The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is in shambles. It is in need of heroes. Heroes that can rebuild the once-strong MCU. Heroes that can not only bring old fans back and new fans in but can revive the superhero genre as a whole.

The Fantastic 4 needs to save the MCU.

Before Marvel was dominating the film industry, Marvel struggled to break away from its counterpart, DC Comics.

Marvel and DC Comics have been pitted against each other since their very creation, each dominating and overshadowing all other comic book companies of that era. These two comic companies in their early days could have been considered equals.

Despite this fact, from the ’70s to the early ’90s, DC was dominating the movie industry. Making many popular movies with two of the most famous comic book characters of all time, Batman and Superman.

As DC started to release more movies, Marvel comics soon fell into the shadow of DC’s popularity. Additionally, executives at Marvel started to make questionable decisions which affected the comic company financially. Marvel declared bankruptcy. 

Eventually, in the late ’90s Marvel sold the movie rights to three of their most popular properties to stay afloat: The Fantastic 4, The X-Men, and Spider-Man. With DC making the same mistakes as Marvel eventually would make, it cleared the way for arguably more popular heroes to enter the conversation.

With several different movie companies releasing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and X-Men movies, the Marvel franchise was revived handing Marvel a prime opportunity to get serious in the movie business.

While many Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic 4 movies were made in the early 2000s, the real show didn’t start until 2008, when Iron Man flew into theaters.

Iron Man was different from the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, and other Marvel movies before it. It gambled on a hero who was not as popular as others and won the lottery. Iron Man was an immediate success, allowing Marvel to expand on Iron Man and other heroes in close relation to that character.

Marvel would soon group these movies into one universe separate from other Marvel titles, calling it The Marvel Cinematic Universe or MCU.

The MCU dominated the cinemas after this movie, releasing box-office blowouts one movie after the other. Bad Marvel movies were rare, but the bad movies that did appear and the direction they went were only a hint of what was to come. Fast-forward to 2019 where the culmination of all that Marvel had accomplished had come to a dramatic and satisfying finish through the movie Avengers Endgame.

Marvel had phases which were story arcs encompassing the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each Phase was only a part of the puzzle as where Endgame was the final piece to finish phases 1-3.

Marvel had plans for the next phases, but these plans were not for the betterment of the MCU, but for the increase in capital gain that could be made off these movies.

Marvel had their teeth sunken in; people were going to watch what came next no matter what Marvel put out. So Marvel would change from what was once quality over quantity to the exact opposite, introducing too many characters to keep up with and overarching plots that pushed many different political agendas.

Marvel had differed from making content for the fans and instead started making content for higher-ups.

While some shows and movies could find success in the chaos, bad shows and movies were a dime a dozen. This wave of disgrace has not only ruined cinema but also entertainment itself. The only franchise that could possibly save it now is The Fantastic 4. 

The Fantastic 4 follows the story of four astronauts who gain superpowers after being exposed to cosmic rays during a scientific mission.

The team consists of Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards), who is considered to be one of the smartest people in Marvel and can stretch his body like rubber; (Sue Storm) the Invisible Woman, who can turn invisible and create force fields; (Johnny Storm) the Human Torch, who can engulf his body in flames and fly; and (Ben Grimm) the Thing, who possesses immense strength, rock like skin, and insane durability.

Together, they use their powers to protect humanity from various threats, including villains like Doctor Doom and Galactus, while also grappling with their own personal struggles and dynamics as a family and superhero team.

So, how can The Fantastic 4 save the MCU? For starters, it is bringing a whole new cast of heroes, similar to the Avengers movie in 2012. In addition, similar to what movie companies did with Chris Pratt voicing Mario and Garfield, Marvel is in bringing Pedro Pascal for the role of Reed Richards.

Much of the talk is about why Marvel would choose this actor, bringing popularity from many kinds of people to the character and movie.

In the comics, Marvel and its other comics were built around The Fantastic 4, paralleling how the MCU is built around the Avengers. Consequently, fitting this team into the MCU, while keeping the same effect it had in comics, will be difficult.

Marvel is said to be going about this movie differently; however, what can The Fantastic 4 bring that is not already abundant in the MCU? The MCU already has multiple superhero teams. They already have characters with cool and interesting powers. How can this team separate itself from the others?

A quote from Matt Shakman, the director of the upcoming Fantastic 4 movie states, “They approach things with a sort of an optimistic and scientific approach that is very different from these other Marvel characters that I absolutely love, but how they solve problems is unique.”

The director loves these characters and thinks that this movie can revive the MCU.

Problems with previous Fantastic 4 movies are that Fox, the movie company in possession of the movie rights in the early 2000s, was not able to take the concept of The Fantastic 4 beyond Earth like how it was in the comics. While this was understandable due to budget and technology back then, now this should be a walk in the park.

Furthermore, this movie will be the main focus of the MCU during the next phases, other popular heroes such as Spider-Man are more than likely to come into the mix. The Spider-Man franchise within the MCU has been showing great promise, receiving ratings that other Marvel stand-alones can simply not compete with. Therefore, Spider-Man is considered by most to be what’s keeping the MCU alive.

The promise of this team meeting Spider-Man will most certainly bring more popularity to The Fantastic Four. Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four are both Marvel originals and in a way, the MCU will be going back to its roots with these movies. The Fantastic Four worked with Spider-Man on multiple occasions during the comics, and these two franchises meeting up in live action will be the biggest team-up since Endgame.

If this movie fails, Marvel will keep trying to stay alive but this failure would lead to the inescapable death of the MCU. If this happens, Marvel will likely try to reboot the MCU but as many know reboots do not always work. DC on the other hand will likely take over the live-action hero genre with their new rebooted universe. However, if The Fantastic 4 is a hit, then the MCU will have fresh heroes to work with and the MCU can make a comeback.

All in all, The future of the MCU is uncertain. The Fantastic Four could be the next big hit, teaming up with big heroes like Spider-Man and bringing back the old MCU that many loved. Although, it is hard to say whether Marvel can change their ways and release a movie that can bring the MCU back to its glory days.

All fans can do now is pray that the last hope of the MCU is made with care and consideration for what Marvel fans deserve.