Since Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced in 2019 that they were planning to introduce the Fantastic Four into the MCU in some way, fans have been eagerly waiting to hear how they would make their appearance. Finally, in December 2020, Feige announced that the company was working on a feature film about the Fantastic Four, directed by Jon Watts. More information is yet to come, but fans have been speculating, theorizing, and fan-casting.
While it's their first time in the MCU, this will not be the first time that the Fantastic Four have come to the big screen. Other than a famously campy independent film about the superhero team from 1994, they were first seen on film in 2005's Fantastic Four. The movie starred Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Susan Storm, Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm, and Captain America star Chris Evans as Johnny Storm. Despite poor reviews, the film did well enough at the box office to earn a sequel with the same cast, Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer.
In 2015, there was a new Fantastic Four, this time with a slightly younger main cast; Miles Teller starred as Reed Richards, Kate Mara as Susan Storm, Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm, and Black Panther's Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm. This darker and more serious film was even more poorly received than the previous films, which are now largely seen as not fantastic, but at least enjoyable and fun to watch. With this history, the MCU is now left with a challenge: how do they make the new Fantastic Four stand out, in a positive way, from the rest?
Use Different Villains
Doctor Doom is undoubtedly the most well-known villain of the Fantastic Four. He was the primary villain of both 2005's and 2015's Fantastic Four movies and was tied into the origin stories of the characters. Therefore, an easy way for the MCU's Fantastic Four to stand out from the others would be to use a villain other than Doctor Doom, at least for the initial film. A different villain would avoid even more comparisons to the previous films.
There are several other well-known villains in the Fantastic Four comics. Some of the most well-known include alien supervillain Annihilus, former Skrull soldier Super-Skrull, and human scientist turned villain Mole Man. Any of these characters could work within the established Marvel Universe. Another well-known nemesis of the Fantastic Four is Kang the Conqueror, who has recently been confirmed to be appearing in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania, played by actor Jonathan Majors. If he survives that film, he could easily also become a villain for Marvel's Fantastic Four.
Don't Make It An Origin Story
Both of the first films in previous iterations of the Fantastic Four were origin stories. They introduced the characters as they were before they got their powers, and how they gained those powers and learning to use them in order to fight their first villain made up the bulk of the films. Since most audiences have already seen the origin story of the Fantastic Four on screen before, not including it would set the MCU film apart from the pack.
This would not be new for director Jon Watts, who directed Spider-Man: Homecoming. The MCU's Spider-Man was also the third to be seen on screen in recent years, and not making his first solo film his origin story turned out to be extremely successful. The Fantastic Four could, like Peter Parker, be introduced in a smaller appearance in another Marvel film. They could also simply be introduced in their own film as already having their powers and being relatively established as a team.
Tie Their Origins More Into The MCU
If the MCU wants to keep their Fantastic Four an origin story, it could stand out from the rest by being more grounded in the established Marvel Universe. This would not require a major change from their basic origin story. Originally, the Fantastic Four are transformed through cosmic radiation from a storm in space. An MCU "twist" could involve making an Infinity stone or another known energy the root cause of the cosmic storm.
The backgrounds of the characters could be directly linked to established MCU characters, such as making Reed Richards a former scientific rival to Bruce Banner or a competitor of Stark Industries. If introducing the characters as established superheroes, as previously discussed, the Fantastic Four could be shown to have spent time in space on planets seen in Guardians of the Galaxy after discovering their powers. This would also help explain why they hadn't been involved in previous events.
Involve an Established Character
The biggest thing that already makes the MCU's Fantastic Four stand out is obvious: it's part of the MCU. Audiences have never seen the superhero team interact with other major Marvel characters on the big screen. Involving established MCU characters in the film would help make it absolutely clear that these characters, unlike previous movies, are directly tied to the other Marvel films.
While the team themselves should obviously be the focal point of the film, even a few scenes of an existing character would be exciting for audiences and help tie the film into the MCU. With so little known about plans for the Fantastic Four film, it's hard to judge what characters' involvement would make most sense. If Kang The Conqueror is used as the villain, then Ant-Man could make an appearance. Doctor Strange could also be a viable option, as he and the concept of the multiverse promise to be a big part of the next Marvel phase. This kind of involvement would certainly make the MCU's Fantastic Four stand out from its predecessors.
Fantastic Four is currently in development.