There is no need to panic yet, but comic book fans should be prepared for a dramatic change at Marvel. Sources have told both Bleeding Cool and Comic Book Resources that the company is looking to put both Fantastic Four and Ultimate Fantastic Four comics on hiatus for the time being because of Fox’s upcoming franchise movie reboot.
The move has nothing to do with the movie itself, but it has more to do with the fact that Marvel has no control of the movies. The thinking is that by having these characters in their own book, Marvel is unwittingly promoting a movie property that it has no financial gain in. Basically, if true, this is a move out of pure spite because of Fox’s ownership of the movie property. The only silver lining is that the characters will still be around, but they just would show up in other books, like Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.
While this is only a wild rumor at this point, an artist got into contact with Bleeding Cool and revealed that he/she was told not to draw the Fantastic Four, or any associated villains, for an upcoming Marvel trading card set.
To add more fuel to the rumor, Marvel recently released the cover for its 75th Anniversary magazine, which didn’t include the Fantastic Four, despite the team being the launching pad of the company’s ‘60s revival. However, Rocket Raccoon and the Guardians of the Galaxy did make the cover, despite being completely ignored until a movie was announced.
Bleeding Cool is also reporting that while Marvel will not be shelving the X-Men (also owned by Fox) anytime soon, the team won’t be put into the spotlight as much as before. The company is instead hoping to push the Inhumans in their place because Marvel owns those movie rights.
Obviously this is all just a rumor for now, but if true, we could see the Fantastic Four become second-class citizens in the very universe they helped shape. Thankfully, Marvel editor Tom Brevoort responded to the rumors on Tumblr:
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Still, where there is this much smoke, there is a strong chance of fire. We'll keep you updated.
[via CBR and Bleeding Cool]
