Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige says the pending implementation of the X-Men and Fantastic Four didn’t change the plans for the MCU’s multiverse. After the multiverse’s mention in 2016's Doctor Strange, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame laid the breadcrumbs for its evolution throughout Phase 4. That same year, Disney acquired Fox, bringing characters like the X-Men, Deadpool, and the Fantastic Four under the control of Marvel Studios. While Deadpool 3 is already confirmed and a Fantastic Four reboot is expected to begin filming in 2023, audiences have yet to see a mutant in the MCU.
Marvel Studios’ first project to premiere as part of Phase 4 was Disney+’s WandaVision. Many believed Evan Peters’ (who played Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver in Fox’s X-Men franchise) casting in the series would be the first multiversal character to show up in the MCU. However, “Ralph Boner” turned out to be just a red herring. It wouldn’t be until the third Marvel/Disney+ series, Loki, that the MCU really began to establish its multiverse, introducing concepts such as alternate timelines and variants before Sylvie killed He Who Remains, liberated the Sacred Timeline, and unleashed infinite devils in Kang the Conqueror.
In a recent interview with Collider during the press tour for Spider-Man: No Way Home, Feige remained adamant that the characters and new opportunities awarded by the Fox merger didn’t change Marvel Studio’s multiverse plans. While citing its power in the comics, Feige spoke on the timeline for the MCU’s multiverse. Read his comments below:
"You know, I think we first mentioned it, or the Ancient One mentions it in Doctor Strange 1 when she's taking Stephen Strange through that mind-warping journey. It was always one of the most powerful storytelling tools in the comics ... One you have to wield carefully because it can get overwhelming, but now also one with the 20-plus history of the movies there are enough characters we can start playing with it that way. We mention it, obviously, as part of Mysterio's ruse in Far From Home. I think the toys that were added to that toybox increased with that Fox acquisition, but it didn't change the timetable on when we were introducing the idea of the multiverse."
Feige has said in the past that the multiverse has always been a part of the MCU conversation. “Mysterio’s ruse” in Spider-Man: Far From Home saw him use the term “Earth-616,” which is Marvel Comics’ main earth. On top of that, Earth-616 was written on a chalkboard by Erik Selvig in Thor: The Dark World in 2013. So, Feige and company have at least pondered the idea of the multiverse as far back as Phase 2.
Now, audiences are eagerly awaiting the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home as the multiverse brings back villains from Sony’s past, including Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Electro (Jamie Foxx), and Lizard (Rhys Ifans). Rumor has it, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's respective Spider-Men will also show up to aide Tom Holland’s webslinging hero — which is exactly the type of nostalgia fans will experience if familiar X-Men appear in the MCU. That being said, Spider-Man: No Way Home’s follow-up, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is teased to “crack” open the multiverse even further. Having more characters to use in Marvel's world through Fox can make that film all the more exciting, and perhaps it will be the first to bring mutants into the MCU.
Source: Collider/YouTube
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