Earlier this year, the Disney/Fox deal finally came into effect, giving Marvel Studios a treasure chest of new comic book properties to play with. And while a lot of folks are understandably eager to see what Kevin Feige and his team do with the X-Men, just as many people are excited to see the Fantastic Four enter the MCU. Including Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo.
Speaking in a recent interview, the filmmaker was asked about all the new properties that Marvel Studios recently acquired and admitted that he doesn’t know exactly what Feige has planned, but insisted that the Four are due for a movie – and not one that sucks, like all the others have.
“We don’t know what Kevin’s plans are. He’s been very specific about just ending the Infinity Saga,” Joe said. “But Fantastic Four needs a definitive movie at some point.”
The director’s absolutely right and you could even argue that it’s more important to get Reed Richards and co. into the MCU first before the X-Men make their way over. After all, Fox’s take on the mutant saga still has a few entries left to go, with Dark Phoenix arriving on June 7th of this year, before The New Mutants makes its debut on April 3rd, 2020.
After that, it’s likely that Marvel will want to give the franchise at least a few years of downtime before they begin recasting, which means it’d make sense to focus their attention on the Fantastic Four first. Especially since the team hasn’t made their way to theaters since Josh Trank’s 2015 disaster.
What’s also interesting to note is that Marvel Comics has now re-launched their line of Fantastic Four books, which may indicate that Feige and co. already have firm plans in place for the team. Or it could just be a coincidence. In any case, it’s clear that the studio intends on doing something with the property in the near future and with any luck, they’ll be able to deliver a definitive movie for Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm.