Deadpool 2 was packed with fan-pleasing easter eggs and cameos, with the most obvious being the first appearance of X-Men villain Juggernaut since 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand. It turns out that the Merc with a Mouth’s sequel could have also found room for the Fantastic Four as well though, if original director Tim Miller had stuck with the project and not been replaced by David Leitch.
Though we never got to see a Fantastic Four/Deadpool crossover, even on the extended Super Duper Cut home video release, these awesome pieces of concept art seen down below reveal how the characters might’ve appeared. Marvel artist Alexander Lozano shared the work on Instagram, along with some information about how Miller envisioned the heroes.
First off, instead of recasting Marvel’s First Family, the stars of 2015’s reboot would’ve reprised their roles – so that’s Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell. The team’s costumes are somewhat in keeping with the grounded look of that movie, though Lozano explained that Miller wanted to give the Thing a complete visual overhaul in order to bring him closer to the comics.
Here’s how the artist explained it:
“Tim Miller was very precise when it came to the description of “the thing”. he wanted to make sure that I orient myself in the design as close as possible to the comic template to finally give us, the fans, what we always wanted to see on the big screen. It may sound surprising, but the supposedly simple task turned out to be a major challenge after several failed attempts than originally assumed – for the sake of my reputation I will spare you all those design errors.”
This isn’t the first that time we’ve heard that the Four might have shown up in Deadpool 2. There appear to have been multiple ideas flying around for a post-credits scene which featured either the 2015 team or possibly even Chris Evans back as the Human Torch from the 2005 and 2007 films. Ultimately, though, none of that came to be. According to Lozano, that’s because it was mostly Miller who was pushing for it. Once he fell out with star Ryan Reynolds, the idea was apparently scrapped.
For Marvel fans, this would’ve been a welcome reappearance for the group, so it’s a shame it didn’t come to fruition in Deadpool 2. Still, with Disney’s acquisition of Fox, there’s every chance that Marvel Studios will have a new Fantastic Four movie on the way in the next few years.
