Before Marvel Studios had the rights to the X-Men, Deadpool, Daredevil and The Fantastic Four, 20th Century Fox was secretly working on a film with all these characters. Given that at the time, Marvel Studios was only in its first Phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the audience could have been greeted with 2 parallel superhero franchises with multiple IPs sharing the same universe, both stemming from characters in the Marvel Universe.
It has come to light that Fox while working on X-Men: First Class was secretly working on an ‘X-Men vs Fantastic Four’ film, based on the the Civil War storyline from the comics. Civil War served as the basis of the third Captain America film for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The basics of the plot of the film had been revealed, along with what the teaser would have been for a potential sequel as well.
The Human Torch would have been at the center of the conflict
A lot about the film has come to light over the past five years, such as the plot, the creative team behind the film, and even what a sequel could have looked like. To begin with, the plot was set to follow in the footsteps of 2008’s Civil War storyline, one that was largely based around Captain America and Iron Man.
Instead, the film would slot their factions in with The Fantastic Four and the X-Men. The conflict would start with the Human Torch blowing up a part of New York stopping Molecule Man, which would prompt the government to introduce this universe’s version of the Superhero Registration Act.
This was adapted as the Sokovia Accords in the MCU, which could have had a different name in teh film. This would put the two teams at odds and would include Daredevil as part of the story, along with Deadpool.
The script also had a fight between Mr. Fantastic and Wolverine, with the former dismembering the latter with his powers. The film would then end with the two teams reconciling, and a post-credit scene would tease an invasion from the Skrulls, heralding the Secret Invasion storyline for the sequel.
X-Men: First Class screenwriters were working on the Marvel crossover
The film was initially being worked on by Zack Stentz and Ashley Edward Miller, who did the screenplay for X-Men: First Class. Stentz revealed, on the Fatman Beyond podcast with Kevin Smith :
“My ex-partner and I, when we were working at Fox and we were working on X-Men: First Class, we did a secret movie for them that, I can’t tell you what the plot was, but I can tell you that it used all of the characters, all of the Marvel characters that Fox had at the time in 2011. It used the X-Men.
It used the Fantastic Four. It used Daredevil. It used Deadpool. Daredevil was still at Fox at the time. We almost had Paul Greengrass directing it which would’ve been so cool but he had another project to do instead. It didn’t end up going but it was a script I was really proud of and it would’ve been really good.”
The official title of the film remains behind closed doors, as Fox never revealed what the film was to be called. However, given that Fox is now absorbed by Disney it is unlikely that the film would ever see the light of day, given the Fantastic Four and the X-Men will be making an appearance in the MCU.
The film, if developed, would have created a parallel cinematic universe from Marvel, which could have rivaled the MCU had they done Civil War and Secret Invasion justice. Perhaps a third Captain America film would have looked quite different, and the Skrulls might never have made an appearance in Captain Marvel.
We might not even have gotten a second iteration of the Fantastic Four, given that the film could have gone ahead with the existing cast of Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Ioan Gruffudd, and Michael Chiklis. These actors could have faced off against the iteration of X-Men that we saw in Days of Future Past, including Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, James Marsden’s Cyclops, and Ian McKallen’s Magneto.
