Now that we know when the next two Avengers movies are coming, and who is directing them, most Marvel fans can begin to connect some dots. Avengers: Doomsday stars Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, so the Fantastic Four can’t be too far away. And Avengers: Secret Wars is named after a comic series that brings in basically everyone, setting up almost anything. With the X-Men slowly being introduced in various ways, clearly that’s what’s next.
So when Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige virtually dropped into a recent Disney event in Singapore, he wasn’t saying anything super duper revealing but it’s interesting nevertheless, especially since he’s one of the main people responsible for it all.
Deadline reported on Feige’s appearance, where he first spoke about his excitement for The Fantastic Four: The First Steps. “Finally, [we’re] bringing Marvel’s First Family into the MCU,” Feige said. “They wrap next week, the movie comes out next summer, and then all those characters go right into the next Avengers movies, so I’m very excited for the future of the Fantastic Four.”
So there you go. The Fantastic Four are confirmed for the next two Avengers movies. Which we all pretty much assumed, but it’s nice to hear. Feige later addressed the second Avengers movie, Secret Wars. “I think you will see [mutant introductions] continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize,” he said. “Right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back.”
After the super success of Deadpool & Wolverine, not to mention teases in The Marvels, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and more, Marvel has been slowly seeding the X-Men for years. Now, though, we know that we’ll get to meet a few more in the next several movies—and that once Secret Wars is over, mutants will be part of Marvel’s new age.
Which, again, has been the plan for a while: the Infinity Saga, the Multiverse Saga, the Mutant Saga. But it just hits differently when it comes from Feige himself. It’s authoritative.
Read more from Feige over at Deadline. The MCU will next return in Captain America: Brave New World, out in February. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is scheduled for release July 25, 2025. It’s followed by Avengers: Doomsday in May 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in May 2027.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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