The in-house terminology used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is very deliberate, with seemingly throwaway lines of dialogue sometimes being paid off years in the future. That being said, there is the notable exception of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver being referred to as ‘enhanced’ in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which was a legal issue because the studio couldn’t use the word ‘mutant,’ something that’s about to change now that the X-Men are in the hands of Kevin Feige.
At the recent Disney Investor Day, the Fantastic Four reboot was officially announced with Spider-Man‘s Jon Watts at the helm, and the build towards introducing the characters into the MCU could begin as soon as November’s Eternals. In fact, some new descriptions for the major players of Chloe Zhao’s upcoming intergalactic blockbuster have teased a direct connection to Marvel’s First Family and the Silver Surfer.
It might seem like a bit of a stretch on paper, but Richard Madden’s Ikaris, Lauren Ridloff’s Makkari, Barry Keoghan’s Druig, Don Lee’s Gilgamesh and Angelina Jolie’s Thena all have their abilities listed as being derived from ‘cosmic energy.’ As tenuous as that sounds, it’s nonetheless in keeping with the Fantastic Four’s established comic book origin story, which saw them exposed to vaguely-defined ‘cosmic rays.’
Not only that, but Galactus thrives on a life-force known as the Power Cosmic, one that he uses to create his Heralds, of which Silver Surfer is the most well known. Everything in the MCU is strategically laid out years ahead of time, of course, and with Fantastic Four expected to arrive around 2023 or 2024, it would make complete sense for Eternals to start laying the groundwork for their debut given that both superhero teams boast abilities that aren’t of our world.
