Marvel’s cinematic past and future are colliding once again, with fans revisiting the studio’s earliest attempts at superhero storytelling as Kevin Feige prepares the MCU for its next era.
Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe closed with Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* (2025), a project rebranded in marketing as The New Avengers. The film surprised audiences with its grounded take on Marvel’s misfits, earning critical acclaim and giving Schreier the chance to direct the MCU’s first X-Men movie.
Marvel hopes that the X-Men can spark a creative reset while maintaining continuity. As Feige explained, the “Mutant Saga” isn’t a total reboot but a new foundation to build on after the Multiverse Saga concludes with Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
Both films will be helmed by Anthony and Joe Russo. Unlike Endgame, which served as a definitive conclusion, Feige views these projects as a transition point to usher in fresh stories and characters.
At the same time, Phase Six launched with The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025). Featuring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, the Matt Shakman-directed blockbuster soared in its opening weekend before stalling at the box office in week two. Still, Disney CEO assured investors that the team remains central to the MCU’s long-term plans, something Feige himself had confirmed years earlier by announcing their inclusion in future Avengers installments.
The film also introduced Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal and Ralph Ineson as Galactus. Despite its uneven box office legs, First Steps has been widely celebrated as the definitive Fantastic Four film, especially compared to the mixed legacy of Fox’s 2005, 2007, and 2015 attempts.
The original Fantastic Four film debuted on July 8, 2005, directed by Tim Story and released by 20th Century Fox. It predated Marvel Studios’ shared universe and gave audiences their first big-screen look at Marvel’s First Family.
Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis led the cast, playing heroes forever changed by a cosmic accident. They faced off against Julian McMahon’s Victor Von Doom, while Kerry Washington’s Alicia Masters brought an emotional anchor.
The film received poor critical notices, with reviewers calling out uneven pacing and awkward dialogue. Even so, it pulled in $333 million worldwide against a $100 million budget. Its lighter tone, positioned somewhere between family drama and action comedy, gave it a different flavor than darker superhero efforts of its time. The commercial success led to the 2007 sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer.
But behind the scenes, things could have turned out much differently.
Speaking on Hanna Flint’s Fade to Black podcast, Chris Columbus revealed he was once attached to Fantastic Four before being removed from the project.
“We were in a weird situation,” Columbus said. “On the first Fantastic Four, I had worked on a script. There were a lot of writers involved. They were about to make a movie, and I was producing it. I met with the director and had some ideas.”
Columbus recalled giving feedback on the art direction: “I basically said, ‘Some of this conceptual art should feel more like Jack Kirby, the creator of the Fantastic Four, and should feel more like the Silver Age of Marvel.' I left that meeting and on the way back from my house, I got a call from the head of 20th Century Fox saying I was fired and had too much of an opinion.”
Despite his affection for superhero films like Spider-Man 2 (2004) and The Batman (2022), Columbus admitted he won’t be returning to the genre. “I realized I don’t have a desire to make those movies anymore because people are doing them better than I ever could at this point in my career,” he said.
Fans can watch his full interview here:
As Marvel marches toward the closing chapters of the Multiverse Saga and beyond—with a slate extending into 2028—the studio continues to look both backward and forward. Whether it can match the monumental highs of Phase Three remains to be seen, but with Avengers and X-Men on the horizon, the next few years promise no shortage of spectacle.
Do you think a Chris Columbus Fantastic Four movie could have changed the direction of the comic book genre? Let us know in the comments down below!
