Next year, it’s expected that the long-awaited Black Widow solo movie will serve as the first entry in the MCU’s Phase 4, and while Marvel Studios is mostly keeping quiet on the project, various reports have already given us a pretty good idea of the cast we can expect.
Last month, for instance, we learned that David Harbour of Stranger Things and Hellboy fame will be making his franchise debut in Cate Shortland’s upcoming flick. So far, the actor has generally remained tight-lipped on his involvement, but in a recent panel at the MCM London Comic Con, Harbour just might have teased the identity of his character.
Though the star didn’t offer a direct confirmation, he did refer to his role as a “thing,” and offered the following, potentially loaded comment:
“I’m glad this thing is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe”.
According to Advanced Television, Harbour may have been hinting that his role will be none other than The Thing of Fantastic Four fame. And to the theory’s credit, it’s hard to imagine many fans objecting to this casting choice.
That being said, you may want to hold out for further evidence before getting your hopes up. After all, the script for Black Widow was in the works long before the Disney/Fox merger came into effect. Then again, it was reported back in February that the movie was undergoing rewrites that would delay production to June. And while the story broke over a month before Disney acquired the rights to The Thing, feel free to speculate that Marvel Studios was thinking ahead.
In any case, it’s surely only a matter of when rather than if the Fantastic Four are brought into the MCU, be it in Black Widow or their own standalone film. In the meantime, Marvel’s Phase 3 comes to a close with the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 2nd.