Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld reveals that he is impatient for Fantastic 4 and X-Men to appear in the MCU. The first Fantastic 4 film was released in 2005 to mixed reviews but a decent box office haul. Although the movie proved divisive, a sequel, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, was released in 2007, proving just as divisive as the first. The franchise lay dormant until 2015 when Josh Trank released his own adaptation, which was a massive flop both critically and commercially.
Although proving generally more successful both with audiences and critics, the X-Men also have yet to make an appearance in the MCU. The first X-Men movie was released in 2000 with a number of sequels and spin-offs having been released in the years since. After 2008's Iron Man essentially kick-started the MCU as it exists today, many fans have been waiting for characters from both Fantastic 4 and X-Men to make their MCU debut.
In a new interview with Kristian Harloff, Liefeld reveals that, as a fan, he too wants Fantastic 4 and X-Men to make appearances in the MCU. Liefeld explains that, after growing up during the Bronze Age of comics, which has been heavily drawn upon for recent MCU films like Black Widow, Liefeld thinks it's time for other heroes from that age to also get the MCU treatment, namely Fantastic 4 and X-Men. Check out Liefeld's full comment below:
"Everything they showed you in Black Widow is the Bronze Age of comics. In 2021, we got [the Bronze Age in the MCU], which is my childhood, and I keep going, 'Can we just have the X-Men? Just give us what we want.' What I want is, I want to see Fantastic 4, I want to see the X-Men."
With recent X-Men and Fantastic 4 movies generally proving disappointing, Liefeld is among a large group of fans that wants to see their fan-favorite characters make a comeback in a big way as part of the MCU. Giving characters like Johnny Storm and Charles Xavier the opportunity to appear in the same universe as characters like Doctor Strange and Shang-Chi could make for some truly epic team-up movies down the line. Fortunately, Spider-Man: Homecoming trilogy director Jon Watts is currently attached to do just that, with a new Fantastic 4 MCU movie reportedly in the very early stages of production.
Even the worst-rated MCU movies are decent fun, meaning any MCU Fantastic 4 or X-Men adaptations are likely to at least be better than their worst outings in the past. With 2015's Fantastic 4 holding only a 9% on Rotten Tomatoes, there really isn't anywhere to go but up for that particular franchise. While Fantastic 4 has struggled to carve out its own niche in the last few years and can essentially be rebuilt from the ground-up within the MCU, X-Men has had more success building out its very own universe and crafting fan-favorite characters, potentially making an MCU integration a slightly more complicated proposition. With Deadpool 3 set to introduce Wade Wilson into the MCU, it seems like only a matter of time before Leifeld gets to see both the Fantastic 4 and X-Men MCU debuts as well.
Source: Kristian Harloff
