The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a gigantic lineup of characters to feature in both movies and television, and it's nowhere near exhausting the supply. However, not all of Marvel's characters from comic book pages are useable for the franchise. Over at 20th Century Fox, the X-Men and Fantastic Four are restricted from ever appearing in the MCU, but Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson hopes that one day the latter team will be brought in.
While speaking with Screen Rant, Scott Derrickson mentioned how he thought Moon Knight eventually joining the MCU would be a good idea, but after giving the matter a little more thought, he decided that the Fantastic Four would be better candidates. He stated:
My answer is this: I still have hope that Fantastic Four can be properly brought into the MCU because a lot of Doctor Strange -- that's the comment I read the most during that. I love those characters and I think that they still deserve another shot at finding a true home in the MCU. I still have hope for that. That's my honest answer.
Scott Derrickson is definitely not the first person to hope that the Fantastic Four will one day be added to the MCU, especially following the 2015 reboot bombing both critically and commercially. Unfortunately for those people, that won't be happening anytime soon. Last November, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said that it was "an impossibility at this juncture" to work with Fox to bring the X-Men into the MCU, so one can surmise that it's the same situation with the Fantastic Four. So even though Fox hasn't had great luck with Marvel's First Family, they're not planning on partnering with Marvel anytime soon. Still, Marvel and Sony eventually worked out a deal to share Spider-Man, so never say never.
The great thing about Scott Derrickson mentioning the Fantastic Four is that his movie, Doctor Strange, provided a way for them to someday be introduced without throwing the MCU continuity out of whack: the multi-verse. While Ant-Man set up the concept of alternate realities via the Quantum Realm, Doctor Strange fully delved into how one could access these realities through magic or other powerful means. If necessary, the MCU could have the Fantastic Four living on an alternative Earth, and through magical or science-fiction forces, they are transported to the main MCU Earth. But that's just one way their potential inclusion could be handled in Phase Four or later.
Fox has had three shots with the Fantastic Four. The first two movies, released in 2005 and 2007, respectively, were't well-received, but did okay for themselves financially. The 2015 reboot, however, was almost universally panned, forcing Fox to eventually take the planned sequel off the schedule. For now, these characters remain in limbo on the big screen.
We'll keep you updated on how things are progressing on the Fantastic Four front when more news comes in, but you can see Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange in the comfort of your home when it's released on Digital HD February 14, followed by the Blu-ray/DVD release on February 28.
