The Marvel Cinematic Universe has changed considerably in the post Avengers: Endgame era. The franchise that previously just had access to a select number of heroes, such as Captain America, Iron Man, and others, has grown to now control all of the Marvel Comics characters following Disney’s acquisition of Fox.
The Disney takeover of Fox has had a lot of implications for the film and television industry, and for the MCU in particular. For years, Fox controlled the rights to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, meaning that all of the 2000s and 2010 films in those franchise were made by the studio. There were lots of ups, mainly the casting of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, but also some considerable downs, particularly the failed 2015 Fantastic Four film. Fox often excelled with the X-Men, depending on the film of course, but never really got going with the Fantastic Four. That means that the MCU has an incredible opportunity to introduce this family of heroes into their world and reignite some interest in the franchise that has been dwindling as of late. However, the MCU appears to be falling too far behind on the development of the announced Fantastic Four film, which is set to come out in 2025 but is yet to receive any casting updates or announcements and has hit a number of delays along the way.
Fantastic Four is set to release the same year as Superman: Legacy
Delays to the development of the upcoming Fantastic Four film have been widespread since it was officially announced in 2019. For example, the original director Jon Watts has since dropped out and Matt Shakman, who helmed WandaVision, has since taken over. Again, in that time, there have been no updates in regards to casting or any significant story points that have been discussed.
Fans have naturally compared Marvel and DC for years now, which makes sense given that they’ve both had huge success in the comic and film industry. When looking at Fantastic Four compared to a new DCU project, James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, the latter has made significantly more progress in recent months alone. Casting for the main characters has been announced, a script is seemingly completed and pre-production has already begun, none of which has been done on Fantastic Four just yet. In recent years, it’s been Marvel that has had their act together more than DC, always able to get their projects off the ground quickly and without much fuss. The contrasting developments of Fantastic Four and Superman: Legacy is a notable change to that status quo.
Superman: Legacy has announced its cast already
As stated, Superman: Legacy’s updates have been regular and consistent ever since the film was announced last year. James Gunn is the writer and director, and Superman and Lois Lane have also been cast. The studio went through extensive testing and casting auditions before landing on David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan as Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane.
Gunn has also regularly updated fans on the film’s story, including recent quotes stating that the film will not show Superman’s origins story, continuing the trend of now showing a superhero’s beginnings, such as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, Robert Pattinson’s Batman, and more. Gunn also said that his new film will show Clark in his early days at the Daily Planet and will focus much more on Kent than Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill’s iteration of the character, which honed in much more on Superman as a hero and his place within society rather than spending much time on his human alter ego. Again, all of this is to say that Superman: Legacy has been making rapid progress in its development for months now, whereas Fantastic Four appears to have stagnated for too long.
Fantastic Four keeps hitting numerous delays
Part of that stagnation has had to with the delays for Fantastic Four, although it must be said that some of them have been out of Marvel Studios and Disney’s control. The COVID-19 pandemic and the shuttering of movie theaters essentially pushed the entire MCU slate back, including Fantastic Four, so there understandably wasn’t much progress made at that time.
Still, there have been delays since then that have made fans frustrated, the latest of which being the change from a February 2025 release date to May 2025. While it’s only a few months, it means that the wait for a faithful and great adaption of these popular superhero characters drags on even more. Casting rumors have at least ramped up in recent months, such as speculation that Adam Driver might play Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in the new film, but nothing has appeared close to finalizing just yet. The MCU is in a noticeable point of change at this point in its existence, scaling down on the Disney+ shows and the number of movie releases per year, and with audiences not taking to this new saga quite as much as the one before, it’s all the more reason to bring in some of the most iconic Marvel characters as quickly as possible.