The announcement of the cast for Marvel’s The Fantastic Four has taken the full attention of MCU fans today as we now know who will be portraying Marvel’s first family. However, along with the casting announcement, we got a look at some new artwork that just might give us an idea of how the bigger MCU picture is going to shape up around these heroes.
As you can see in the image above, the new artwork implies that The Fantastic Four will be set in the past. And based on the magazine being held by The Thing, it looks like it will specifically take place in the early ‘60s. If that is, in fact, the case, we’re going to need a way to bring these characters into the present in order for them to interact with our other favorite heroes. And while the MCU has seen character jump from the past to the present before, I don’t expect we’ll be seeing the Fantastic Four crashing a plane into some ice.
So how are we going to get them into the present? Enter: the TVA.
We last saw the TVA (not counting a recent trailer) rebuilding after the events of Loki season 2. We know they’ve been keeping an eye on the many variants of He Who Remains, preparing themselves for the threat of a multiversal war. Perhaps in order to do that, they will be assembling heroes from across time (more on that later).
If that is the case, we might see The Fantastic Four tell the origin story of the super team, likely combatting one of their many iconic nemeses, like the one and only Doctor Doom. The film could then end with the TVA arriving and enlisting the aid of the Fantastic Four in the coming war against Kang. Perhaps we will even see Doctor Doom following them as well.
So the TVA is looking across the multiverse for heroes? Where have I seen that before? Oh, that’s right!
The aforementioned recently released Deadpool & Wolverine trailer seems to hint at the TVA doing exactly this. And while Deadpool likely messes some things up and goes off to do his own thing, the TVA might have some better luck with other heroes.
And, if the TVA is pulling the Fantastic Four out from somewhere else in the Multiverse, like they are with Deadpool, it would explain why none of our heroes in the MCU have ever been aware of their presence despite them acting as superheroes nearly 50 years prior to the creation of any Iron Man suit. Then again, Doctor Strange did seem to at least be familiar with the team name.
So it seems possible the Fantastic Four (the heroes, not the musical group) are coming from elsewhere in the Multiverse and the TVA might just be the ones to bring them to the MCU.
The Fantastic Four comes to theaters July 25, 2025.