Marvel’s science consultant knows how to bring the Fantastic Four to the MCU

It’s only a matter of time before the Fantastic Four are introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the studio’s science consultant knows just how to do it.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is entering Phase 4, and a whole bunch of new superheroes are about to make their character, including The Eternals and the cast of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. But now that Disney has bought Fox, it’s all but assured that they’ll be coming along at some point, and Marvel Studios science consultant Dr. Clifford Johnson has an idea on how to bring Marvel’s first family into the fold.

Dr. Johnson is a Professor of Physics and has worked with Marvel Studios on stuff like Agent Carter, Thor: Ragnorok, and both of the most recent Avengers movies. He might not literally be in the writers’ room, but his voice is heard, and he has a great idea on how to introduce Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm into the MCU: put them in the sequel to Black Panther.

“Wakanda and the Fantastic Four should connect at the beginning, and I know how to do it,” Johnson told IndieWire. “I think it would be a cool wink to the comics and another way to show diversity in science to have the entry point of the Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe happen because the Wakandans discover them in some extra dimension and bring them into the MCU. If they call me, I’m willing to go to town on that.”

Black Panther 2 is set for release in 2022, so watch out for that. Introducing the Fantastic Four through Black Panther would also be a nice nod to the comics, as T’Challa made his comics debut in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966.

Of course, with Johnson being a scientist, he can relate to fellow science geek Reed Richards. His dream is to work on the MCU’s interpretation of the Fantastic Four and weave some real science into the Marvel universe.

"That is so my jam. Reed Richards was taking his team and they were going off into weird higher dimensions and stuff. That’s stuff we’re trying to understand now in real science, so I would love to have the opportunity to help them make that look great and to weave that into a story."

The last time the Fantastic Four showed up onscreen was in Josh Trank’s disappointing 2015 movie. Hopefully they’ll make out better this time, and the groundwork may already be getting laid: the post-credit scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home might have kinda-sorta hinted the team is on the way:

While Spidey is swinging throughout New York City, he lands in front of Avengers Tower, which has a fence around, to hide the construction. On the fence, numbers count up from one to two to three to…a question mark. “We can’t wait to show you what comes next,” a message on the fence reads. Hmmm.

Or it’s a teaser for Phase 4 of the MCU. But we prefer to interpret the way we like it, thank you very much.

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