We don’t know much about the Fantastic Four MCU movie, but Kevin Feige has revealed what we won’t see. According to the Marvel Studios president, we won’t be getting another origin story for Marvel’s first family, though what that ultimately looks like is still in the air.
Feige spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about Phase 5 and Phase 6, and gave some small indications about what’s happening with Fantastic Four. “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 says, adding: “We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.”
This should be music to Marvel fans’ ears, as Fantastic Four is one of the most beloved teams from the company. Origin stories can be good for setting the timbre of any given property, but they tend to be formulaic, especially for people who already know the universe intimately. Fantastic Four would benefit from an action movie that gets straight to it with who they are and what they’re capable of.
At the very least, the bar is low for Marvel Studios, thanks to the previous Fantastic Four movies being, well, middling-to-disastrous. Making Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Torch consistent with the source material with decent effects would be a genuine upgrade.
Thanks to Marvel at SDCC, we know that Fantastic Four will arrive as part of Phase 6 on November 8, 2024. Who’ll be in it? Who’s directing? All questions to be answered. Jon Watts, who handled the MCU’s Spider-Man movies, backed out earlier this year due to needing a break from blockbusters.
Rumours have swirled that John Krasinski will take the director’s chair, as well as possibly star, largely due to his cameo as Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. All wishful thinking for now, but watch this space.