The Fox X-men and Fantastic Four have largely been rumored to pop up at some point in the Multiverse Saga, at least in Avengers: Secret Wars if not one or two more projects. Eventually though, there will also be new iterations of these Marvel Superhero teams in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, the Fantastic Four are scheduled to have their MCU debut in 2025. With this upcoming Fantastic Four movie being labeled as not an origin story, and some of the mutants in the X-men world being around for decades, the question remains, what have these superheroes been doing during all of the world threatening events that have occurred during Phases 1 through 4?
The X-Men
In the MCU, It could be said that Professor Xavier had not yet formed the X-men during the Battle of New York that took place in the first Avengers movie. The first team of X-men is made up of teenagers, so at that time, the future heroes might have been kids. Sure Wolverine was around somewhere, but he was probably halfway across the world. It could be said that Jean Grey was Professor Xavier’s only student at the time of the Battle of New York. He would have felt that she was too young and inexperienced to go off and fight in such a battle, especially when the Avengers were already taking care of it. Although, Xavier could have been helping fight with his telepathy from afar.
During the events of Age of Ultron with Sokovia, Professor X might be teaching Jean as well as Scott Summers (Cyclops), but Hank McCoy (Beast), Bobby Drake Iceman, and Warren Worthington (Archangel) had not yet joined the school. This situation would also warrant Professor Xavier’s decision to keep them out of the fight. The reasons can go on and on, especially if the team is trapped on the island of Krakoa or perhaps living there by choice after something big with mutants happened, and Professor X wiped everyone’s minds about it.
The Fantastic Four
As far as the Fantastic Four team is concerned, they may have been lost in space or some other dimension. Another theory is that they have been in the Quantum Realm, but after no hint of them in Antman and the Wasp Quantumania, it seems that theory is unlikely. The story could go that the Fantastic Four were mostly explorers who stopped a few crimes here or there, and then traveled to either space, or another dimension, and got stuck there. Their first movie in the MCU could show how they get back, and what they’ve learned about the place that they have been whether it is outer space or another dimension. Perhaps they ran into Galactus, and fear that he will come to devour Earth.
The Multiverse Theory
The previously mentioned theories could all work, but none of them tie in to the Multiverse as well as this next one. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Fox X-men and Fantastic Four will most likely show up, and we know that they will be from alternate timelines, but perhaps the more permanent versions of these teams will also come from other timelines. While the Mr. Fantastic and Professor X from Earth 838 apparently died in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, there are countless other time lines that could contain the main MCU Fantastic Four and X-men teams.
It may be hard to consider these alternate time line versions of these teams to be the main versions that we will be following for the next few years, but when we consider the nature of the Multiverse and its history in the comics, it actually makes sense. In the comics, there is a story line where Franklin Richards (the son of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman) uses his reality altering abilities to bring the survivors of his time line into a new one. Franklin could end up doing the same thing for the survivors of Avengers Secret Wars.
The Multiverse Saga Connection
One reason why this theory might be a little too extreme is that even though the Fantastic Four movie is scheduled to premiere during the middle to end of the Multiverse saga, there are currently no plans for any X-men movies. However, the theory could still work for the Fantastic Four alone. If this theory did turn out to be true, it could potentially be a great way to usher in these other Marvel Superhero teams while allowing audiences to connect better with the Multiverse as a concept overall.
While the absence of these two teams for the Infinity Saga and its aftermath does raise some questions, There are a few different ways to explain what Marvel’s first superhero family, and all of the many mutants have been up to, but this direction could add some more substance to the Multiverse Saga.
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