The Fantastic Four have been waiting for their chance for a big MCU debut and WandaVision just gave them the perfect opening.
WARNING: The following contains front spoilers WandaVision Episode 5, “On a Very Special Episode …” is now streaming Disney +.
With the plot of WandaVision rapidly evolving as viewers have a broader context, government agency SWORD continues to test their limits when it comes to infiltrating the “hex” bubble enforced around Westview. While they’ve made some progress, it appears that Monica Rambeau knows someone who is better prepared for the situation. In fact, that contact is perhaps the closest we get to an expert the Marvel has given that the mysterious figure’s identity could very well be Reed Richards.
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Better known as Mr. Fantastic, the leader of the Fantastic Four, Reed Richards and his countrymen have yet to make their MCU debut, but a movie is currently in the works at Marvel Studios. With WandaVision in full swing and Monica building a mystery contact, the team could make their debut sooner rather than later.
Ever since she was expelled from the hexagon, Monica has worked hard to solve its mysteries and help Wanda in the midst of her crisis. While Monica has gone through some developments herself by discovering that Wanda rearranged matter to fit her reality, allowing SWORD to fly in a drone from an era that isolated it from anachronism, she also said she knew an aerospace engineer who would be perfect for the task at hand. While the public didn’t get to see who she was contacting, Reed could be that aerospace engineer.
The Fantastic Four’s origins are firmly rooted in the space race, so much so that they first developed their powers while riding an experimental rocket ship Reed built to defeat the Soviets. In time, Reed’s genius would only expand into other fields before it was firmly established that he was the Marvel Universe’s foremost expert on everything. But at the same time, he would always keep those roots as an astronaut and engineer, which is why he fits so perfectly here.
One invention from Reed would be particularly suited to SWORD’s current crisis, as his development of unstable molecules already ties in perfectly with Monica’s discovery. Firing bullets at the clothing she had from her journey in the hex and discovering that her Kevlar vest had been transformed into a chic sitcom style, the material bears a striking resemblance to the almost magically unstable molecules Reed invented for the costumes of the Fantastic Four. Able to set on fire, stretch, and rearrange into whatever shape they want, this would be a seamless way to introduce them to the MCU.
Carrying such unstable molecules allows agents to even enter the hex without fear of Wanda changing their matter, and if anyone can figure out a way to protect individuals from Wanda’s influence, it would be a genius like Reed. Since the space race is a long time ago, meaning the origins of the Fantastic Four must be rebooted, four explorers entering a bubble where anything can happen could be exactly the situation Kevin Feige and Co. need to finally debut Marvel’s First Family.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. New episodes air Fridays on Disney +.
