It might have been the only movie that didn’t get a release date revealed during Marvel Studios’ Phase Four sizzle reel, but looking at the calendar, the smart money is on Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four arriving by the end of 2023, something fans are already starting to get excited about.
Based on the franchise’s schedule it makes sense, given that there are four Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbusters heading to theaters before the end of this year, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Marvels hitting cinemas over the following twelve months, but so far, 2023 only has two confirmed titles.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set for February and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is locked for July, so there are at least two slots left wide open. Naturally, most folks are expecting Fantastic Four to take one of them, while the other is looking like it could be Mahershala Ali’s Blade given that Deadpool 3 has to account for Ryan Reynolds’ packed schedule and Captain America 4 was only announced a couple of weeks ago.
In any case, tipster Mikey Sutton now reports that the Fantastic Four cast will be announced before the end of the year, which would fit the expected timeline if the cosmic comic book adaptation shoots in 2022. Of course, Marvel are no doubt working feverishly behind the scenes already, and they’ll have their ensemble locked well ahead of it being made public. Let’s not forget that Hawkeye had been shooting for weeks before Kevin Feige actually got around to naming Hailee Steinfeld as the MCU’s Kate Bishop, even though countless set photos showing her in costume had been widely circulated online.
