As long-time Marvel comic book fans know, you can’t have a connected Marvel universe without the Fantastic Four. However, due to a lot of legal reasons, that was the case ever since the MCU kicked off in 2008. Now, with the family of superheroes under Marvel Studios’ control, it’s time to see them in theaters in a whole new light, and studio boss Kevin Feige knows exactly how they have to be featured in the existing multiverse—and it’s an ambitious plan.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Feige talked about his personal relationship with Marvel Comics, and, by association, with The Fantastic Four. The studio head acknowledged past iterations of Sue and Johnny Storm, Reed Richards, and Ben Grimm in cinema, but suggested that in the new, Marvel Studios-created version of the team, the goal is to elevate them to a much higher standard:

“…Fantastic Four is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics. There’s certainly been versions of it [on screen], but never inhabiting the storytelling of the MCU. And that’s something that is really exciting for us. People will start to hear more about that soon. We plan on that being a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they’ve been in the comics for 50 or 60 years.”

The Past, Present, and Future of Fantastic Four

Considering that Fantastic Four is coming to the big screen in 2025—seventeen years after the Marvel Cinematic Universe first took flight with Iron Man—it will be interesting to see how the studio manages to make them a pillar of the MCU coming in so late into the game, especially considering that the movie will not be an origin story. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we got to see Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic played by John Krasinski in an alternate timeline, but so far there has been no official confirmation that Krasinski will reprise the role in the upcoming movie.

If you have followed Marvel’s history in cinema pre-MCU, you know that Fantastic Four has a complicated relationship with the silver screen. In 2005 and 2007, two entries were badly received by fans and critics alike, which prompted a 2015 reboot that got even worse reviews. So, aside from a re-introduction of the group to moviegoers, 2025’s Fantastic Four has the task of redeeming the superheroes’ image with the public and making us fall in love with them.

The new iteration of Fantastic Four will be directed by Matt Shakman, who helmed all episodes of WandaVision. The cast is yet to be revealed, but filming is slated to begin in early 2024. The screenplay is written by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.

via Collider