The Big MCU Phase 4 Issue Is Making You Care About An Avengers Replacement

MCU Phase 4 already boasts some impressive releases such as Loki and Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, yet the Avengers’ absence remains hard to disguise, which is causing audiences to wonder: will Marvel Studios place a new team under the spotlight to fill that void? Phase 4 kicked off in early 2021 with the release of Wandavision, and now includes 9 projects ending with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Throughout the Phase 4 releases, the absence of The Avengers has been very noticeable – which is to be expected when Avengers: Endgame left the MCU with three out of the six core team members. Even though the MCU now hosts more characters than ever, it is becoming increasingly evident that Marvel Studios will have to introduce a new MCU superhero team to replace the Avengers sooner rather than later.

However, that proposition is easier said than done, as Marvel Studios have already tried and failed to get viewers attached to a new team of heroes in Eternals. What made MCU characters like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers special is the time audiences had to get attached to them. Robert Downy Jr. played Iron Man for 11 years before exiting the MCU in 2019’s Endgame, and Chris Evans played Rogers for 8. Expecting Marvel Studios to build up a new collection of characters for an additional 11 years is unrealistic, and also unnecessary. Audiences have become attached to the MCU franchise itself over the years, so much so that Shang Chi, a film starring a less well known superhero, came close to grossing half a billion US Dollars during a pandemic.

Now that most of the original Avengers have left the franchise, casual viewers and MCU enthusiasts alike are beginning to wonder which team will take their place. Marvel comics have no shortage of superhero teams; Phase 4 has already teased half a dozen options, some of which are confirmed, while others are very likely to happen based on the direction the MCU is going. With Marvel now having the right to use the vast majority of their characters, there’s no telling which team will end up taking center stage, although one team does stand out above the rest.

MCU Phase 4 Sets Up Multiple Avengers Replacements

MCU Phase 4 is setting up six teams to take shape at some point in the MCU’s future, each of which could be prominent enough to become the new face of the MCU. The two prime candidates for an Avengers replacement are both teams that Marvel recently regained the rights to. Following Disney’s historic acquisition of 20th Century Fox in March of 2019, the film rights for the Fantastic Four and the X-Men reverted back to Marvel Studios. Not only do these two teams already boast huge fanbases, but both of them also have some of Marvel’s most popular characters as team members, not to mention their rogues’ galleries, which include some of the best Marvel Comics villains.

Phase 4 projects like Falcon And The Winter Soldier and Black Widow could have already introduced some key members of an MCU version of the New Avengers. Sam Wilson as Captain America, Monica Rambeau as Spectrum, and even Hawkeye‘s Kate Bishop could all become members of a new Avengers team leading the MCU into Phase 5 and beyond. With more legacy characters on their way to join the MCU, such as Jane Foster becoming Thor in the upcoming Thor: Love And Thunder, Marvel Studios might already have all the members necessary to form the New Avengers. Another Avengers-themed team has also been heavily teased throughout the MCU’s 2021 projects, and that is the Young Avengers. Candidates include Wanda’s kids as Wiccan and Speed, Isaiah Bradley’s grandson as Patriot, America Chavez, and Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel.

Some darker teams are also expected to join the MCU in the coming years. Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s character Val is presumably putting together the MCU’s thunderbolts, starting with John Walker as U.S. Agent and Yelena Belova as seen in Black Widow’s post-credits scene. Some upcoming Marvel Projects such as Moon Knight and Blade could also be the starting point for the Midnight Sons, a darker faction of the Avengers that usually deals with darker mystical threats, often led by none other than Doctor Strange.

Fantastic 4 Could Be The First Real Avengers Replacement

Since they are the only team with a confirmed MCU project, the Fantastic Four are poised to be the first superhero team to replace the Avengers. During Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel at 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con, Kevin Feige revealed that a Fantastic Four feature is already in development, following that up with an official announcement during Disney’s 2020 investor day presentation. Jon Watts, the director of Tom Holland’s MCU Spider-Man trilogy, will helm the highly anticipated project. Even though Feige did confirm that “The Mutants are coming” during the same Hall H panel, an X-Men Project is yet to be officially announced.

Being the first team to receive a dedicated MCU project gives the Fantastic Four an edge over other Marvel Teams when it comes to replacing the Avengers. Not only will this give audiences more time to grow fond of these iconic characters, but the Fantastic Four also have strong ties to some of Marvel’s best villains, most of which easily qualify as Avengers level threats. Kang, Galactus, and Doctor Doom are all classic Fantastic Four villains that could replace Thanos as the MCU’s big bad, and Loki already positioned Kang as the most likely Thanos successor.

How Marvel Can Get The Fantastic Four Right

The general public’s sentiment around the Fantastic Four can only be described as negative following three lackluster Fantastic Four movies from Fox. While the first adaptation did get some elements right, the movies missed the point of the Fantastic Four and what they represent to Marvel comics. Fox’s Latest attempt, 2015’s Fantastic Four, was anything but a Fantastic Four movie, the relationships between the characters and the creative liberties taken with the entire set of characters, and especially Doctor Doom, completely missed their mark. Switching the general audience’s attitude towards the Fantastic Four is the biggest challenge standing in the way of them replacing the Avengers, and this heavy burden falls entirely on the shoulders of Jon Watts and the creative team behind the upcoming MCU Fantastic Four film.

Contrary to popular belief, the Fantastic Four are not inherently unfit for big-screen adaptations, all a successful Fantastic Four movie needs is a team that understands the characters, their relationships, and their place in Marvel comics. The Fantastic Four are commonly referred to as Marvel’s First Family, and that is the key to crafting the perfect Fantastic Four adaptation. What makes these characters special is their family aspect, and how that factors into their relationships. Pairing that family dynamic with the team’s love for scientific discovery and adventure is a simple yet perfect recipe for a great Fantastic Four film, not to mention the numerous villains the Fantastic Four can go up against, all of which have interesting backstories and relatable motivations.

Getting The Fantastic 4 Right Makes Other Avengers Replacements Easier

Overcoming the negative stigma associated with the Fantastic Four would prove that Marvel Studios can easily get the other teams right. While both the F4 and the X-Men enjoy the position of fan-favorite teams, Fox’s previous ventures proved that the X-Men are easier to translate onto the big screen. The large number of characters under the X-Men/ mutant umbrella essentially makes them a creative powerhouse, due to the vast number of stories and characters that can be weaved together. On the other hand, the Fantastic Four are a smaller group, and since Marvel Studios already showcased their ability to manage huge ensemble casts, the Fantastic Four movie is their opportunity to prove that they can create a successful franchise around the four heroes that is more focused on character development and emotional stakes. That, in turn, silences any doubts regarding Marvel’s ability to incorporate the X-Men into their shared universe, especially since the X-Men are within already their comfort zone.

Additionally, one of the drawbacks of having a central franchise that everything revolves around, like the Avengers in the MCU, is the limitations it forces on the narratives of solo projects. By establishing them as a separate entity in the MCU, the Fantastic Four could pave the way for other teams to join the MCU and not need a Doctor Strange cameo to cement them in the cinematic universe. However, this is entirely dependant on the success of Fantastic Four; Marvel already tried to create an independent team in the MCU with the recent Eternals, but Eternals‘ divisive reception will likely have prevented it from doing just that.

With so many teams being set up, MCU Phase 4 is bound to shift focus from one team to multiple, creating a shared universe more akin to that of the comics. Since the Fantastic Four are the first to receive their own project, the task of establishing the first non-Avengers-related team falls on them. It’s crucial for Marvel to get the Fantastic Four right, not only to pave the way for more superhero teams down the line but also to redeem Marvel’s First Family, whose reputation was tarnished by their previous live-action incarnations. Not much is known about the upcoming MCU Fantastic Four reboot other than a tentative release date of 2023, but details are bound to start surfacing as the project moves from pre-production to full production sometime during the second half of 2022.