Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most impressive accomplishments of the modern era. It certainly hasn’t been without a hiccup or two — Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, in particular, is about five hiccups by itself — but the fact that Kevin Feige and co. not only dreamed up such an ambitious project but continue to make good on it to this day, deserves a tip of the hat.
But perhaps more impressive than the MCU itself is its fandom’s ability to dangerously flirt with theory singularity, which is to say that this fan base is famous for constructing every possible fan theory under the sun, and it may just get to a point where there will be nothing left to discuss, and if this latest theory from r/MarvelTheories is anything to go by, that point isn’t terribly far off.
With the Fantastic Four film slated for a 2025 release, fans from all over have been wondering just how Marvel’s first family will connect to the rest of the MCU mythos, and one user believes they’ll stitch up a small plot hole present in Avengers: Endgame. After Steve Rogers’ choice to remain in the 1940s after returning the Infinity Stones, he still shows up in the present-day timeline that we’re all familiar with, despite the fact that doing so would have led him to a completely different present day.
So how did he hop timelines? By recruiting the dimension-hopping Fantastic Four, if the original poster is to be believed.
Not everyone was convinced, of course; one user argued that He Who Remains allowed the older Steve Rogers access into the mainline present day as part of the Sacred Timeline.
Indeed, it looks like patience is going to be the name of the game when it comes to learning the MCU-specific nuances of the Four, because this doesn’t inspire much hope in the fandom’s ability to predict what they might be.
Fantastic Four will release to cinemas on Feb. 14, 2025.