Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom. Like T’Challa/Black Panther, Doom is the king of a technologically advanced country secluded from the world. Unlike T’Challa, however, Victor is a ruthless dictator, ruling Latveria with a literal iron fist. Even though I enjoyed Julian McMahon’s version of Doctor Doom in the 2005 and 2007 films, a lot of fans did not. Even less liked is Toby Kebbell’s version in the 2015 film, which I agree was horrible. They never delved into the character deep enough to explore his royal roots and his villainy. Bringing Doctor Doom to the MCU would bring a great caliber villain that the MCU is lacking. I know Feige has stated before that their stories are meant to focus on the heroes, but it is never too late to make a change. Not only is Doctor Doom a challenge for The Fantastic Four, but also, he would be a formidable foe for the Avengers.
Another formidable foe or ally to come from the deal would be a herald of Galactus, known as The Silver Surfer. The Guardians of the Galaxy films have already set up the Marvel Cosmic Universe and The Silver Surfer would fit right into that world. I don’t see him getting his own film, but he would easily be a supplementary character, like Vision or Scarlet Witch. His inclusion in the MCU would be great for any cosmic or earthbound story. Lastly, with the possibility that the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy will defeat Thanos in the Fourth Avengers film, there should be a new Big Bad to take his place. Galactus would be the obvious choice to fill that position if The Fantastic Four did join the MCU. This planet devouring Celestial is even more powerful than Thanos.
It just makes a lot of sense for Fox and Marvel to make this deal. Spider-Man: Homecoming opened to $117,027,503 its opening weekend, which is great, when compared to the $91,608,337 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 made its opening weekend. We have seen more elements of the cosmic universe brought forth in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. We have seen Tony Stark selling Avengers Tower (hopefully to the Leland Baxter Paper Company) in Spider-Man: Homecoming. We know that the next phase in the MCU will be Phase 4. It all makes perfect sense to me to introduce Marvel’s first family in the upcoming phase of films. Only time will tell, I guess. Phase 4 starts with the Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel in 2019.
