The Fantastic Four’s First MCU Villain Debut Creates A Problem 4 Years in the Making

In the lead-up to the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel Studios introduced the titular team’s first Marvel Comics villain to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the antagonist’s debut creates a problem in the wake of 2021’s Eternals. Marvel’s First Family battle Galactus and Shalla-Bal’s Silver Surfer in their MCU debut, but this is far from the team’s first adventure as superheroes. In a tie-in, in-universe issue of Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four’s origin story is explored, revealing how they got their powers, and which antagonists they fought in their early adventures.

In The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ tie-in comic, the titular superhero team battle Giganto on the streets of their retro-futuristic, 1960s-inspired New York. This mirrors the Fantastic Four’s first battle in Marvel Comics back in 1961, in which Giganto was revealed to be a Deviant Mutate – the product of an experiment by Deviant scientists working for Kro. Marvel Studios altered this story somewhat by making Giganto in the new comic a Deviant in his own right, calling back to the Deviants introduced in Eternals, but this creates some confusion.

In Marvel Comics, the Deviants were an offshoot of early humanity created during Celestial experiments a million years ago – experiments that also created the Eternals and Mutants. For 2021’s live-action Eternals, Marvel Studios changed the Deviants’ history, instead making them biological beings created by the Celestials to protect Celestial seeds planted in select worlds. The Eternals were subsequently created as synthetic beings who were tasked with eliminating the Deviants when they evolved out of control. This changed origin means there’s no way the Deviants could have carried out experiments that created Giganto in the MCU.

Read Next

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Director Reveals How The Russo Brothers Were Involved With the Movie

The fact that Giganto has been noted to be a Deviant in The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ tie-in comic means that Eternals might get referenced again in the MCU’s upcoming projects. Perhaps the Eternals and Deviants have a more comic-accurate origin in the alternate universe of Earth 828 in First Steps. Giganto is the first Deviant we’ve seen connected to the MCU since Eternals marked Kro’s (Bill Skarsgård) demise at the hands of Thena (Angelina Jolie), but his introduction in the comic issue makes the Deviants’ origin in the MCU even more confusing.

It’s still unclear exactly why Marvel Studios elected not to adapt the Eternals and Deviants’ origin story faithfully in the MCU. Their original backstory made sense, and would have provided the perfect opportunity for the MCU’s new Mutants to also make their official debut, but we’ll now seemingly have to wait until Avengers: Secret Wars or after for this to take place. The Fantastic Four: First Steps doesn’t focus on Giganto as a live-action villain – though he does make a brief appearance – and he now has an important place in the MCU’s history, despite his creation and origin being confusing.

Do you want to see the Deviants return to the MCU after Eternals? Let us know in the comments!