Marvel Is Reportedly Planning A 'Fantastic Four' Movie For 2022
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe enters into its next phase, one of the biggest questions on every fan's mind is if the movies will introduce the iconic Marvel characters that have been barred from them up until recently. Now that Disney's merger with 20th Century Fox has gone through, the studio's Avengers franchise is now finally free to introduce characters like the X-Men, Deadpool, and the Fantastic Four. And according to a new rumor, another Fantastic Four movie will arrive in the MCU in 2022, so we will not have to wait too long to see how the superhero group will appear in their new iteration.
The unconfirmed rumor comes from the fandom site Geeks WorldWide, whose sources claim that Marvel is planning a 2022 release for its next Fantastic Four movie. The report also points to Ant-Man director Peyton Reed as the top pick to direct the movie. This selection would not really come as a surprise, since Reed has spoken about his love for the Fantastic Four in interviews before, even going so far as to pitch his own concept for a 1960s-set standalone film for Marvel's First Family earlier this year.
A new Fantastic Four movie would mark the superhero team's third iteration on the big screen. In 2005, Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis starred as Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing in 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four, as well as in the 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. The studio then rebooted the franchise with Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell in the lead roles for 2015's Fantastic Four.
It is unclear whether Disney will opt to cast an entirely new group of actors to portray the superhero team in its iteration of the Fantastic Four, or whether some of the previous stars may be able to reprise their roles. One thing that makes the latter option tricky is the both previous Human Torches have already appeared in the MCU as prominent characters: Chris Evans took up the mantle of Captain America and Michael B. Jordan waged war on Wakanda as Killmonger.
Marvel is currently planning out its mysterious Phase 4, which will expand the universe after the events of Avengers: Endgame, and it already looks like the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home will set up a perfect introduction for the 20th Century Fox heroes into the MCU. As fans pointed out, the trailer for the new movie introduces the multiverse concept into the MCU for the first time, which could become the perfect way to bring in superheroes from other worlds/timelines/realities/production studios. There have also been a bunch of rumors that David Harbour may be playing Ben Grimm (AKA the Thing) in Marvel's upcoming Black Widow movie, which also brings up the possibility that the Fantastic Four could be introduced individually prior to coming together for their big standalone movie. If their 2022 movie is set in the '60s, then it will likely be an origin story anyway, so the team can be scattered in the present day.
Of course, everything is just hearsay as of right now, so keep your eye out for any more news about the Fantastic Four possibly flying into the MCU in the coming years.
