Avengers: Endgame Introduced the Perfect Way to Bring the X-Men and Fantastic Four Into the MCU
When this phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes to an end with Spider-Man: Far From Home this summer, it's unclear what's next for Disney's massive superhero franchise. There's still another Guardians movie on the way, along with a Black Widow prequel and another Black Panther movie—but who will be the new superheroes to take the place of those we lost in Avengers: Endgame?
Thanks to some of Disney's recent business deals, we know a few of the new superheroes that could be added to this universe. Last year, after completing a $66 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Disney CEO Bob Iger told Deadline, "We’re also looking forward to expanding the Marvel cinematic universe to include X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool."
With that, fans largely assume the next phase of the MCU will somehow involve either the X-Men or Fantastic Four. As Rosie Knight noted for Esquire, "there's a chance that all the Avengers' time-shenanigans have just opened the door to some of Marvel's most famous dimension
Writer Alex Pareene also has a pretty damn good theory about how to fit the Fantastic Four into the MCU:
Meanwhile, it seems like all the meddling with reality also invites a pretty easy opportunity to write the X-Men into this complex world of superheroes. As one Reddit user writes:
Remember when Rocket said that cosmic bullshit was released all over the Earth when the snap happened?
Remember when Hulk said “it’s mostly gamma radiation” as the reason for him to put on the gauntlet? Gamma radiation....the thing that made Bruce turn into the hulk....the thing that can cause...whats the word...mutations...? So in Endgame Thanos’s snap released gamma radiation all over the world....hulk radiation went all of the world meaning that people could feasibly become super powered mutants.
I don’t know if they realized it, but what they’ve set up is brilliant. Now the only question is why would people hate mutants and not characters like spider man? Simple. Mutants gained their powers from Thanos’s snap, the single greatest tragedy in the history of the universe.
Disney has quite a few options with how to proceed with this next phase. Maybe that's what they'll tease in the Spider-Man: Far From Home post credit scene.
This story originally appeared on Esquire.com.
* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
