Russo Brothers On Fantastic Four Possibilities In 'Avengers: Infinity War'

There are plenty of heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and audiences are going to be reminded of that soon enough. Next month, the long-awaited release of Avengers: Infinity War will go down, and the blockbuster is slated to feature dozens of big-name superheroes. Everyone from Captain America to Ant-Man will star in the movie, but fans have wondered whether Marvel's most famous family will peek into the film.

However, those fans better not be holding their breaths. The directors behind the Avengers movie say they had enough to worry about without adding in the Fantastic Four.

Speaking with ComicBook, Joe and Anthony Russo addressed the burning question of whether their next Marvel venture would nod to the Fantastic Four. The heralded heroes have been MIA in the MCU due to conflicting rights, but the franchise's recently acquisition of Spider-Man had fans wondering if the superhero family could show up. Sadly, it looks like that answer is no.

"I'm sure, when we sat around at dinners, after a few drinks, we've all laughed and said, "Hey. It'd be great to go after this person, or that person." We know how the business is structured. I'm sure Marvel would love to work with all those characters. It's whether who owns them would be willing," Joe explained, nodding to the licensing legalities holding back Fantastic Four.

Anthony continued, adding, "Every character. All the deals are hard. Everybody's expensive. It's very complicated to put together a movie of this scale. Sometimes, it's easier to say, "Maybe, we should just not do it with these ..."

Of course, the Russo Brothers have no shortage of heroes at hand. The next two Avengers films are set to star all of the MCU's heroes to date and then some. Still, many fans want to know when — and if — the Fantastic Four will make their way into the franchise. That question only became weightier when news broke that the Walt Disney Company would be acquiring 21st Century Fox in a landmark deal, a move that would give Marvel Studios access to the team.

Right now, it doesn't look like Marvel Studios is focused on the superhero squad. Its president Kevin Feige told Entertainment Weekly this year his team will wait to address the question until the MCU's on-going productions are tidied up.

"It's all about getting Infinity War finished and out, starting Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Untitled Avengers, the next Spider-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3," Feige said.

"These are the ones that are keeping us busy. When and how that deal with Fox finishes and comes together and we're told, 'Hey, now you can start working on it. Now you can start thinking about it,' is when we'll actually start thinking about it. I will say just the notion of having what, frankly, most other companies with [intellectual property] have all along, which is access to all of their characters, that would be fun."

Do you think the MCU will welcome the Fantastic Four to its line-up one day? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!

Marvel Studios' Black Panther is now playing in theaters. Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on April 27, 2018. It is followed by Ant-Man and The Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.