Marvel finally announced the cast for its upcoming team-up movie, The Fantastic Four, thanks to some new Valentine’s Day-themed art, but the image may have also revealed when the movie takes place.
It’s a colorful piece with soft drawings of Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm. There are a handful of details accompanying the characters, too, including a hanging picture of Moss-Bachrach in an astronaut suit and a handy little robot friend with a mug sporting the superhero group’s symbol. The real detail to highlight, however, is the magazine The Thing is reading.
It’s hard to make out exactly what’s on the cover even when you zoom in, but the red block and white letters look strikingly similar to the Life magazine logo. A quick search reveals one of the more recognizable issues from December 1963, which features Lyndon B. Johnson. The then-President of the United States was elected late that year following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
X (formerly Twitter) user @hernandy_s shared a comparison between the two images.
So Fantastic Four might be set in 1963, judging by the magazine Ben Grimm’s reading pic.twitter.com/o3pSpu8FXQ
— Monkey D. Hernandy (@hernandy_s) February 14, 2024
Theories of a ‘60s-set Fantastic Four movie really start to come together when you picture the rest of the art in the context of that era. The style itself harkens back to that glamorized look of that time period, as does the minimalist furniture and twinkling stars surrounding the image itself. There’s also the fashion—specifically those white boots seen on both Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. Even the Marvel Studios logo above the film’s title has been given special treatment.
One of my oldest Theory pieces is confirmed: Fantastic Four is taking place in the 1960’s… https://t.co/ks2Kfgy0XU
— Alex P. (@AlexFromCC) February 14, 2024
It’s hard to tell what place a ‘60s film will have in the Marvel Cinematic Universe considering most heroes exist in the present day or early future. Of course, MCU heroes have done plenty of time traveling and dimension-hopping before, so the possibilities for The Fantastic Four are truly endless. However, Marvel has yet to confirm when the movie takes place, so it might be best to keep expectations in check until more is revealed.
We probably won’t see more from The Fantastic Four for quite some time, as the film isn’t actually set to arrive in theaters until July 25, 2025. That means we have three MCU movies—Deadpool and Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts—to watch before that date arrives, with other Disney+ shows, such as Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, on the way, too.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
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