Earlier this year, Disney acquired key assets from 21st Century Fox, enabling Marvel Studios to use the Fantastic Four and X-Men. There's been a lot of chatter about when those two groups might appear, and a new rumor indicates the Fantastic Four might appear quite soon.

According to GWW, Marvel Studios is eyeing a 2022 release date for the Fantastic Four's debut. Ant-Man and The Wasp director Peyton Reed is reportedly pushing to direct with a pitch set in the 1960s and involving both the Quantum Realm and, potentially, Black Knight.

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A rumor stating Marvel Studios is looking to introduce Black Knight via the Quantum Realm popped up last year, though the character has not yet materialized. First appearing in 1955's Black Knight #1, there have been numerous versions of the character throughout the years, and there's no indication of which version the MCU might be bringing in. The original Black Knight was Sir Percy of Scandia, who was created by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely.

In 2018, Reed said there's an "unbelievably great Fantastic Four movie to be made," though there had been no "specific conversations" at that time. Reed was previously attached to a Fantastic Four movie, though he left the project due to creative differences. Reed once described the plot of his Fantastic Four movie, which would have taken place in the 1960s and imagined the superhero team as rock stars akin to the Beatles at their height

First appearing in 1961's Fantastic Four #1, the team consisting of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ben Grimm/The Thing and Johnny Storm/Human Torch was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The team is one of the most recognizable in the comics, and there have been several movies and TV shows based on it.

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The fact Reed has previously described a similar movie might cast some amount of doubt on this rumor. Additionally, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said earlier this year the studio plans films out five years in advance. Assuming the studio did not plan in advance to get the Fantastic Four, that film's rumored release date is only three years away, which casts a lot of doubt on the rumor. Contributing to this is Feige's confirmation Marvel Studios was working on its five-year plan before the acquisition was set, which he used to explain why the X-Men wouldn't appear for "a very long time."

As there's a lot working against this rumor, it's best at this time to take it with a grain of salt until such a time as Marvel Studios officially confirms its plans.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated the rumored release date as December 2020 rather than 2022.