When does ‘Fantastic Four’ take place in the Marvel timeline?
The Fantastic Four from Marvel has become one of the company’s most anticipated films for next year. The film will hit theaters on July 25, 2025 and the studio recently announced its main cast. Peter Pascal will be Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby will play Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach will play Ben Grimm/The Thing and Joseph Quinn He will do the same with Johnny Storm/Human Torch.
The announcement of the film came with a first image. A promotional poster in which the four characters share a pleasant scene in a living room. This is a curious conceptual art that, in reality, may have confirmed a fundamental fact. And for months fans have been wondering at what point in the chronology of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will take place The Fantastic Four. After the publication of this new material, everything indicates that the film will take place in the 60s of the 20th century.
The first clue that leads to this conclusion is the design of the poster itself. The style used is very characteristic of illustrations from decades ago, not the present. The second detail, even more obvious, is that The thing is reading the magazine LIFE, but not just any number. It is the edition of December 13, 1963. And finally, there is another element that die-hard Marvel fans know and that is found in the film Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness.
When the protagonist travels to the universe of Illuminati meet Reed Richards although not that of Pedro Pascal but that of John Krasinski. When Mr. Fantastic appears for the first time, strange utters a revealing phrase. “The Fantastic Four” Didn’t you play in the ’60s?” points out the Supreme Sorcerer. Since then, many insider rumors suggested that Marvel was planning to make the new adaptation of the family of heroes take place around that time.
The Fantastic Four in the Marvel timeline
Officially, Marvel has not commented, although it seems increasingly clear that the MCU will travel back in time to introduce the four members of the team. This would place The Fantastic Four in the timeline of the saga after Captain America the First Avenger, which takes place in World War II. I would also go after Agent Carter, which happens immediately after the conflict. However, I would go before Captain Marvel, which takes place in the 90s. The vast majority of characters in the franchise have not even been born yet. Some examples of who they might come across are Peggy Carter he Winter Soldier, Howard Stark, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne.
Actually, it makes a lot of sense that The Fantastic Four It is set in the 1960s. To begin with because it would be a nice tribute to his creation in the comics. They were the work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, two of the main architects of Marvel being what it is today. They debuted in 1961 and were the first superhero team produced by the publisher, becoming key to its most glorious era. For this reason, many of his best adventures take place in that era, marked by the Cold War, the space race and the atomic threat.
Predictably, The Fantastic Four will try to recover these stories and adapt them into a film that aims to drastically break with the tone of the current MCU. Furthermore, it will be very interesting to see how the characters try to fit into a society not accustomed to superheroes. Once filming begins and more details of the film’s plot arrive, it will be revealed exactly what the studio’s plan is.