Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige says the pending implementation of the ‘X-Men’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ did not change the plans for the MCU’s multiverse. After the multiverse’s mention in 2016's ‘Doctor Strange’, 2019’s ‘Avengers: Endgame’ laid the breadcrumbs for its evolution throughout Phase 4. That same year, Disney acquired Fox, bringing characters like the ‘X-Men’, ‘Deadpool’, and the ‘Fantastic 4’ under the control of Marvel Studios. While ‘Deadpool 3’ is already confirmed and a ‘Fantastic 4’ reboot is expected to begin filming in 2023, audiences have yet to see a mutant in the MCU.
Marvel Studios’ first project to premiere as part of ‘Phase 4’ was Disney+’s WandaVision. Many believed Evan Peters’ (who played Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver in Fox’s X-Men franchise) casting in the series would be the first multiversal character to show up in the MCU. However, “Ralph Boner” turned out to be just a red herring. It wouldn’t be until the third Marvel/Disney+ series, Loki, that the MCU really began to establish its multiverse, introducing concepts such as alternate timelines and variants before Sylvie killed He Who Remains, liberated the Sacred Timeline, and unleashed infinite devils in Kang the Conqueror.
In a recent interview with Collider during the press tour for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, Feige remained adamant that the characters and new opportunities awarded by the Fox merger did not change Marvel Studio’s multiverse plans. While citing its power in the comics, Feige spoke on the timeline for the MCU’s multiverse.
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Feige has said in the past that the multiverse has always been a part of the MCU conversation. “Mysterio’s ruse” in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ saw him use the term ‘Earth-616,’ which is Marvel Comics’ main earth. On top of that, Earth-616 was written on a chalkboard by Erik Selvig in ‘Thor: The Dark World’ in 2013. Therefore, Feige and company have at least pondered the idea of the multiverse as far back as ‘Phase 2’. -Deadline