You’ve read enough about the latest version of the Fantastic Four.
Here’s where we start talking about the future of Marvel’s First Family. Yes, I don’t want to give up on the team that launched the Marvel Age.
Sony and Marvel reached an agreement that Spider-Man’s cinematic future will better by working together. Spidey will be swinging in the Marvel Cinematic Universe then his own film again. Is it time for Fox to let Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny go home?
It’s too soon for another movie reboot. You might be saying the same thing about Spidey. What about a television series that weaves the FF into the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
After seeing the Hank Pym/Janet Van Dyne flashback in Ant-Man (and I admit I’m digging The Man From UNCLE soundtrack) I’m convinced my earlier theory of having the Fantastic Four set in the 1960’s is a sure fire way to have them blast off with fans. Marvel should take a cue form Captain America: The First Avenger and X-Men: First Class and have Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny’s adventures in the swinging, space-race 60’s. Like Steve Rogers, they are heroes out of time and could be stars of a whole new chapter of Marvel’s cinema past.
Here are our four reasons to reboot the FF in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe:
The Space Race: As the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were fighting to reach the moon for bragging rights: Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Susan and Johnny Storm were part of a covert think tank trying to explore space for the betterment of all humanity on Earth. I’d love to see the four adventurers working with S.H.I.E.L.D. (and maybe S.W.O.R.D.) in declassified missions with Cold War intrigue of Russians allied with a certain Latverian and alien agents or with a young Nick Fury exploring Wakanda and meeting Black Panther’s father or maybe Soviet operative Red Ghost and his Super Apes!
Did you say aliens? Guardians of the Galaxy and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. established the Kree Empire and their experiments on Earth: The Inhumans. What if Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny were the first humans who encountered the blue aliens in flashback adventures/Agent Coulson’s files? The FF even discovered Attilan, home of the Royal Family of the Inhumans in the Himalyas and later the Blue Area of the Moon.
More Aliens? Skrulls, Skrulls and More Skrulls! How to tie in the Cold War paranoia with fear of alien invaders? Bring on the reptilian shapeshifters! The FF can go on missions to uncover scaly impersonators trying to heat up the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviets. Plus, the stage could be a set for a Marvel Universe wide epic based on the Secret Invasion story when the Skrulls infiltrated every super team and conquered the planet.
Future Foundation? So you’re asking, what if I want to see Reed and Tony in a battle of brains or Thing clobbering Hulk? The FF can be brought into the future. I’d love to see the sci-fi adventurers jump into their own future and introduce the Future Foundation kids (Franklin & Valeria Richards, Ahura of the Inhumans and more) where Reed and Sue see their own legacy just in time for Avengers: The Infinity War and the battle with Thanos.
Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny are “fantastic” character who will survive the latest movie interpretation. Maybe instead of trying to modernize and darken the First Family, we should embrace the wonder, sense of family and old school goodness they represent.
Here’s hoping Marvel will be able to bring the FF back into the family and weave them into the expanding universe.
By Editor