During last month's San Diego Comic-Con, we learned that the Fantastic Four reboot will be released in theaters on November 8, 2024. Following Marvel Studios' momentous Hall H panel, Kevin Feige even shared some new details, confirming that we won't be getting yet another origin story.
"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?" he said, revealing that the MCU will take a different approach to introducing Marvel's First Family. "We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen."
What we've never really seen is a fully formed version of this team, and we believe Marvel Studios is right to skip the origin story.
We break down why that is in this feature before also sharing some predictions and thoughts on how the early days of Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, The Thing, and the Human Torch could still be important down the line. So, to take a look through this breakdown, all you guys need to do is click the "Next" button below!
The Chance To Avoid Past Mistakes
The Fantastic Four's origin story is simple. They steal an experimental rocket ship, travel into outer space, get bombarded with cosmic rays and return to Earth with fantastic new powers.
However, previous movies have overcomplicated it to a borderline comical degree, often including Doctor Doom as a lazy way to tell his origin at the same time. While we have faith that Marvel Studios would do it right, introducing them as fully formed superheroes avoids any risk of this straightforward story becoming too convoluted.
Having Marvel's First Family gain their powers during The Blip, for example, makes sense, but heading back to the past to tell that story (all while explaining where they've been up until now) just means this reboot will get bogged down in exposition.
We don't need more of the same, and this way, Marvel Studios can just get on with telling the team's story.
It's Best To Keep It Simple
As we've explained, having to explore the origins of this team in minute detail just complicates things and delays getting us to where we want to be: seeing the Fantastic Four in action.
Moviegoers have sat through this origin story on multiple occasions and, as with Spider-Man, asking them to do so again is too much. Throwing us into the midst of them being the MCU's newest superhero team shouldn't be that difficult, and a few throwaway lines here or there can give us all the context we need.
With that in mind, there's absolutely no way the Fantastic Four should be revealed as having spent decades trapped in the Quantum Realm before finding their way into the present day.
That's way too confusing, and a 1960s-era Reed Richards isn't exactly going to be a genius 60 years later given how much technology has changed.
It Can Always Be Revisited
Just because we're not getting an origin story in Fantastic Four doesn't mean it can't be revisited down the line. The transformation this foursome goes through after returning from space is obviously a huge part of their story, and it can be addressed in both this movie and future outings.
We've had three Spider-Man movies without learning how Peter Parker gained his powers, but should the next instalment want to base an entire story around that (by introducing Silk or Ezekiel, for example), then it can do so.
The same is true for Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny, and just because we're not getting an origin story now doesn't mean one won't follow.
It's important to remember that this franchise has the potential to be as huge as The Avengers. With that in mind, it's imperative for Marvel Studios to introduce them in a way that resonates with moviegoers and fans alike, and that ultimately doesn't need to include the team's origin.
This Likely Means No Teenage Team
Arguably our biggest concern heading into this Fantastic Four reboot is the possibility Marvel Studios might decide to introduce a teenage team.
Like many other heroes, Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny gained their powers as adults, but the Ultimate Universe delivered a younger take on the group that would definitely work in this world. However, 2015's reboot proved how lame that approach can be, so there's no reason Marvel's First Family can't be in their late 20s, early 30s, or even 40s.
Yes, it's important that the actors cast are in it for the long haul, but c'mon, John Krasinski clearly has plenty of gas left in the tank.
The fact that we're not getting an origin story hopefully means Marvel Studios is going to introduce a Fantastic Four who are already operating as superheroes and have some experience under their belts. They will need to explain where they've been until now, but that really shouldn't be too difficult.
So, how can the origin story still factor into the MCU? Well...
Tie The Team To Kang And The Multiverse
Loki established that a Kang the Conqueror Variant, He Who Remains, had managed to create a single "Sacred" timeline controlled by him and him alone.
He was clearly a villain, and we can't help but wonder whether the timeline he dreamed up was one that, for whatever reason, suited his own means. After all, He Who Remains had managed to eliminate the threat posed by his fellow Kangs, so what if he also found a way to write the Fantastic Four out of the MCU's history?
The team has a storied history with Kang, while there's often been speculation he's a descendant of Doctor Doom.
With that in mind, what if all the recent Multiversal shenanigans have brought the team back into the MCU and retconned their role in this shared world in the process? This could be later addressed by a future story, explaining on their origin and how Kang toyed with time to temporarily rid himself of Marvel's First Family.
Doctor Doom's Origin Story
Rumour has it Doctor Doom will make his presence felt in the MCU before even the Fantastic Four, and if that's the case, it appears he'll be a threat to more than just this superhero team.
That's how it should be, though we'd obviously like to see his shared history with Reed Richards explored at some point. Marvel Studios could use this as an opportunity to reveal how they got their powers, but we'd be far more interested in seeing how Victor Von Doom's jealousy of his classmate in college ultimately sent him down a dark path.
At the same time, we could see Reed's early days romancing Sue and even The Thing while he was still regular old Ben Grimm.
This would be a showcase for Doom (and how he got those scars), but also stands the chance of providing some much-needed context for why he despises the Fantastic Four so much.
The Tragedy Of The Thing
As a character, Ben Grimm is arguably at his best being the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. At this point, we've seen a lot of him struggling to deal with the way he was transformed into a creature made of rocks both in the comics and on screen, but it shouldn't be glossed over here.
There are other, more subtle ways of showing Ben's battle with his affliction and the fact he was the only member of the Fantastic Four to lose any semblance of a normal life.
While delving into Ben's struggles with his new status quo, flashbacks can show us the day he was transformed and the horrifying process of becoming "The Thing." It's important that this be about Ben, but if we get to see Reed, Sue, and Johnny's own changes taking place in the background, it would be no bad thing.
We'd probably hold off on this until a second or third movie, but it should be tackled at some point.