The Multiverse Saga, it's clear that the future of the MCU is about to change forever. This comes with the introduction of long-awaited characters, including the Fantastic Four, whose first official Marvel Studios movie will kick off the MCU's Phase 6. Interestingly enough, Avengers: Secret Wars will close out the sixth phase of the MCU, an order of storytelling that seems only fitting when considering that 2015's Secret Wars is, underneath the apocalyptic veneer, a story about the dynamic between the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards and Doctor Doom.
2015's Secret Wars describes the destruction of the Marvel Universe. After an Incursion sets Earth-616 and Earth-1610 on a collision course, Doom creates "Battleworld", a world pieced together with remnants of the old universe. Now as God Emperor Doom, he rules with Reed Richards' family by his side. Two versions of Reed, however, managed to survive the Incursion, along with a few familiar heroes and villains, and a plan is hatched to restore the universe. The final confrontation between 616's Reed and Doom proves that while Doom has always wanted power, he's wanted more than that too – to prove that he is better than Reed, that the years of fighting between them would end up with him as the victor. That conflict is the crux of the Secret Wars story, and the MCU would do well to utilize it.
It is the rivalry between Reed and Doctor Doom, and their mutual hubris, that allows the universe to be saved from destruction. It is Reed's strangled love for his family, his unwillingness to it defeat, and his underlying guilt, that finally gets Doom to acknowledge that Reed would have done a better job at saving the universe in the Secret Wars source material. It is the bond between the Fantastic Four, and the extended Fantastic family, that can make the Fantastic Four the MCU's greatest heroes. The Fantastic Four is consistently able to keep Doom at bay, a feat that few other heroes share. Doom is one of Marvel's greatest villains, making the Fantastic Four some of Marvel's greatest heroes almost by default. As such, seeing the Secret Wars story transposed to the big screen can finally make Marvel's First Family the MCU's greatest heroes.
Why The Fantastic Four Should Be Marvel's Greatest Heroes
Reed Richards isn't Mr. Fantastic without the rest of Marvel's First Family. The Fantastic Four together are powerful due to their abilities, yes, but they represent more than that. They represent siblinghood, friendship, romantic love, betrayal, guilt, and the harsh realities of life. They fight together because they want to; because in the end, they know it's the best use of their powers. This is in stark contrast to the MCU's Avengers, for instance, who were forced together by circumstance and someone else's initiative.
The Fantastic Four's long and storied history in Marvel Comics is unrivaled - without the success of these characters, the Marvel universe that exists today might never have existed at all. Doom is one of Marvel's greatest villains, and the Fantastic Four is Marvel's oldest family. They are two sides of the same coin. Allowing Avengers: Secret Wars to explore that dynamic will allow the MCU to explore the complexities of good vs evil, proving absolutely that there is more to superhero films than meets the eye.
The MCU has already adapted several important comic events, such as Civil War. However, due to the foundation of the MCU, these events have always transpired rather differently in the movies. While this will inevitably happen with Secret Wars as well, as the MCU could choose to combine elements of the 2015 run with the original 1984 miniseries, and Kang's undeniably significant impact will need to be taken into too, the dynamic between Doom and Reed in Secret Wars will be hard to ignore. Since the Fantastic Four's movie will kick off Phase 6, there's no reason this ultimate showdown couldn't be brought to life on screen in Avengers: Secret Wars.
