Marvel’s new Invisible Woman comic may have shown how the Fantastic Four can join the MCU–and how the ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home may set it up perfectly. And now that Marvel has officially teased the Fantastic Four and X-Men, it actually seems easier for Marvel to add the Fantastic Family into the mix.
Although not much is known about Marvel’s Phase 4 plans, the MCU is primed to embrace the cosmic as never before. The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is going from strength to strength, and James Gunn is returning for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel grossed over $1 billion in the global box office, and Spider-Man’s credits scene sets up SWORD, the next phase of Nick Fury’s plan for protecting humanity. A plan that may be too perfect an opening for Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben for the MCU to pass up.
Marvel Comics has just launched their first Invisible Woman ongoing series, and while it wasnèt expected, the story offers a new approach Marvel Studios can follow to introduce the Fantastic Four. The comic opens with a flashback to Sue Storm’s early career, when she was secretly working for SHIELD. While a new twist, Sue’s powers are perfectly suited to espionage: her invisibility means she can slip past any obstacle, while her force-fields can easily handle any threats to herself or her team.
It’s not hard to imagine the MCU’s Fantastic Four working for Nick Fury as part of his SWORD operation. Reed Richards’s intelligence would be of tremendous use creating advanced technology–human or Skrull–to help keep the Earth safe. When asking who Fury could have turned to for help designing SWORD’s headquarters (an orbital satellite called the Peak, seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home’s post-credits scene), the natural answer is Reed Richards… since that isn’t a secret you could ever trust with Tony Stark.
From there, the pieces fall into place with hardly any work: both Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm are experienced pilots by trade, with Ben already working for NASA in his comic history. Whether they’ve been working as Fury’s top team, or just among those he recruited, working alongside him in space puts them directly on the path to their strange origin story fueled by the ‘Power Cosmic,’ transforming them into the Fantastic Four. Neatly turning the Fantastic Four into Earth’s first line of defense against cosmic threats, without the pesky ‘becoming a hero’ stages that the MCU is overflowing with already.
That would explain why they would be the first ones who go up against the likes of Galactus or the Super-Skrull, Annihilus or Blastaar. Even better, this approach would ensure the MCU’s Fantastic Four are different to anything seen on the big screen before. They would immediately be looking to the stars with experience in science and combat–while also removing any need to introduce Doctor Doom as part of their origin story. Will fans one day look back on Fury’s credits scene in Far From Home, and know Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben are somewhere in the background? Marvel’s Invisible Woman series proves the potential.
Invisible Woman #1 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.
More: Avengers 5 Theory: Endgame Set Up Kang The Conqueror As Phase 4’s Villain