After what feels like ages, Avengers: Doomsday is about to give fans of Marvel Comics something they have been yearning for: the chance to see the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men all in one big movie. And while Disney doesn't outright have control of Spider-Man, it's safe to assume that the webslinger will show up in Secret Wars.
All of this means that, for the first time ever, every corner of the Marvel Universe is fair game. The greatest character crossovers can finally happen, and a new age of stories is about to open up. One of those stories could well be the most mismatched Fantastic Four team of all time.
The Fantastic Four Of Popularity
Marvel's First Family kicked the newly rebranded company off in 1961, but by 1990, sales of Fantastic Four weren't what they used to be. While the book wasn't in any real danger, it was consistently coming in at the low end of the top 20 selling books every month. But Marvel had a tried and true way to boost sales, even for just a little while: put the biggest stars on the cover.
So it was that Fantastic Four
The two-issue tale sees this new Fantastic Four come together after being tricked into believing the original team had been killed by the shape-shifting Skrull De'Lila, who had taken on the form of Sue Storm and asked the far more popular heroes to avenge her family. The four heroes bicker and struggle to work together at first, but sure enough, the truth comes to light, and before too long, the two versions of the Fantastic Four save the day by fighting side by side.
They even snuck in a quick Punisher cameo into Fantastic Four #349 just to be safe.
Now This Oddball Team Can Make It To the Silver Screen
There's no denying that the MCU has been struggling ever since Avengers: Endgame. While Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine were billion-dollar hits, Marvel's other movies haven't hit the highs the studio had gotten used to. And while Fantastic Four: First Steps managed to make a profit at the theater, it surely wasn't the hit Kevin Feige and the team were hoping for.
But with a Fantastic Four sequel coming sometime after Doomsday and Secret Wars, the movies could take a tip from the comics and replace the FF with some bigger names. After all, who wouldn't want to see Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Hulk mix it up on the silver screen? And fans have been waiting for Ghost Rider to finally get his chance at the big time as well.
It wouldn't fix the problems the MCU has been facing, but it would almost certainly give the franchise a shot in the arm when it comes to box office returns.
