Marvel to make Fantastic Four a period piece

Cover to Fantastic Four No. 60 where the FF opposes Dr. Doom

Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Studios is in a slump following 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. The studio wants to regroup, with the Fantastic Four coming up as a feature film set in the 1960s.

“I’m incredibly excited for what we’re doing with the Fantastic Four right now,” Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige said on the first episode of an officially sanctioned Marvel podcast. “I think those characters are mainstays, are legendary pillars of the Marvel Universe.” Feige added: “It is a period (piece).”

In the late 1950s, the forerunner company of Marvel Comics was in shaky financial condition. Artist Jack Kirby rejoined the company after being co-editor-in-chief in the 1940s. Kirby and editor-writer Stan Lee came up with the Fantastic Four in late 1961. Soon after, the FF helped Marvel (now the name for the comics line) begin a comeback.

Kirby did the heavy lifting on plotting the stories while Lee established character differences with his dialogue and captions. Soon, the Lee-Kirby team came up with the Hulk and Thor. Lee and artist-plotter Steve Ditko devised Spider-Man. Other characters, such as Iron Man and Ant-Man, soon followed.

Years later, Marvel licensed its characters. The FF went to 20th Century Fox, which went on to make three FF movies. The rights included arch-foe Dr. Doom.

In the 2000s, Marvel decided to produce its own movies with rights for characters not belonging to other studios, beginning with 2008’s Iron Man. Marvel was soon acquired by the Walt Disney Co.

Disney acquired the bulk of 20th Century Fox the past decade and the Disney-owned Marvel controls almost all of the movie rights to its characters.

The FF occupies a special place in Marvel Comics lore. The Fantastic Four was a vehicle to bring back older characters such as the Sub-Mariner. The Fantastic Foursome was a platform for the expansion of Marvel Comics in the 1960s.

Until now, Marvel films have not mostly been period pieces We’ll see how it goes.