10 Classic Fantastic Four Stories Marvel Could Use For MCU Sequels

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Known as Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four were the team that started it all and gave birth to the Marvel Age of Comics. First introduced in 1961’s Fantastic Four #1 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, George Klein, Christopher Rule, Stan Goldberg, and Artie Simek), the issue saved the publisher from bankruptcy. It would become the most important comic in Marvel history, which created the fantastical world outside our window. The creation of the Fantastic Four gave Marvel the opportunity to continue expanding their world and introduced many now iconic characters and elements of the Marvel Universe, such as Galactus, Doctor Doom, the Negative Zone, and time travel.

While the fantastic superhero family changed the landscape of comic storytelling forever, they have unfortunately taken a backseat to the success of the MCU in recent years. Due to several lackluster attempts at adapting the property into live-action films, fans have long awaited the FF’s return to the big screen. Now, the legendary superhero team will make their long-awaited debut into the MCU with 2025’s Fantastic Four: First Steps, and set the stage for many future adventures with Marvel’s first family. While it has been revealed that the FF will be involved in both Avengers: Secret Wars and Avengers: Doomsday, there are many stories throughout their history that the MCU can explore for future sequels.

10

The Inhumans Return

The Fantastic Four could revive a forgotten property

With The Fantastic Four being Marvel’s first superhero team, many of Marvel’s now iconic heroes and villains made their debuts within the pages of the original Stan Lee and Jack Kirby run on The Fantastic Four. One of the most notable additions to Marvel’s catalog was the introduction of the Inhumans in Fantastic Four #45 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, and Artie Simek). A race of super-powered beings created by the Kree, the Inhumans and the Fantastic Four began as enemies but have come together numerous times throughout their long history.

Within the world of the MCU, the Inhumans have been shut away for many years. After a horribly received adaptation of the property in 2017’s Inhumans ABC series. The series was considered a complete failure, which the MCU has desperately tried to stay away from, and has prevented the famous team from coming to the big screen. With their long and intimate history with The Fantastic Four, the Inhumans being reintroduced in a future sequel would be a great way to re-establish the team and bring them into the new era of the MCU, similar to the FF themselves.

9

The Team Could Also Save The Skrulls

Another one of the MCU’s biggest failures could be saved by the iconic team

Debuting in 1961’s Fantastic Four #2 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, George Klein, Stan Goldberg, and John Duffy), the Skrulls are a shape-shifting alien race who first encountered The Fantastic Four in one of their attempts to take over the Earth. The Fantastic Four and the Skrulls have faced each other numerous times throughout their history, with the team being considered by the Skrulls to be their greatest enemies, next to the Kree. Similar to the Inhumans, the MCU’s 2023 Secret Invasion series, which centered on the Skrulls, was also met with harsh criticism.

First introduced in the 2019 Captain Marvel film, the Skrulls have added an interesting dynamic to the MCU but have failed to reach their potential from the comics. Bringing them into a Fantastic Four sequel could be a way to retroactively remedy some of the questionable story decisions from the Secret Invasion series. It could also allow Marvel to reintroduce Emilia Clarke as the Super Skrull, whose role was generally considered underwhelming, and another character who originally appeared in the Fantastic Four comics.

8

Namor Has An Intimate History With The Team

Namor and the Fantastic Four have generational beef

While the Fantastic Four was Marvel’s first superhero team, one of its first heroes was Namor the Sub-Mariner. An icon of Marvel’s Golden Age, the Sub-Mariner was revived in 1961’s Fantastic Four #4 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Sol Brodsky, Stan Goldberg, and Artie Simek), where he faced off against the team after declaring war on humanity when discovering Atlantis in ruins due to atomic testing. Throughout their comic book history, Namor has been one of the team’s greatest enemies but has also been an ally in desperate times and has a mutual respect despite their conflicts.

One of the most famous aspects of Namor’s relationship with the Fantastic Four is the Sub-Mariner’s infatuation with Susan Storm. While they have never officially been together in the main Earth-616 timeline, many of their conflicts with Namor have come from his attempts to make Sue his Queen. In the MCU, Namor was introduced in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, played by Tenoch Huerta. It ended with the Sub-Mariner declaring war on the surface world. Huerta has also been confirmed to be reprising his role in Avengers: Doomsday, making their complicated relationship and rivalry almost a guarantee to be explored in future films.

7

The FF Could Further Expand The MCU

Reed Richards makes one of his most important discoveries

Immediately following their first encounter with Galactus and the Silver Surfer, Reed Richards became determined to find a defense against such galactic threats and discovered the Negative Zone when trying to find the secrets of mastering space-time in Fantastic Four #51 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, and Artie Simek). A parallel dimension to Earth that is composed of antimatter, the Negative-Zone holds some of Marvel’s greatest mysteries and threats. With a massive vortex called the Crossroads of Infinity at its center, the Negative-Zone can be used to traverse the multiverse and exist in all dimensions.

The introduction of the Negative-Zone massively expanded the Marvel Universe and has led to the introduction of some of its biggest threats, such as Annihilus and Blastaar. The Negative-Zone is also closely related to numerous characters throughout Marvel, such as Captain Marvel, the X-Men, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Having The Fantastic Four introduce the Negative-Zone into the MCU as they did with the comics would drastically reshape the landscape of the cinematic universe as it enters into future phases. Additionally, the Negative-Zone could also be included in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as the team will have to leave their native universe to join the rest of the heroes in Secret Wars and Doomsday.

6

The First Family Brought Annihilation

Reed’s discovery had disastrous consequences

After Reed discovered the Negative Zone, he, Johnny and Ben were forced to traverse the mysterious dimension again in 1968’s Fantastic Four Annual #6 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, and Sam Rosen) when Sue Storm’s life was at risk during her pregnancy with Franklin. Once there, the team is captured by the villain Annihilus, a humanoid insect and one of the only inhabitants of the Negative Zone. The team escaped their first encounter with the villain, but Annihilus would go on to be one of the universe’s greatest threats.

Equipped with his Cosmic Control Rod, Annihilus is incredibly powerful and is classified as a universal threat by the Nova Corps. The villains’ most successful attack on the Marvel Universe came in 2006’s Annihilation event (by Keith Giffen, Andrea Di Vito, Laura Villari, and Cory Petit), in which Annihilus attacked the Marvel Universe and resulted in the death of multiple worlds and heroes. While the MCU has traveled to the cosmos in Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel, much of the Marvel Cosmos has been left unexplored. Having Annihilus appear in a future Fantastic Four installment could perfectly usher in the cosmic age of the MCU as we exit the Multiverse Saga.

The TVA Comes for Marvel’s First Family

In Fantastic Four #337 (by Walt Simonson, Max Sheele, and Bill Oakley), Reed Richards becomes aware of The Bubble at the Heart of Time, located in the future, that threatened to destroy the entire multiverse and the team, along with Thor and Iron Man, travel to the future to stop it. After traveling through the time stream and battling Kang, Gladiator, a renegade Celestial, and Galactus, the team begins to make their way back to the present but gets the attention of the TVA for their disruptions of the time stream.

The Fantastic Four’s adventure through the time stream was an epic adventure that brought together some of the FF’s greatest foes in a battle for the multiverse. The TVA and Kang have both been major focuses of the recent multiverse saga, which would make this story perfect to adapt to the current landscape of the MCU. While the initial plans for the multiverse saga have shifted away from Kang, there are still many elements of Walt Simonson’s story that heavily correlate to the MCU. This adventure with the FF could be a great way for Marvel to tie up some loose ends left by Kang’s departure from the Multiverse saga.

4

The Silver Surfer’s Future Is Bright

The Sentinel of the Spaceways will have massive impacts on the MCU

Introduced alongside Galactus in Fantastic Four #48 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, and Artie Simek), the Silver Surfer is another character to be introduced in The Fantastic Four Comics that has gone on to be one of the most popular and important characters in Marvel Comics. Imbued with the Power Cosmic and his surfboard that can travel faster than the speed of light, the former herald of Galactus is one of the most powerful heroes in the universe and has been one of The Fantastic Four’s greatest allies throughout their comic book history. While the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: First Steps will feature the Shalla-Bal version of the character, there is no doubt that Norrin Radd will eventually make his way into the MCU as well.

A perfect place for the MCU to start could be 1968’s Fantastic Four #72 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, and Sam Rosen), which features the Surfer waging a war against humanity after being trapped on Earth by Galactus. If Shalla-Bal’s role in the film is similar to that of Norrin Radd in the Galactus Saga, she and the team will most likely become allies by the end of the film. The Fantastic Four having to face Norrin Rad in a new universe would make for a compelling sequel and a great introduction to the Silver Surfer of Earth-616.

3

Galactus Calls For The Fantastic Four

Reed refuses to let anyone die

After Galactus was defeated by The Fantastic Four and the Avengers in 1982’s Fantastic Four #243 (by Johny Byrne, Glynis Wein, and Jim Novak), the team was forced to save the world’s greatest enemy. Refusing to let anyone die, even Galactus, Reed Richards convinced the other heroes that they must save the World Devourer for the good of the universe. The heroes are able to save Galactus by finding six uninhabited planets that would equal the energies of Earth for him to consume and taking Johnny Storm’s girlfriend, Frankie Raye, as his new Herald, Nova.

Next to Doctor Doom, Galactus is one of the most famous villains of The Fantastic Four and Marvel Comics, which makes his inclusion in future projects inevitable. While it seems The Fantastic Four film will loosely be adapting the team’s first encounter with the cosmic being from 1962’s Fantastic Four #48-50 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, and Artie Simek), the harrowing adventure to save Galactus could be a perfect follow-up to his introduction. While the film has not yet been released, there is a good possibility that The Fantastic Four will fail to save their universe, which would make them have to save the villain responsible, an even more compelling dilemma for the heroes to face.

2

Ryan North Rooted The Team Back In Science Fiction

The latest Fantastic Four series embraces the fantastical

Taking over Fantastic Four in 2022, Ryan North’s run has been an epic and weird sci-fi adventure that brings the team back to their roots as scientific explorers. Throughout the series, the team has faced several fun and harrowing adventures, such as traveling through time to investigate Sue’s murder or being trapped in a town of Doombots. North’s series focuses on the intimate family bonds the team shares while embracing their roles as scientific explorers.

Ryan North’s series has been a revitalization of Marvel’s First Family in the comic books, and could also work for the Fantastic Four of the MCU. Once the dust settles from Avengers: Secret Wars and Doomsday, the 2022 Fantastic Four run has numerous storylines that can provide fans with a thrilling stand-alone Fantastic Four adventure. After traveling through universes and fighting with the Avengers, bringing the team back down to basics could be exactly what they need.

1

Jonathan Hickman’s Run Is A Treasure Trove For The MCU

Hickman brought the FF into a whole new era

It’s hard to mention important moments in The Fantastic Four’s history without mentioning Jonathan Hickman. Hickman’s Fantastic Four series pushed the team to their ultimate potential as they traveled through time and space in the pursuit of knowledge. With the discovery of the Council of Reeds and the formation of the Future Foundation, Hickman redefined Marvel’s first family forever and had a profound impact on the rest of the universe.

Similar to North’s Fantastic Four run, there are countless stories from Hickman’s run that the MCU could tap into for future installments. One of the most likely arcs for the MCU to tackle is the Future Foundation, a group of free-thinking young adults formed by Reed Richards to plan for a better future for humanity. Trailers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps have confirmed that Sue will be pregnant with Franklin, who was an essential member of the Foundation along with his sister, Valeria. With Franklin already making his way into the MCU, bringing in the Future Foundation could be a great way for the Fantastic Four films to continue long after their initial introduction.

“}]] Marvel’s First Family makes their long-awaited debut in Fantastic Four: First Steps, and the team’s classic comics could impact the future of the MCU.  Read More