Kevin Feige Ditches New Avengers, Pins MCU’s Hopes on Fantastic Four After Thunderbolts Flop

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Amazing! Time seems to be flying by. I can’t believe that just after the release of Thunderbolts, Kevin Feige has already moved on as if the “New Avengers” never even existed!

After Thunderbolts concluded its stint at the box office as one of the lowest earning MCU films, trailing behind only The Marvels, Kevin Feige has already shifted his focus to new projects.

Fantastic Four Now Sets Up Doomsday

At CineEurope, Disney presented a fresh trailer for the movie titled “Fantastic Four: First Steps“. During the event, Feige unveiled the footage. Contrary to earlier expectations that “Thunderbolts” would set the course for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as mentioned by Bob Iger, Feige has now altered the storyline as reported by Deadline.

At the same event, attendees were treated to a fresh sneak peek of the movie titled “Fantastic Four: First Steps”, presented by Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige. He also hinted at the ongoing filming of “Avengers: Doomsday”, set for release in December 2026, in London. According to Feige, the storyline of F4 will seamlessly transition into that of Doomsday.

Fantastic Four Was Supposed to Lead to New Avengers

In the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts, the “New Avengers” uncover the spaceship belonging to the Fantastic Four. This implies that the storyline of Fantastic Four is linked to both Thunderbolts and the New Avengers.

On the other hand, Feige has announced that the upcoming Fantastic Four movie will be connected directly to Avengers: Doomsday, a film currently underway in London with a release date in December 2026.

It’s clear that Feige is banking on referencing FF’s connection to Doomsday to significantly increase FF’s popularity. Ironically, he’s employing Robert Downey Jr. in a similar manner for Ironheart, which seems quite desperate.

Whatever Happened to Marvel’s New Avengers?

As a die-hard film enthusiast, I must say that Feige and Marvel’s decision to rename Thunderbolts as New Avengers was quite puzzling after its opening weekend, given the film had no direct connection to the original Avengers team. Regrettably, this rebranding move didn’t seem to work in their favor, with the movie underperforming significantly, managing to gross less than $400M globally.

In that post-credits sequence, we saw the Fantastic Four laying the groundwork for the Thunderbolts, thereby connecting it to the New Avengers. However, you may wonder why Feige didn’t bring up the New Avengers, given its prominence as a brand, right?

Currently, it seems as though Feige is attempting to brush off the past incident. However, what he’s really doing is aggressively steering Fantastic Four towards becoming the next significant launchpad for the MCU, while leveraging the anticipation surrounding Avengers: Doomsday in the far future to build excitement.

Will Fantastic Four Be the Next MCU Disaster?

It’s clear that Marvel is currently facing some challenges, as their recent films haven’t been performing as well as expected. With the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, there are concerns that another misstep might be imminent. Some are wondering if Kevin Feige is already attempting to scrap the Thunderbolts project, not just because it wouldn’t look good, but because it seems like an attempt to cover up potential issues.

If the Fantastic Four movie falls short, it could be one reason for postponing the releases of Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.

Is it accurate that the director of Thunderbolts, Jake Schreier, is also directing X-Men? We’ll keep you updated.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens July 25.

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2025-06-20 10:32