Marvel's New Fantastic Four Movie Could Feature The Future Foundation
Marvel Studios celebrated the fourth of April with a post that seemed to double as a stealth "Fantastic Four" tease this week. On Thursday, the X account representing all things Marvel Cinematic Universe shared an illustration alongside four fire emojis. The artwork by Marvel Studios' Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding features The Human Torch, aka Johnny Storm, soaring through the sky above a white retro-futuristic metropolis skyline.
Storm looks at the viewers with an ultra-bright smile, and the trail of flames behind him makes the shape of the team's 4 logo. "Happy 4-4 Day!" a font emblazoned above him says. More interesting than the striking poster, though, is the link included in the tweet. Follow it, and you'll end up on a new page of the Marvel website titled "Future Foundation," which features a reading list of 4 classic "Fantastic Four" comics and one more recent title. The caption on the page reads "Delegates, we're glad you could join us. To prepare for the upcoming meeting, you've been granted access to read these issues on Marvel Unlimited." As far as hints go, this one isn't particularly subtle: it seems like the Future Foundation could show up in next year's star-studded "Fantastic Four" movie.
What is Future Foundation?
For the uninitiated (or anyone who just can't keep Marvel Comics straight anymore – you're not alone), Future Foundation is a fictional organization created by Reed Richards during Jonathan Hickman's 2010 "Fantastic Four" comic arc. Essentially a combination think tank, research group, and young superhero team, Future Foundation was designed to empower a new generation of heroes to help solve the trickiest, toughest problems the world has to face. According to Comic Book Resources, Richards first introduced it after deciding that another superhero group, The Singularity, had become too reactionary and set in its ways.
In one issue, the new group is compared directly to Professor Xavier's school for mutants, earning the nickname "Richards School for Gifted Youngsters," but the organization has also featured a surprisingly wide-ranging roster of heroes — including some who aren't exactly up-and-comers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Along with the Fantastic Four, She-Hulk, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, and Quicksilver's daughter Luna Maximoff are among the heroes who at one point held membership in the group.
If the MCU does introduce the Future Foundation, there are plenty of different plot threads they could choose to follow. The group at one point played a huge part in trying to prevent the incursion of worlds within the multiverse and helped rebuild afterward. They've also faced off against the High Evolutionary, a Kree army, and Mad Celestials. With this in mind, it's perfectly possible the MCU's Future Foundation — if it does happen — could connect back to seeds the saga planted back in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," or even "Eternals." No matter what plot Marvel follows, the addition of the Future Foundation would be a great change of pace for a hero team that so far seems to be impossible to successfully bring to the big screen.
Phase six clue or offhand social media post?
Of course, there's always a chance that the 4-4 Day post was just a cheeky nod at a Fantastic Four-related group, one that won't actually have anything to do with the upcoming film. The free comic drop includes four retro "Fantastic Four" titles from 1961 along with just one that was written post-Future Foundation: issue one of 2021's "Fantastic Four: Life Story" by Mark Russell. The throwback issues and reference to the decade-spanning "Life Story" arc both set up a retro feel that's underscored by the old-fashioned "Fantastic Four" logo that's featured on this art and a teaser image released in February. Is this a sign that the film will feature the sometimes-time-traveling Future Foundation, or simply a hint that it'll instead be a return to the classics?
It may be too soon to tell, but there are still good reasons to believe this is purposeful branding on the MCU's part. The artwork by Meinerding makes the post feel overtly related to the upcoming film, and the fact that the post comes from the Marvel Studios account rather than the Marvel Entertainment account – which features nods to comics, games, and other Marvel properties outside film and TV – is a good sign, too. Ultimately, Marvel could just be teasing fans with a cute reference that doesn't mean anything, but why build a new landing page on the site around it? The page about preparing for the "upcoming meeting" (no doubt the 2025 film) also has the URL shortcut "ff," which of course can stand for both Fantastic Four and Future Foundation.
We'll find out if the Future Foundation has a place in the MCU when the new "Fantastic Four" film hits theaters on July 25, 2025.