Back in the day, when we were were only concerned with the core Avengers' shenanigans, it was fairly simple to work out where each new movie fell on the Marvel timeline. As the franchise has expanded, though, and introduced things like incursions, variants, and alternate realities, things have gotten a lot more difficult.
In the case of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, then, it's basically a question that only Reed 'Smartest Man Alive' Richards himself could answer. You see, for the first time since the long-running series kicked off in 2008, the film plays out completely separately to the events of Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and more – and doesn't introduce Marvel's First Family to Earth-616 like Deadpool and Wolverine did with its titular heroes.
Bearing all that in mind, we've tried to apply some logic as to Fantastic Four: First Steps' (rough) place on the Marvel timeline below. There will be some spoilers ahead, but we'll try our best to avoid details of the Fantastic Four: First Steps ending and Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credits scenes. In short, we'll keep things as vague as we can as we take to the chalk board and try and work out what Marvel Phase 6 might look like going forward.
When does The Fantastic Four: First Steps take place in the MCU?
Now, we know Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in the '60s, which, ordinarily, would mean that it's sandwiched between Agent Carter season 2 in the late '40s and Captain Marvel, which is set in 1995.
Given the big gap between said projects, that would be the case whether we're talking about the start of the movie or its mid-credits scene capper, which sees Sue read a story to her and Reed's now four-year-old son Franklin inside the Baxter Building.
But past titles like Avengers: Endgame, which saw Earth's Mightiest Heroes travel through time to collect the Infinity Stones from the past and then use them to restore what Thanos had destroyed, and Disney Plus series Loki, have taught us that time isn't running concurrently across universes. Hell, after returning the stones and Mjolnir to their proper timelines, Chris Evans' Captain America elected to stay in the past to live out his life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). And later returned to the Sacred Timeline, as an old man, to give Wilson his shield.
In short, it's entirely possible for the Fantastic Four's world to be in the '60s, while Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, and co are fighting baddies in the present day.
To further confuse matters, in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Benedict Cumberbatch's Sorcerer meets Earth-838's Reed Richards, played by John Krasinski. That Mr. Fantastic is promptly turned into spaghetti by the Scarlet Witch, and doesn't appear in The Fantastic Four: First Steps as he's worm food in another world. But despite the fact that Krasinski's Reed Richards and Pedro Pascal's are roughly the same age, while First Steps takes place in a retro '60s, Multiverse of Madness takes place during the Fall of 2024.
While it's all a bit jumbled for now, the Fantastic Four will rub shoulders with Wilson's Cap and co. in the future, having been confirmed to be in Avengers: Doomsday – and when that happens, we should be able to work out more accurately where First Steps lands on the overarching timeline.
Recently, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige explained: "We're utilizing [Doomsday sequel Avengers: Secret Wars] not just to round out the stories we've been telling post-Endgame, just as importantly – and you can look at the Secret War comics for where that takes you – it very, very much sets us up for the future. Endgame, literally, was about endings. Secret Wars is about beginnings."
"Reboot is a scary word," he continued. "Reboot can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Reset, singular timeline – we're thinking along those lines."
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in cinemas now. For more, check out all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way, as well as our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
