The Fantastic Four Trailer Raises the Ultimate Question

Wait…you don’t know what Marvel’s Ultimate Universe is? Well, don’t worry because it isn’t going to be around much longer if the hype about Marvel’s upcoming Secret Wars event is to be believed. That being said, the Ultimate Universe is a reality within Marvel’s multiverse which exists separate from the main Marvel Universe (traditionally identified with the numerical designation 616). The Ultimate Universe was created as a new playground where writers and artists could essentially rebuild the Marvel Universe from scratch and tell new, exciting stories with a more modern sensibility and without being tied down to decades of often Byzantine continuity.

If you’ve paid even the slightest amount of attention to the trailers and buzz around Fox’s latest attempt to make the FF work on screen then you can see just how much they are pulling from the Ultimate Universe. Intriguingly, it is worth noting that Doc Doom gaining powers in the same accident that creates the FF was such a compelling idea that it was even used in the last two FF flicks. Aside from streamlining the narrative, I’ll never know why this is so compelling to movie studios but I digress.

Anyway, we were wondering what less obvious items we could glean from the Ultimate Universe connection and what we can speculate about the future of the franchise. Let’s start with Reed Richards (to be played by Miles Teller) and Susan Storm’s (Kate Mara) relationship. In the 616 Universe, they are a couple from the very beginning of the Fantastic Four’s eponymous series and its never really in doubt that they’ll end up together. Despite flirtations with Namor the Sub-Mariner, supposed deaths, and boneheaded decisions by Reed, they stay together. That cannot be said about their Ultimate Universe counterparts…

Sue: I’ve gotta say, it’s fun having you here.

Reed: Really?

Sue: No.

This could just be a cute moment on their way to an eventual predestined coupling but I wonder if this film and this franchise could actually head down the road of a legitimate love triangle. Given this reboot’s grounded, gritty nature, is it much of a stretch (pun not intended) to think that an angsty fight over teammates’ romantic affections would be mined as a source of drama?

These developments are only two possible future plot elements that could be presaged by the strong connection of this Fantastic Four to the Ultimate Universe. Others include the Human Torch potentially joining the X-Men (possible given Fox’s ownership of both properties) and Ben Grimm eventually gaining the ability to change back and forth from rocky to human at will. For our money, the most intriguing of these items remain the potential love triangle and Reed’s future heroic or villainous trajectory.

So, what do you think, folks? Do we want a Reed, Sue, and Ben love triangle? Do we think that Miles Teller would be a fantastic villainous Reed Richards? Or do we think that those developments have about as much chance of happening as Galactus going on a diet?