Among the bulging Phases Five and Six announcements dropped during Marvel’s big presentation at July’s Comic-Con was the much-anticipated Fantastic Four reboot. While the House of Ideas seems to be taking its time with the X-Men, it’s clear that it’s already time to reboot the First Family on the big-screen after Fox failed to properly capitalize on the team’s iconic status in the superhero sphere.
Nonetheless, viewers are extremely familiar with the Fantastic Four thanks to the three movies released by Fox across the 2000s and the 2010s — and, remember, there was that unreleased low-budget effort from the 1990s, too. So Marvel’s going to need to work hard to find a new take on the material. But, does this mean that we’re in for yet another origins story?
With the reboot not due out until fall 2024, it’s far too early for plot details to have emerged, so we’re left to speculate: Will the fourth Fantastic Four reform the four for the fourth time?
What has Kevin Feige said?
We just got a big clue as to the direction the film will go in at Comic-Con, with a brief comment from Marvel president Kevin Feige delivering some news that will no doubt please fans. If we’re reading between the lines correctly here, it seems that Feige has confirmed that his Fantastic Four will NOT be an origins story like 2005’s effort and the infamous 2015 remake.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Feige at SDCC and he had something to say about the challenge of redoing Reed Richards and co. in the MCU. Here’s what he teased:
“A lot of people know this origin story. A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before? We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.”
Note that Feige specifically says that people “know this origin story” and then maintains that the new movie will deliver “something that they’ve never seen before.” In other words, much like Spider-Man: Homecoming skipped retelling Peter Parker’s backstory yet again, the next FF flick will do much the same and jump to when the gang already have their powers.
So what will the Fantastic Four‘s story be?
So, if Fantastic Four isn’t going to be an origins story, then what story will it be? Everything about the project is up in the air at the moment, with even the director’s chair being vacant since Jon Watts exited the project earlier this year, but we can potentially infer something about the film’s plot if we, just for the moment, assume that John Krasinski really is our new Mr. Fantastic.
Following his cameo in Doctor Strange 2, The Office star is the hot favorite to lead the FF reboot, with the actor maybe even letting this slip in a recent talk show appearance. Well, if that is the case, then his role in Multiverse of Madness may have hinted at how the Four will be depicted in the MCU. It’s possible the film might jump right into Reed and Sue not just as a married couple, but as parents too.
In MoM, Krasinski’s Reed talks about his own children, alluding to Franklin and Valeria Richards from the comics. Obviously, this Reed hailed from Earth-838, but other inhabitants resembled their 616 counterparts in key ways so there’s nothing stopping the mainline Mr. Fantastic from being a dad, too. Especially as establishing the Richards dynasty is key to the franchise’s next big event.
As comics readers will know, Kang’s real name is Nathaniel Richards, making him a likely descendant of Reed. With Kang serving as Phase Five and Six’s big bad, it’d make sense to emphasize the connection between the villain and his Richards lineage. So, Fantastic Four might open with the gang as long-in-the-tooth heroes with kids of their own.
Again, this is just speculation, but introducing Franklin and Valeria — maybe even alluding to everyone’s favorite unofficial FF film, The Incredibles, in the process — would be something audiences haven’t seen before, much like Feige promised.
Fantastic Four hits cinemas on Nov. 8, 2024.