There’s no question that Marvel Studios has a jam-packed schedule of projects for the next three years, many of which are being announced and teased at the 2022 D23 Fan Expo. But one that has built up arguably more hype than any other is 2024’s Fantastic Four, which will finally bring Marvel’s First Family alongside Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the MCU.
After the movie’s exciting moment of glory at San Diego Comic-Con, in which Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed its 2024 release date, fans were expecting more of the same during Marvel’s panel at D23. But even while numerous Phase 5 entries got their moment in the sun, Fantastic Four was largely left untouched in the proceedings from Anaheim, California.
The one big piece of Fantastic Four news came with Matt Shakman officially being confirmed as the movie’s director, but no actors were announced after rumors pointed to the movie’s cast starting to come together. Following that news (and lack thereof), fans took to Twitter to voice their opinions about how this new outing failed to live up to lofty expectations.
Marvel Fans Upset by Fantastic Four Absence
During Marvel Studios' presentation at the 2022 D23 Fan Expo, there were no announcements about the cast or story for the MCU's Fantastic Four, which is set for release on November 8, 2024. Although WandaVision's Matt Shakman was announced as the movie's director, fans shared their disappointment on Twitter about not hearing more about this movie.
@PJ_Lowry bluntly said that Marvel let the fans down with no updates on the Fantastic Four cast, also mentioning the lack of news on the X-Men and Deadpool:
"No casting news for Fantastic Four.
No announcements for X-Men or Deadpool.
No Ant Man 3 Trailer.
Marvel really let us down this year.
Yawn."
@littlemannelson joked about how Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige let fans "keep on theorizing" about who will play the core four characters:
"LMAOOOOO Feige said y’all can keep on theorizing about the Fantastic Four"
@spideychois noted how much news fans got about The Mandalorian and Daredevil: Born Again, complaining about the fact that nothing came for Fantastic Four or Deadpool 3 in return:
"so we got mando s3 and daredevil born again news but at the cost of nothing for deadpool 3 or fantastic four .."
@Zasstryn simply said they were "kinda pissed" that Marvel Studios didn't bring anything for the franchise's first movie for the Fantastic Four:
"Kinda pissed no cast announcement for Fantastic Four"
@loganereed called it a "major L(oss)" that Fantastic Four was left on the table for this presentation:
"no fantastic four cast today major L"
@KatRodriguezG couldn't believe that there was nothing on the Fantastic Four movie, expressing her disappointment:
"There's not Fantastic Four? For real?"
When Will Fantastic Four Get More Updates?
Even with a panel that confirmed the main cast of 2024’s Thunderbolts and announced the return of a long-lost MCU villain in Captain America: New World Order, the lack of Fantastic Four news certainly let down many fans. After all, these characters have been theorized and fantasized about in more fan-casts than almost any future MCU movie to date.
The disappointment is especially present after rumors indicated that Marvel had spoken to a couple of major stars about taking roles for key Fantastic Four members. Free Guy’s Jodie Comer was said to be nearly locked in as the MCU’s Sue Storm, while Penn Badgley had reportedly spoken to the team about potentially playing Reed Richards.
But with this new outing still more than two years away, it appears that Marvel is waiting to make any big decisions on casting or story details until a later date, which disappoints many viewers. Even so, the Fantastic Four have been arguably the MCU's most anticipated new arrival since their movie was confirmed in late 2020, which only increased after John Krasinski's casting as a Multiversal Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
As Phase 4 leads into Phase 5 later this year, this team is sure to get more updates as Shakman gets to work preparing the team's first MCU adventure.
Fantastic Four is set to premiere in theaters on November 8, 2024.
