Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios, announced the reboot of The Fantastic 4 at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2019. With the Fantastic Four cast announced by Marvel Studios on X, people are now looking into its potential story, timeline setting, and place in the MCU multiverse.
The cast includes Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic; Vanessa Kirby as the Invisible Woman; Joseph Quinn as the Human Torch; and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Thing. And, this casting hints that the film is set in the 1960s.
And, now an update from insider Daniel Richtman seems to shatter fans’ wish to see a potential team-up with Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man.
Fantastic 4 Will Take Place In An Alternate Universe, Per Report
Insider Daniel Richtman has dropped some intriguing hints about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, suggesting that it will unfold within an alternate universe. This revelation suggests that the characters will likely be portrayed as Variants from other corners of the Multiverse, eventually making their way into the primary MCU timeline.
Expanding upon the recent narrative boundaries of the Multiverse Saga seen in projects like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Loki, and Multiverse of Madness, Variety has also indicated that Fantastic Four will be set within an alternate Earth.
This alternate universe premise holds logical weight, especially when considering the potential impact of the Fantastic Four’s presence if they were part of the Earth-616 timeline. Characters like Howard Stark, Hank Pym, and Peggy Carter would have undoubtedly been aware of that, but the absence suggests they hail from a different earth.
As Spider-Man is currently without a team, it would be logical for him if he searches for new teammates, and with the Fantastic Four movie scheduled to release in 2025, it is highly probable that Spider-Man would link up with The Fantastic Four. But the recent report from the insider suggests another way.
Richtman also suggests filming for Fantastic Four is scheduled to commence this August, with the next Avengers installment, tentatively titled Avengers 5, gearing up for production next year.
All You Need to Know About Fantastic 4
The upcoming Marvel movie will be the third movie adaptation of the Fantastic Four comic. Though the plot has not been revealed yet by Marvel, Kevin Feige earlier stated that the film won’t be another origin story. Feige said during the San Diego Com-Con in 2022:
“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?” (Via PEOPLE)
Matt Shakman, who has already worked on Disney+’s WandaVision series, is going to direct the upcoming movie.
“I think it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen before, and certainly unlike anything at Marvel that you’ve seen before,” he said to Collider in October 2023.
Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer were brought in to write the script. However, Josh Friedman, the writer behind TNT’s Snowpiercer and Apple TV+’s Foundation completed the later draft.
Shakman earlier told Collider the movie would be filmed in London at Pinewood Studios. The Fantastic Four will be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.