Author: Charles Murphy

The Multiverse Saga has opened the door to some bizarre new worlds. Through projects such as Loki, What If…?, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Marvels and, most recently, Deadpool & Wolverine, the MCU has expanded to include dozens of parallel universes and alternate timelines populated with Variants of characters drawn from 25 years of Marvel superhero films. As the studio’s second saga enters the home stretch toward Avengers: Secret Wars, fans should expect the multiversal madness to continue, including in one of its most anticipated 2025 projects.

In development since Disney’s 2019 merger with Fox, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set to bring Marvel Comics First Family into the MCU on July 26, 2025. Directed by Matt Shakman, Marvel Studios take on the superhero team looks to be vastly different than Fox’s mostly maligned efforts at bringing them to the big screen. The Marvel Parliament certainly knew they had to go to great lengths to set the new film apart from its predecessors and, in doing so, made a bold and brilliant move that helped take the team back to its comic book roots.

Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be the first MCU film fully set in a timeline other than Earth-616’s Sacred Timeline. Sure, Deadpool & Wolverine spent some time on Earth-10005 but was, for the most part, set in the Void which exists beyond the reach of time. Shakman’s film, on the other hand, is expected to take place almost entirely in a 1960s retro futuristic universe that, as of now, has been given no specific designation. However, as more information about the film continues to make its way online, it’s starting to sound as though that universe may be based on one of Marvel Comics’ most incredible and diverse parallels to Earth-616.

Designed by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger as an alternate, future dystopian version of the Marvel Universe, Earth-9997, also known as Earth-X, offers one of the publisher’s boldest reimaginings of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s vision to date. Full of wonderfully redesigned characters, wild story lines and  one of the most creative twists in the history of Marvel Comics. And, as evidence starts to pile up, it’s becoming increasingly possible that Earth-X may be making its way into the MCU, even if it’s not quite a one-to-one adaptation.

The possibility of The Fantastic Four: First Steps being set on the MCU’s version of Earth-X first arose when Julia Garner was revealed to be portraying a female version of the Silver Surfer known as Shalla-Bal. Traditionally, Bal is the lost love of Norrin Rad who, as the Silver Surfer, serves as the Herald of Galactus. However, in the Earth-X continuity, Bal does indeed become the Silver Sentinel of the Spaceways. Now, interestingly enough, recent rumors May add more fuel to the fire that the 2025 film is set on Earth-9997.

In Earth-X #2, it was revealed that Franklin Richards, the son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman and arguably the most powerful being in the Marvel Universe, eventually became Galactus. It was one of many shocking twists to the established canon of Marvel’s Earth-616 and, eventually, the twists became so twisty that the original plan to establish Earth-X as the future of Earth-616 were abandoned. However, as one of the publisher’s most imaginative and fertile storytelling environments, it was only matter of time before it’s elements made their way into the MCU…and now it seems as though The Fantastic Four: First Steps may well have borrowed that big Galactus shocker.

As the plot for the story begins to take shape, a new rumor indicates that Franklin Richards will be a major player in The Fantastic Four; First Steps despite being only four-years old. The news, shared by reliable Marvel insider Daniel RPK, calls to mind an old rumor about the film which had Franklin as the focal point of Galactus’ trip to Earth. In that scenario, it was rumored that Galactus was interested in the child because in the alternate timeline of the project, Franklin was Galactus, just as in the Earth-X books!

Should the rumors about Franklin and Galactus be true, they might go a long way on explaining why the Fantastic Four have to find a new home after the events of the film. In the Earth-X continuity, the Celestials seed planets with eggs which are ultimately consumed by Galactus. This idea isn’t too far removed from what was seen in Eternals and could readily be adapted to explain why the native Earth of the MCU’s Fantastic Four ceased to exist and why the team at ultimately seek out a new home where they can save the day from the threat of Galactus. Of course, it’s all speculation until it’s not but it’s worth a think!