The Fantastic Four will officially enter the MCU in 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and they can break a dark MCU trend that involves Marvel’s First Family. Audiences have long awaited The Fantastic Four’s debut in the MCU. While the team has starred in three movies already under the Fox Marvel umbrella, these movies were met with mixed to poor reactions, leaving viewers hoping that Marvel can deliver a great film starring The Fantastic Four. Phases 4 and 5 have thus far teased the group’s arrival, but only in a limited capacity.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness included an appearance by John Krasinski as Reed Richards. While the actor isn’t playing the main Reed in the MCU timeline – instead embodying a variant of the hero – this still made a dream fan-casting a reality. Deadpool & Wolverine featured Chris Evans hilariously reprising his role as Johnny Storm, which he played in 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Both cameos are nice nods to The Fantastic Four, but their appearances also established a surprisingly grim trend that the upcoming Marvel movie can break.