I’m sure Kevin Feige is done talking about the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, but during an event for the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home, he took some time to talk again about it. So let’s unpack a few things he said.
First, he kept to his statement about taking his time, saying that he was in no real rush to add these characters to the MCU. This is still a smart statement for many reasons. First, we should point out that Kevin Feige makes a plan and usually sticks to it pretty close. Notice how his initial Phase 3 announcement compares to what we’ve see play out. The only major changes, to my memory, are the inclusion of Spider-Man, which didn’t need as much work and didn’t wrinkle the plan too much, and the movement of the Inhumans to a series from a movie, a move that you can say either worked out well for him or didn’t. The jury is still out on what an Inhumans movie would have looked like. Now, think about the reactionary approach to a DCEU or even The Dark Universe. A plan was made and then seemingly thrown out the window. He also has to come to terms with the failure of Dark Phoenix, which will leave a stain on the X-Men for a bit. Add that to the stain of a major Fantastic Four failure from a couple years back and Feige will have to play this one carefully.
He also stated that, while he is in no rush, he has been working on this possibility for a while now. Years, he states. He’s been playing though plans that have included and excluded the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man for years now, and that’s how Spider-Man: Homecoming was able to come together so quick in time to open up Phase 3.
It’s important to note that Phase 4 has been kept pretty secret for some time, but I would imagine, based on some of the statements from Kevin Feige over the years, that he has had some form of Phase 4 in his head for a long time. He stated a couple years back that he had storylines planned out through 2028. Now, this was back when Marvel was releasing 2 films a year, and maybe that changed when they moved to 3, but I have to imagine he’s had a future beyond Thanos and the Infinity Stones.
He shared that some character introductions work better in their own films and some, like Spider-Man and Black Panther, worked better in someone else’s story. It’s true, and the more I’ve thought about this, the more it has made sense. I would take that as a possibility that we could see a non-powered Reed Richards appear in someone else’s film in the MCU before the Fantastic Four get a solo movie. I could even believe that perhaps a Hank McCoy/Beast or a Professor X might get an appearance before an X-Men Proper film. These properties have fan expectations, so this one will be a tough inclusion process that might aid them to have an appearance elsewhere first.
So what do you think? When and how will we see the Fantastic Four and X-Men appear in the MCU, if at all? Let me know/Leave a comment below!
-Kyle A. Goethe
GOAT Film Reviews 
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