There have been longstanding rumours that Marvel’s The Fantastic Four will be set in the 1960s, and its announcement poster featuring its new cast seemingly backed up these claims. However, there are also theories that it will be set in the future, with a completely different universe.
After Disney acquired the rights for Fantastic Four in March 2019, following the acquisition of Fox Studios, the company’s CEO, Bob Iger, announced the plan to include Marvel’s First Family in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Hence, a new Fantastic Four movie set in the multiverse was officially announced in the same year. Since then, the film has been actively developing.
However, details about this project have remained under lock and key, with only its main cast, release date, and Julia Garner’s involvement officially announced. Different theories, including its settings, have surrounded the movie.
Marvel’s The Fantastic Four Theories Explored
On his Patreon website, film critic and insider Daniel Richtman started the claim that The Fantastic Four would be set in an alternative universe, and Marvel Studios supported it by releasing Human Torch’s poster earlier this month.
Sure, the image was released to greet fans of “Happy 4-4- Day!” but it seemingly hinted at the film’s setting.
The photo in question showed Johnny Storm, who will be played by the Stranger Things breakout star Joseph Quinn, flying through the air and forming the classic flaming logo of the Fantastic Four in the skies above several buildings in the city.
But if you look closer, the town is far different from the other cities in Earth-616, with its sci-fi, futuristic style.
And this is not the only hint that The Fantastic Four may be set in an alternate timeline.
The cast reveal poster, released in February, seemed to confirm that the movie would be set in the 1960s, with The Thing holding a December 13, 1963, issue of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Life Magazine.
However, the said issue had Ronald Reagan on the cover. So, though the film would probably be set in the past, it could also be set in two timelines, with Marvel’s First Family travelling to the present through the multiverse.
It’s also good to note that the film director Matt Shakman earlier said the Marvel reboot would be “different in so many ways.” However, it may differ from what fans have seen before; he promised it would perfectly fit the material.
“We are doing things very differently from a story standpoint, from an approach to the filmmaking standpoint, that really fits the material,” he said. “I think it's going to be unlike anything you've seen before, and certainly unlike anything at Marvel that you've seen before.”
The film will see Pedro Pascal as Reed (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue (Invincible Woman), Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben (Thing), and Quinn as Johnny (The Human Torch). It will also include Garner as an alternate Silver Surfer, Shalla-Bal.
The Fantastic Four is set to hit the theaters on July 25, 2025.
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