Marvel may have introduced its First Family to the MCU sooner than anyone could have possibly imagined.
One WandaVision theory suggests that the origins of Fantastic Four has been slyly referenced during the show’s fourth episode (H/T Den of Geek).
The first five minutes of WandaVision episode 4 references an ‘Astronaut Training Program’ that, brilliantly, is failing to get off the ground. As SWORD acting director Tyler Hayward put it, they “Lost half of [their] personnel in The Blip and half of those remaining have lost their nerve.”
How does that tie into Fantastic Four? Their comic origins have them, too, looking towards the stars. There, they are astronauts who made their way into space after an unauthorized flight and were exposed to cosmic radiation. Thus, as with most radiation-based accidents in Marvel’s universe, four new superheroes – Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing – were born.
Marvel has only recently officially confirmed a Fantastic Four movie is in the works, so it’ll be some time yet before we see whether this was a deliberate tease or a complete misdirect. Still, it speaks to the show’s desire to have its audience question even the tiniest lines of dialogue. It could be nothing; it could be everything – and that’s half the fun.
