One reason Marvel Studios' superhero movies are so enjoyable is the shared “Marvel Cinematic Universe” they've been building since the original Iron Man. Just as in the comics, the movies offer a world where multiple heroes coexist and interact (either to punch each other in the face or chow down on shawarma). Fox clearly wants to get in on that action too. Last week we learned that comics scribe Mark Millar has been brought on board as a creative consultant for Fox as it expands its X-Men franchise and works to reboot Fantastic Four. The goal is to develop a similar sort of shared superhero film universe.
The problem is that Fox doesn't have access to the wealth of characters Marvel Studios does. The X-Men and FF franchises may exist in the same comic book universe, but they don't intermingle nearly as often as, say, Iron Man and Captain America. But that doesn't mean Fox can't take advantage of the opportunity. We've come up with a few key ways to tie the two movie franchises together.
But not only is Franklin a mutant, he's one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. He has the ability to create and shape pocket universes essentially making him a god capable of creating and extinguishing life on a whim. Obviously, there are people who have a problem with that sort of power being in the hands of a child.
That's where the X-Men come in. Professor Xavier's school is the logical place to turn when Franklin manifests his powers. Xavier can provide the expertise even Reed Richards can't on this particular subject. An out-of-control Franklin is enough of a conflict in itself to justify a crossover between the two teams. But throw an opportunistic Doctor Doom into the mix and you've got all the makings of a classic superhero team-up.
Franklin could easily become a recurring character in the X-Men films by joining the X-Men outright. If the X-Men films remain largely in the past as First Class was, the writers face a challenge in selecting teen mutants that won't completely upset the continuity of the older movies. Why not think outside the box? And if the X-Men movies ever become too convoluted, Franklin will be on hand to snap his fingers and remake reality (assuming the Days of Future Past doesn't do that on its own).
And let's not forget that Franklin has already, in a way, been introduced into the X-Men movie continuity. There's that scene in X2: X-Men United when Mystique hacks into Stryker's computer and there's a file about Franklin on his desktop.
We'd also like to see Franklin's little sister Valeria play a role in the new franchise. During his run on Fantastic Four, Millar introduced the idea that Valeria is already at least as intelligent as her father, despite being a mere toddler. Whether that actually qualifies her as a mutant is debatable, but there's still plenty of potential in watching a four-year-old genius butt heads with hyper-intelligent, adult characters such as Beast.
We've already explored how the Days of Future Past storyline might play out on the big screen. The question now is whether the FF can be integrated into this conflict. Again, Franklin Richards is the most obvious connection. Franklin appeared in the dystopian, Sentinel-dominated future as a member of the mutant resistance and a lover to Rachel Summers. Even if it's just a small role, it might be fun to sneak Franklin into the movie version as a nod to the shared universe.
But there are other ways to integrate the FF characters into the film. In the comic, the consciousness of the older Kitty Pryde traded places with her younger self in the past using Rachel Summers' psychic powers. But if the movie calls for a more conventional, mechanical means of time travel, the X-Men can turn to Reed Richards and his big, stretchy brain for help. Or possibly Doctor Doom. Doom's patented time platforms are a hot commodity in the Marvel Universe. It could be fun to see the character play a less antagonistic role. Though not a mutant himself, even Doom may have issues with a world controlled by giant robots that don't answer to him.
The arguments for a '60s-era Fantastic Four are numerous. For one thing, the team's origin story doesn't function as well in contemporary times. In Fantastic Four #1, Reed Richards gathers his friend and trusted pilot Ben Grimm, his girlfriend Susan Storm, and her younger brother Johnny. The four steal an experimental spacecraft and are bombarded by cosmic rays, transforming into four elemental heroes. The problem is that we live in age where space tourism is rapidly becoming a reality, and Reed's risky, desperate flight no longer makes as much sense as it did 50 years ago. The option is to either embrace the old-school origin story or update it for the modern age (which Millar himself did in the Ultimate Fantastic Four comic).
There's also the notion that the Fantastic Four are very much a product of their time in general. The '60s were a time of monumental change and, for many, a time of great optimism about the future. The FF came onto the scene as adventurers and explorers of the unknown. Much like the heroes of Star Trek, they chose to boldly go where no Marvel hero had gone before. Many FF fans still consider the original Stan Lee/Jack Kirby years the best the series has ever seen. No creators have quite managed to match the sense of excitement and sheer imagination at play in those 100+ issues.
So why not craft a retro-flavored FF reboot that takes place in the 1960's? As with First Class, the setting and style would help set the movie apart from the increasingly crowded superhero movie market. But rather than stay confined to the '60s, the FF films could also explore the future of the characters in the present day. Just as the X-Men franchise has Xavier's First Class group in the '60s and the classic group in the present, the FF movies could feature the original four in the '60s and the next generation decades down the road.
Recently, Marvel debuted a second Fantastic Four comic called FF, which focuses on the young members of Reed's Future Foundation, a group of genius-level children, mutants, and other creatures who learn and work together. That concept could be adopted for the films. The Future Foundation could be the present-day offshoot of the original FF.
If the two franchises will co-exist going forward, then it makes sense for both to have a flashback period set in the '60s and a contemporary period.
Perhaps that can finally change now that the X-Men and Fantastic Four movies are going to play nicely with each other. The FF certainly have their own history of exploring the far regions of space and battling all sorts of cosmic villains. Why not pair the two teams in an epic cosmic conflict? That's the direction the Avengers movies seem to be heading.
This union could have the added benefit of filling some of the holes in the Fantastic Four universe. One of the central problems in breaking up Marvel's characters among separate studios is that certain franchises lose the use of certain characters. We already know that characters like Black Panther and the Inhumans belong to Marvel Studios, despite the fact that both debuted in the pages of Fantastic Four.
The state of cosmic villains like Annihilus and civilizations like the Kree and Skrulls is unclear, although Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige said last April he believes certain characters can be used by both Marvel and Fox. There was also a rumor that Fox was going to cede rights to Galactus and Silver Surfer in exchange for an extension on their Daredevil license, but that didn't pan out. The point remains that Fox's FF universe is always going to face certain limitations in what it can and can't use.
The X-Men's own cosmic stable can be used to bolster that of the Fantastic Four. If the Kree or Skrulls are off limits to Fox, the Shi'ar can serve as a perfectly decent replacement. Fox can't explore the Inhumans themselves, but they could easily retool the concept of a race of genetically diverse, alien outcasts to fit the X-Men world. Assuming that the rebooted FF franchise will be tackling Galactus, we'd love to see the full Marvel Universe come together to stop him. In this case, "full Marvel Universe" only amounts to two teams, but we'll take what we can get.
Yes, it's a shame we can't have one, complete cinematic universe where all of Marvel's heroes are free to interact. That said, the X-Men and FF franchises have a lot to offer one another, and we hope to see Fox begin to capitalize on that potential in the next few years.
Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following Jesse on Twitter, or on IGN.
Source : ign[dot]com
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