During the Disney Investor’s Day, we got a look at the MCU slate for Phase 4. Both the What if…? animated series airing on Disney+ in 2021 and the upcoming Fantastic Four feature film were referenced. Since then, we have to feast our eyes on the first look at What If…? via trailers, but we still do not know much about Fantastic Four except the fact that Jon Watts is directing it. This new piece of What If…? fan art imagines what Chris Hemsworth could look like as every member of the Fantastic 4. The What If…? series of comics, first published by Marvel back in 1977 examines what the world would look like if certain pivotal circumstances within the Marvel universe had played out differently.
Hosted by Uatu, the cosmic being known as “The Watcher”, the What If…? printed series has examined several alternate realities over the decades involving the makeup of the Fantastic Four. The inaugural issue itself pitched the idea — “What if Spider-Man joined The Fantastic Four?” Then in What If vol. 2, issue #27 in 1991, it again asked, “What if Namor joined The Fantastic Four?” With Disney’s acquisition of the former Fox-owned Marvel property, a wide array of possibilities has become available for integrating the team with some of the already established players in the MCU. This makes the entire game ten times more interesting. We mean, who doesn’t love an all-out unexpected crossover?
Using the What If…? mechanic, an Instagram user Bosslogic created a fan art asking the question – “What if Chris Hemsworth is The Fantastic Thor?” The image shows Hemsworth as an amalgam of Fantastic Four members, sporting aspects of each — The Human Torch’s flames, The Thing’s rocky arms, a portion of his body turning transparent like Invisible Woman, and the signature gray temples of Mister Fantastic. Check out the picture for yourself below:
Now we know how much we love Hemsworth’s Thor throughout the MCU history and issue to reprise the said role in the upcoming Thor: Love & Thunder. Thor’s connection to the Fantastic Four’s legacy isn’t far removed, particularly in the pages of What If…?, as What If: Thor Vol. 1 #1 posited, “What if Thor was a herald of Galactus?”. 2020 even saw Thor return to Galactus’ aid in the comics, and this time outside of “What If…?” He would ultimately battle the planet devourer, much like The Fantastic Four routinely does, and with borrowed cosmic powers, tying Bosslogic’s Hemsworth art a little closer to the home reality that fans know.
Earlier also we have seen the Fantastic Four’s powers being housed in a single individual, notably The Super Skull, whose shape-shifting talents allow him to make use of all their abilities in unison. Disney Investor’s Day also revealed that they have Secret Invasion on their slate, which is the story of the Skrull invasion of Earth orchestrated by impersonating known Marvel heroes and villains. With this impending MCU story on the horizon, it makes way for the possibility of Thor being revealed as not only a disguised Skrull agent but the Super Skrull, himself, Kl’rt.
Only time will tell if the What If…? depiction of Thor embodying the Fantastic Four’s powers is just a creative piece of hypothetical fan art or a more ominous prediction of things to come. Let’s see what more we can get to see honestly because as of now, anything can truly happen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and you probably cannot gauge it. Look out for more, and stay tuned.
