How can the Fantastic Four be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going for nearly 10 years now, but something has always felt like it was missing. The Fantastic Four… Marvel’s first family of superheroes has been a sore point for Superhero movie fans since 2005’s release of Fantastic Four and its 2008 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Both of these films have split reviews, and entered the realm of the pre-cinematic universe era.

However in 2015 their was hope, before Fant4stic was released and everyone just cried a little inside.

This has left the Fantastic Four in a weird place, with rumours of Fant4stic 2 still being a possibility, most fans just want the Fantastic Four in the MCU. But is it too late for that?

Lets have a look at how I think each member of the Fantastic 4 could be introduced into the MCU.

The Thing:

James Gunn has already stated that Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 will be the basis of an array of sequels and the dawn of a new roster for the Guardians of the Galaxy team. One new member could easily be The Thing.

The current run of Guardians comics still feature The Thing as a member of the Guardians after the demise of the team in Secret Wars. This means that The Thing popping up in space is not too much away from the comics that it would be a bad move for Marvel.

The Human Torch:

It has already been established in Captain America: The First Avenger that the original Human Torch exists within the MCU (or at least at Stark Expo). So it is not beyond the realms of belief that he would be based on a secret other Human Torch?

Where is he? Well the comics currently have Johnny Storm as a member of the Inhuman royal family, being the love interest of Crystal. With the current Inhuman TV series airing, it would not be a long shot for Marvel to introduce Johnny Storm in the show, ready for a larger role in the future.

This would also create a link between the TV and Movie aspects of the MCU that fans have been begging for, a TV to Movie transfer rather than the Movie to TV that we have seen with Coulson and Sif.

Mister Fantastic and The Invisible Woman:

You can’t have one without the other. Reed and Sue Richards are one of the most important couples in the Marvel Universe and that’s how I would introduce them into the MCU. Not as Mister Fantastic and The Invisible Woman, but as Reed and Sue, two great minds that compete in intelligence with Stark and Banner, and possible replacements for either of them.

But how does this make a Fantastic Four film?

We have already had prequel films in the MCU before. Captain America: The First Avenger was set entirely before the rest of the MCU, and Hank Pym had already been Ant-Man before the events of Ant-Man.

This means that you could easily make the Fantastic Four a secret team of heroes that existed before the formation of the Avengers. The Fantastic Four could also link in with whatever explanation they give for the events of the upcoming Captain Marvel film being set in the 1990’s, but Captain Marvel still joining the present day Avengers, and not been mentioned at all so far.

This is why I would have that Fantastic Four movie as a prequel film, explaining how the team formed, and leading to possible explanations for why the team split (An out of time Secret Wars (based on the original not the new spacey one) would be great).

That would give the opportunity to have the Fantastic Four in the MCU without having to shoehorn them in as a team, rather as a set of individuals scattered among the other MCU franchises.

Question of the Post: Would you rather see a Fant4stic 2 or an MCU Fantastic Four? Discussion in the comments.

Thanks for reading.