Wild MCU Theory Claims The OG Fantastic Four Might Be Back (Including Chris Evans)

Many are excited for the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps before the long wait for the next upcoming Marvel movie, and it's likely to be a big hit at the box office. That said, the internet has been buzzing about a theory surrounding the cast of the original FF movie, and how Chris Evans, Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd and Michael Chiklis could all end up appearing as their characters again for the first time in nearly 20 years.

While Evans returned as Johnny Storm for Deadpool & Wolverine, we haven't seen the First Family cast together since the 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Now there's a wild theory that the Marvel Cinematic Universe's creatives could be prepping to bring the whole crew back. I know, it sounds like a STRETCH, but it's still certainly worth considering.

How New Avengers May Be The Key To The Original Fantastic Four Returning

The theory, as posed by ScreenRant, connects back to the post-credit scene that follows the ending of Thunderbolts*/New Avengers. Directed by the Russo brothers, the scene shows the Fantastic Four's shuttle arriving in the Sacred Timeline. Marvel's Kevin Feige seemingly dropped a big clue to Empire (via ScreenRant) about the shuttle, and noted that he believed it could be different than the one seen in The Fantastic Four: First Steps:

Feige has stopped trolling Marvel fans after the backlash from WandaVision, so I think he's genuine in hinting to people that not all is as it seems when it comes to that ship. At the very least, he's seemingly suggesting we shouldn't expect the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps to emerge from that shuttle, but what makes others think it'll be the actors from the original movie?

Why Would The MCU Bring Back The Original Fantastic Four?

It would make sense that the storytellers in the MCU were setting up to bring back the original Fantastic Four group, especially after reminding audiences about them with Chris Evans' cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. Of course, the question of why they'd need to be included in future Avengers movies is a valid question, especially since their Doctor Doom isn't even portrayed by Robert Downey Jr.

Playing devil's advocate that this theory is true, my personal opinion is that Marvel Studios is encouraging storytellers to load as many heroes into the universe as it can ahead of the new Avengers movies because it intends to make it a bloodbath event. Audiences will expect the stakes to match the destruction seen in Avengers: Endgame, and I think the only way that happens is if Doctor Doom just wipes a healthy number of heroes off the planet for good.

Of course, executives at Marvel Studios still want to make movies, so it would be a smarter idea to bring in past Marvel actors and have those characters killed off as opposed to the ones they intend to stick with. It's one of the advantages of the multiverse, but that's just my theory as to why someone as random as the original Fantastic Four cast would factor into the MCU in the immediate future.

Watch the original Fantastic Four movies right now over on Disney+, and get ready for The Fantastic Four: First Steps when it arrives on July 25th. That'll be right in the middle of San Diego Comic-Con, so maybe there will be some more insight as to what's going on with that shuttle by then.