When Marvel Studios unveiled our first official look at The Fantastic Four this past Valentine's Day, the promo image and logo made it pretty clear that the persistent rumors that the reboot was going to have a period setting were on the level, and we'd later get confirmation that the story would indeed play out in 1963.
We've had conflicting reports about whether the entire movie will be set in the '60s or if it will somehow jump to the present day before the end, but if the team is eventually going to interact with the other MCU heroes in the next Avengers movies and/or beyond, one would assume it's going to have to happen at some point.
Now, a new rumor may give us a little more to go on.
Though this probably won't be viewed as a major reveal, just in case it's something that Marvel intends to keep out of the marketing, here's your spoiler warning.
According to insider Daniel Richtman, The Fantastic Four will actually be set in an alternate universe. If accurate, this would obviously suggest that the characters will be Variants from some other part of the Multiverse that will eventually find their way to the main MCU timeline (possibly due to the interdimensional rift Dar-Benn caused at the end of The Marvels).
Richtman has also heard that the movie is scheduled to begin shooting this August, and the tentatively titled Avengers 5 will start production next year.
The cast has stayed pretty tight-lipped about their respective roles, but Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards) did recently express his excitement about joining Marvel's First Family.
"I can tell you how excited I am, which is beyond! There isn’t anything more exciting than being in a cast like that, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joe Quinn and our director Matt Shakman. To be invited to a family like that is unbelievable, and we all just want to do our best and share it with the world.”
Pascal will be joined by Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.
There are rumors that both Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) and Mads Mikkelsen (Rogue One) are top picks to play Doctor Doom, but other actors are sure to be in contention.
Javier Bardem is still rumored to be the top choice for Galactus, but his schedule may prevent him from signing on. The Eater of Worlds' herald is believed to be Silver Surfer, but a female take on the character. A recent rumor claimed that Anya Taylor-Joy is being eyed for that role.
Matt Shakman will direct FF. Plot details are still a mystery, but Kevin Feige has confirmed that this will not be another origin story for the super-team.
“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 in a 2022 interview, comparing this new take on the heroes to Marvel Studios' pact with Sony to bring Spider-Man into the MCU. “We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.”