Warning: The following contains spoilers for Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 by Mark Russell, Sean Izaakse, Nolan Woodard and Joe Caramagna on sale now.

Since their creation by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961, the Fantastic Four has done just about everything, with the notable exception of joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Previous Fantastic Four films have been poorly received by critics and fans alike, but now that Marvel has the film rights to its first family, there is now new hope for their film futures.

Marvel Studios' writing staff and director Jon Watts are faced with the daunting challenge of weaving the Fantastic Four into the continuity of a world that has already existed for over a decade. Luckily, Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 may provide the perfect path for the Fantastic Four's entry into the MCU. The issue takes the heroes back to the era they are most often associated with, the '60s, and is reminiscent of most FF origin stories, but with a few key differences. This time, Reed Richards's spaceship project is funded by the US Government at the request of President Kennedy. And, when the four get to space, they encounter Galactus in addition to being transformed into the fantastic quartet.

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2019's Captain Marvel, written and directed by Anna Boden, already set the precedent for looking back into the MCU's past and established the idea that SHIELD has been collaborating with superheroes and investigating Outer Space since long before the Avengers were ever formed. So, going back to the '60s would mesh well with the previously established storytelling methods of the MCU. Placing the events of the Fantastic Four's origins far back in the past will also serve as a logical explanation for their absence in the MCU up to this point. It would be easy to imagine that the team had either retired or embarked on a mission to the far reaches of space by the 2000s.

The landscape of the 1960s is perfect for the Fantastic Four because it makes room for the aesthetic sensibilities of silver-age comics.  Certain visual and storytelling techniques that made the original comics great would look anachronistic in a modern-day story, but to cut the almost campy science-fiction family dynamic would be to cut out much of the team's charm. Placing them in their original era is the best way to highlight and preserve what makes them special.

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Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 connects Reed Richards's exploration of space to the government and the military from the very beginning. Since most MCU heroes have some sort of working relationship with the government, President Kennedy being the catalyst for the origin of the Fantastic Four would seem perfectly natural. In fact, the team's origin could also serve as the origin of SHIELD's involvement with superheroes. Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben would make the ideal pilot program for the government's various hero initiatives, especially since they encounter the cosmic menace Galactus on their first voyage to space. A threat of such great magnitude would be an excellent way to prove that the Fantastic Four are as capable and engaging as any other heroes in the MCU and it would reinforce the theme of space travel that films like Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and The Eternals are already set to explore.

Fantastic Four: Life Story is an excellent comic that could lay the groundwork for the Fantastic Four's MCU debut. A 1960s showdown between Galactus and the Fantastic Four would be a thrilling way to introduce the FF into the MCU and provide great insights into the early years of the cinematic universe.

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