The Fantastic Four: First Steps Is Going To Break A Grim MCU Trend

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.
Summary

• The Fantastic Four will enter the MCU in 2025, breaking a dark trend of gruesome deaths for the team's members in previous MCU appearances.
• The Doctor Strange 2 cameo by John Krasinski and Deadpool & Wolverine cameo by Chris Evans ended with their brutal demises.
• The team is set to appear in Avengers 5 & 6, with hopes that they will survive and become integral to the MCU.

The Fantastic Four will officially enter the MCU in 2025's The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and they can break a dark MCU trend that involves Marvel's First Family. Audiences have long awaited The Fantastic Four's debut in the MCU. While the team has starred in three movies already under the Fox Marvel umbrella, these movies were met with mixed to poor reactions, leaving viewers hoping that Marvel can deliver a great film starring The Fantastic Four. Phases 4 and 5 have thus far teased the group's arrival, but only in a limited capacity.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness included an appearance by John Krasinski as Reed Richards. While the actor isn't playing the main Reed in the MCU timeline - instead embodying a variant of the hero - this still made a dream fan-casting a reality. Deadpool & Wolverine featured Chris Evans hilariously reprising his role as Johnny Storm, which he played in 2005's Fantastic Four and 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Both cameos are nice nods to The Fantastic Four, but their appearances also established a surprisingly grim trend that the upcoming Marvel movie can break.
Related The MCU Just Put Even More Pressure On The Fantastic Four Reboot The Fantastic Four: First Steps brings Marvel"s First Family to the MCU next year, and the pressure the movie has to succeed just got even heavier.
The Fantastic Four Can Break An MCU Trend By Surviving Their First Movie Close The MCU hasn't been so nice for The Fantastic Four so far. Audiences loved seeing Mr. Fantastic and Human Torch in their brief roles, but their cameos ended with gruesome deaths. Reed was turned into spaghetti by Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange 2's Illuminati massacre, and Johnny Storm's skin was ripped off by Cassandra Nova before he turned into a puddle of bones and blood.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps presents a golden opportunity for the team to end this trend. All four team members will appear in the film, and there's a good chance they'll all survive. The team is too important to the future of the MCU, and it'd be so disappointing for viewers if the team gets only one movie before they're all killed. Fortunately, another Comic-Con confirmation means the team is almost guaranteed to survive First Steps.
The Characters Are Confirmed To Appear In Avengers 5 & 6 At Marvel Studios' 2024 San Diego Comic Con Hall H panel which Screen Rant attended, Kevin Feige confirmed The Fantastic Four will return in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. This means Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Ben Grimm are set to join the Avengers soon. It's perfect timing as they should be crucial in the fight against Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom, a villain mainly associated with Marvel's First Family.
Since The Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in an alternate universe, Doctor Doom could be the variant of Tony Stark who exists on their Earth. It's also highly possible he could debut in First Steps, meaning the film could transition directly into the beginning of Doomsday. However, it seems The Fantastic Four have to survive a confrontation with Galactus before battling Doctor Doom, meaning their debut will still no doubt be perilous in many ways.
The Fantastic Four (2025)
Director Matt Shakman Release Date July 25, 2025 Studio(s) Marvel Studios Cast Pedro Pascal , Vanessa Kirby , Ebon Moss-Bachrach , Joseph Quinn , Ralph Ineson , Paul Walter Hauser , Natasha Lyonne , John Malkovich , Julia Garner Upcoming MCU Movies
Release Date
Captain America: Brave New World
February 14, 2025
Thunderbolts*
May 5, 2025
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
July 25, 2025
Blade
November 7, 2025
Avengers: Doomsday
May 1, 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars
May 7, 2027


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