The Fantastic Four made their comic book debut back in the 1960s, and it is possible that their MCU debut also happens in the 1960s era. This was actually an idea that Ant-Man director Peyton Reed came up with. He pitched a Fantastic Four movie set in the 60s but Fox rejected the idea. Now, he still isn’t directing MCU’s Fantastic Four as WandaVision director Matt Shakman has been hired for the job. But still, ever since we’ve heard of the Fantastic Four coming to the MCU, rumors have suggested that their story could take place partly or fully within the 60s. All that is largely because of Peyton Reed’s MCU involvement, who could have planted the seeds for the eventual Fantastic Four movie in Quantumania itself.
Fantastic Four in the 1960s
The latest rumor comes from insider Daniel RPK who tweeted that Fantastic Four will be a period piece. He confirmed that Doctor Doom and Kang won’t be the main villains. Here’s what he tweeted:
#MarvelStudios upcoming #FantasticFour will be set in the past 60s. They will be a team out of time. Neither Kang nor a doom is the villain. #Kang will be in the movie but he’s there to connect the group to the two #Avengers movies. it’s not strictly an origin story but we'll see pic.twitter.com/E5t982ign9
— RPK (@RPK_NEWS11) November 16, 2022
This isn’t a new report though. The connection with Kang was always anticipated. And even Doctor Strange 2 gave us some plausible evidence for the time period.
The Past Evidence of Fantastic Four’s Era
Multiverse of Madness kinda teased the origin story of the Fantastic Four on Earth-616. During his meeting with the Illuminati on Earth-838, when Baron Mordo introduced Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange replied by saying “Didn’t you guys chart in the 60s?” This was obviously just a Beatles-referencing joke as they were commonly known as the Fab Four. But this jab was too specific! Any joke could have been made around Fantastic Four, but Marvel specifically chose a joke that pinpointed the 60s. So maybe, Earth’s Fantastic Four members did actually exist in the 1960s.
It has also been theorized that their powers will come from the Quantum Realm itself. A few years back, Erik Voss from New Rockstars presented an elaborate theory of how Quantumania could set up the Fantastic Four’s origin. It basically stated that the likes of Reed Richards and co were scientists in the 1960s. They were working on a way to reach the Quantum Realm and actually managed to do so. But like Jane Van Dyne, they got stuck in there, which is why they’ve been absent in the MCU.
They’ve been in the Quantum Realm ever since their disappearance and it is what gave them their comic-accurate powers. Their presence could be implied in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Then we might get to see a few years of their time within the Quantum Realm in their movie. And by the end of that, Kang could push them out of the Quantum Realm, and bring them to the present day just as Daniel RPK suggests. After this, we’d be seeing their involvement in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.
It’d be interesting to see if this rumor & theory comes true when the Fantastic Four arrives on February 14, 2025.
Source: Twitter
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