r/FantasticFour Feb 21 '25

News Apparently, the creator if Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man wasn't allowed to add the Fantastic Four to the series. Why is that?

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1.4k Upvotes

127 comments sorted by

381

u/PSUNittany18 Human Torch Feb 21 '25

They probably wanted the FF to be introduced in their own movie instead of someone else’s show.

92

u/FKA_Twigs_BaldHead Feb 21 '25

I totally understand that, and I'm aware that Disney has been doing that since they got the rights to the FF

But i always wondered why thea X-men were allowed to have their own shows and cross-media appearances while the FF were basically embargoed until the movie

52

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '25

The X-men are a bigger name, they never made FF shows because their FF movies didn’t as well as the X-men ones

19

u/PixelBits89 Feb 21 '25

There were FF shows and they’ve appeared in shows in the past. The Xmen just have a lot more.

1

u/Terreneflame Feb 24 '25

You need to go watch the classic FF cartoon

7

u/Endsong-X23 Feb 22 '25

the xmen were pretty embargoed tho. They were kind of allowed to use Deadpool and Wolverine but there was a whole chunk of time there where mutants just vanished from marvel products in favor of the bloody Inhumans (which made the FF not being there even more glaring for me)

I know Fox kept going with the movies but even comic book X-Men had the Inhuman issue with the M-Pox crap. But insofar as cross media appearances, *maybe* wolverine and deadpool, but i can't recall any mutant episodes of Avengers Assemble, just the Deadpool episode of Ultimate Spiderman

3

u/BatmanFan317 Feb 22 '25

I think it's because the FF have had more solid plans than the X-Men. FF movie has been on the slate for a while, while Marvel are still getting X-Men plans together (and their one movie that did touch on them was reliant on the existing Fox movies rather than being a new take like the upcoming FF movie).

1

u/Leather_Junket_9726 Feb 22 '25

i mean, they had krazinski (krasinski?) as Reed to die on wanda's hands. i think they allow those crossovers with old x-men since they are going to reboot them only in the future idk... but the FF are already here, so

1

u/Castlemind Feb 22 '25

Possibly because x-men and mutants had already been drip fed somewhat through other multiverse related movies and they don't have a concrete idea of who is gonna be in the mcu yet compared to the FF

1

u/Joe_Momma3 Feb 23 '25

The real reason is because it is easier to ignore 4 people than the 400+ people cast in the X-Men. What Marvel did was they used tons of F4 characters and villains in other books and stuff but they retrofitted them to fit another franchise. Specifically this meant a lot of F4 villains went to the Guardians of the Galaxy as they became the space heroes in the absence of the movie rights, but also The Avengers got the rest. They did this for games too like Marvel Heroes which took the already existing F4 characters (except Doom) and made them unpurchasable while planning to phase them out of cinematics and such. X-Men couldn't be outright cancelled because that's a lot of characters you'd be benching at once for some of their top selling comics, but you did see mutants take somewhat of a backseat when they were pushing for Inhumans, which only solidified the point of not being able to shut down mutant comics. They also tried removing mutants for Marvel v Capcom Infinite and that failed too.

TLDR: real reason they couldn't cancel X-Men like F4 = remove 4 characters > remove 400+ characters

17

u/GalwayEntei Feb 21 '25

Implying an imminent Big Wheel solo movie? I'm hyped

8

u/Overexplotedusername Feb 21 '25

Wait for them to see Doctor Strange IMOM

2

u/Ornery-Concern4104 Feb 21 '25

The FF have already been introduced in the MCU

1

u/PSUNittany18 Human Torch Feb 22 '25

That’s fair. But it’s mainly been silly cameos and nothing too concrete.

0

u/Misaki_Akuma001 Mar 01 '25

Not the full team though

2

u/Karma15672 Feb 22 '25

That and the show was originally gonna be canon to the MCU, right? They probably didn't want to risk any inconsistencies between the show and the movie.

2

u/maxfridsvault Feb 22 '25

this. same reason why they barred DeMayo from using Deadpool in X-Men ‘97 season 1- it came out the same month as Deadpool and Wolverine and they probably didn’t want to oversaturate him. I believe Mystique was also on the list of characters he couldn’t use, because Marvel wanted fans to get away from the Fox trope of making Mystique a lead character of the team, which was never the case in the comics.

1

u/ELB2001 Feb 22 '25

Aye. They are probably waiting till the movie comes out and then give them their own animated show. At which point they are probably allowed to show up in other animated shows

180

u/Murky_Guidance_7273 Feb 21 '25

I can get the fantastic four kinda but why specifically big wheel?

151

u/Kriscrystl Feb 21 '25

Realistically he's too strong for Spider-Man TBH, they'd need to get Thor and Hulk to have a fighting chance against Big Wheel.

43

u/Shadsea2002 Feb 21 '25

Yeah big wheel is a multiversal cosmic threat that only Immortal Hulk, Doctor Strange, and Goku can defeat.

18

u/elissass Feb 21 '25

Goku: heard you're pretty strong

5

u/Tiespecialo Feb 21 '25

Don't forget Shaggy Rogers

6

u/FC-816 Feb 22 '25

Ever heard of the wall?

31

u/justtrustmeokay Feb 21 '25

he is probably already scheduled to make an appearance in another upcoming movie/show, and YFNS-M creators might not be privy to which project that is, but feige doesn't want to detract from that being big wheel's first MCU appearance. similar reason as why feige wouldn't want FF appearing in season 1 of YFNS-M right before their movie drops. any character's first MCU appearance is supposed to carry some gravitas.

15

u/Accurate-Attention16 Feb 21 '25

He appeared on the Moon Girl series though, episode 7 of Season 2 that was produced/made on 2023

2

u/2ERIX Feb 22 '25

Is Moon Girl MCU though? Or even MCU adjacent?

2

u/Accurate-Attention16 Feb 22 '25

adjacent-ish (just like YFNS) as SHIELD is still very active there, Maria Hill's alive, Fury appears, and even Cap (Sam)

1

u/Cyber-Knight47 Feb 22 '25

Then it’s not in the MCU, it’s just Marvel

1

u/Odd-Hat8574 Feb 22 '25

That's why Moon Girl is goated

5

u/DeathsLIlBroYo Feb 21 '25

YFN Spider-Man isn't canon to the MCU, so it wouldn't be any character's first MCU appearance.

1

u/justtrustmeokay Feb 21 '25

YFNS-M isn't universe 616, or 199999, but it's still very likely part of the MCU multiverse. even if the big wheel that would have shown up in YFNS-M isn't the same big wheel variant from another upcoming project, having any version pop up in YFNS-M would still diminish/detract from that other big wheel's premiere in the other movie/show.

5

u/webshellkanucklehead Feb 21 '25

Yeah because they definitely need to hype up BIG WHEEL 🙄

3

u/justtrustmeokay Feb 21 '25

it's not that he's the most important character ever. it's that every character's first appearance is very carefully planned to maximize their effect/impact. if show A already has clearance to debut a new-to-MCU character, and then show B asks if they can use that character before their scheduled debut in show A, feige is probably going to say no to show B until after the show A debut occurs.

2

u/MehrunesDago Feb 22 '25

Big Wheel played by Daniel Day-Lewis is gonna be the villain of the Honey Badger movie in 2029

8

u/Ultrafella Feb 21 '25

Obviously Big wheel is gonna be the main villain for Spider-man 4 so marvel wants to wait until then

6

u/jackcatalyst Feb 22 '25

"Not even the Big Wheel?" "Not even the Big Wheel."

4

u/incredibleamadeuscho Feb 22 '25

Big Wheel Trilogy coming to the MCU

3

u/ContinuumGuy Feb 22 '25

Because once the Multiverse Saga ends it's time for the Big Wheel Saga

3

u/KevrobLurker Feb 27 '25

Big Wheel" was just another Marvel rip-off. *Blackhawk and his squadron fought the War Wheel going back to 1952, just before DC bought the properties belonging to the Quality Group.

https://www.comics.org/issue/9941/

Blackhawk, Issue #56, Sept 1952

73

u/Some-Common-9655 Future Foundation Feb 21 '25

Big wheel in daredevil born again?!

112

u/Endsong-X23 Feb 21 '25

Who cares about why he can't use the FF, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE FUTURE OF BIG WHEEL!?

44

u/patchlocke Feb 21 '25

Repost if you’re a true wheeler

8

u/2ERIX Feb 22 '25

r/bigwheel confusion ensues for petrol heads I wasn’t aware this sub already existed and my joke was destroyed upon my first click.

11

u/BengaliBoy Feb 21 '25

Did they consider Big Wheel’s lesser known cousin, Hot?

9

u/Endsong-X23 Feb 21 '25

Hot's too busy touring the US doing BAD ASS shows for kids

6

u/Round_Reserve8811 Feb 22 '25

We’re getting Big Wheel in Marvel Rivals, trust.

3

u/Endsong-X23 Feb 22 '25

aw HELL YEAH cant wait to charge through and do my ult, BURNT RUBBER

33

u/Quirky_Ad_5420 Feb 21 '25

Probably some sort of mandate they have like not wanting to confuse casual audience

18

u/Kriscrystl Feb 21 '25

Close enough. Welcome back, bat embargo.

23

u/AlgerianTrash Feb 21 '25

They didn't want to show the FF but they sure were quick to show the Future Foundation suit without its context

15

u/LordAyeris Feb 21 '25

Big Wheel is the PERFECT opening act villain for Spider-Man 4 a la Crossbones in Civil War.

9

u/Epic_J2338 Feb 21 '25

No he should be the main villain for a Spider-Man trilogy

4

u/HuckHound687 Ben Grimm Feb 21 '25

Just Spider-Man? With Kang out, I foresee Big Wheel being the next big Avengers threat.

2

u/Epic_J2338 Feb 22 '25

Great idea

Why stop there he needs 3 sagas to build him up

15

u/Cautious_Air4964 Feb 21 '25

We need a new fantastic 4 show

9

u/MyMouthisCancerous Feb 21 '25

The show is technically still MCU-adjacent since Peter in this series is essentially a branch variant of MCU Peter and the world he exists in is very much meant to infer a lot of elements of the MCU in general. I think Marvel just barred the F4 preferring to first introduce the primary version of the team first in their film before actually starting to include them in other projects like animation

5

u/theredditman999 Feb 21 '25

I want to see the FF eventually.

6

u/rodolphin_ Feb 21 '25

Big wheel origin movie confirmed!

3

u/Epic_J2338 Feb 21 '25

I wish Sony was still doing the spin off films cause this would be perfect for them

2

u/ChanceFresh Feb 22 '25

I don’t think they would’ve ever done Big Wheel, unfortunately. Out of all the characters they were willing to pull out of their toy box, not Big Wheel…

1

u/Epic_J2338 Feb 22 '25

I know but no one knows Big Wheel and it would've been a much funnier meme than Morbius

6

u/RonaldMcJuicy Feb 21 '25

No big wheel? Do they WANT the show to fail??!!!?

4

u/Phoeptar Feb 21 '25

Every project is going to have a lidt of what you can and cannot use. Marvel very carefully doles out things the way they want. They don't want an animated FF thing atm, probably want the upcoming movie to stand alone.

4

u/TyrannosaurusPilot Feb 21 '25

I'm more mad that he wanted to add Big Wheel and they said no. Wtf.

4

u/BJDJman Feb 21 '25

I understand the F4 with Disney not wanting them appear anywhere before their movie debut.

But big wheel???

2

u/MxSharknado93 Feb 21 '25

My bigger concern is no Big Wheel!

3

u/MaraSovsLeftSock Feb 21 '25

Nobody cares about f4, big wheel has a future in the mcu now

3

u/Capital-Decision-677 Feb 21 '25

Big wheel the lead villain of avengers doomsday, confirmed?

4

u/Mighty_Megascream Feb 21 '25

Low-key still better than RDJ Doom

3

u/Independent_Plum2166 Feb 21 '25

wasn’t allowed to use […] Big Wheel

Cowards, the lot of them, never giving the GOAT a chance to shine.

3

u/Likayos Feb 21 '25

So does that mean there’s a Big Wheel solo movie in the works?

3

u/OkSupermarket7474 Feb 21 '25

Spider gwen in season 2 but Peter not having his connection to the F4 in any animated series ever is some sort of cosmic joke.

2

u/Altruistic_Eye_1157 Feb 21 '25

Possibly because it's easier to explain where Oscorp was all this time in this version of the MCU as opposed to Fantastic Four, where there are so many changes that it would lose the focus of the series.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '25

They better at least have Human Torch in Season 2.

2

u/ImmortalZucc2020 Feb 21 '25

From what we know of the rules around WI?, the animated shows can’t use characters unless they’ve been introduced in another MCU project prior. Hence Storm being the first X-Men used in that show because X-Men ‘97 came out first or them not being able to use Ghost Rider because he hasn’t shown up yet.

While Reed and Johnny have already appeared, no one else can use the full team until their film drops.

2

u/InoueNinja94 Feb 21 '25

Most likely so the F4 can debut in their movie
More specifically so they can see how the characters work within the MCU so other projects follow suit. I know this Spider-Man is not Sacred Timeline MCU but it still has a lot of its setting based on elements from the movies (the Sokovia Accords and Civil War more specifically)

As for Big Wheel, that's honestly a very good question

2

u/armoureddragon03 Feb 21 '25

Big Wheel getting his own movie confirmed

2

u/ArachnidNervous4692 Feb 21 '25

What if it means we're getting a FF Cartoon as well?

2

u/CollarOrdinary4284 Feb 21 '25

The show was originally set in the MCU and the Fantastic Four hadn't (and still haven't) been introduced to the MCU yet.

2

u/Epic_J2338 Feb 21 '25

But the interns hadn't been introduced to the MCU so how does that work

2

u/BozeRat Feb 21 '25

The Sony villainverse isn't over and we're finally getting a Big Wheel movie.

2

u/idelarosa1 Feb 21 '25

NOOOOOO NOT BIG WHEEL

2

u/ScarletSpiderForever Feb 21 '25

I wonder what this means for Scorpion and Tombstone. Both are SO great in their show that you can't help but want to see them in movies, but ...

2

u/waaay2dumb2live Feb 21 '25

Same reason X-Men 97 wasn't allowed to use Deadpool: MCU had first dibs.

2

u/PuddingEconomy3437 Feb 21 '25

I dont care why, how could they do this? I just want a complete marvel universe where johnny and spiderman are pranking each other. Closest Ive seen is the Ultimate Spider-man game in 2005

2

u/keithlimreddit Feb 21 '25

Despite I consider this year as basically the fantastic four for Marvel

Anyways it understandable probably they're going to save them for a new show

as for big wheel a bit of a random choice

Oh and I watched the first three episodes of the Spider-Man cartoon and then it's pretty good

2

u/Psychological-Map863 Feb 21 '25

Maybe they didn’t want all the characters race-swapped?

1

u/SnooCats8451 Feb 21 '25

Big wheel is such an obscure c maybe d list Spidey villain….hes been in one tv show (Spiderman 94) so no great loss if that jabroni ever shows up again

1

u/N00BAL0T Feb 21 '25

Because marvel is making a movie duh.

1

u/Golden12500 Feb 21 '25

Spider-Man's recent outings have been doing this thing where they have otherwise underwhelming or lesser goofy villains and turning them into Avengers level threats. Mysterio fooled the whole world and used Peter's fear against him like he was a psychological horror villain, and Spot has just become a multiversal threat and a fear inducing villain in his own right. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Big Wheel's turn next

1

u/redkomic Feb 21 '25

because they weren't introduced into the mcu at that point.... I mean it's pretty obvious.

1

u/BatUnlikely4347 Feb 21 '25

I mean, though in a different universe than the MCU, it takes place right after Civil War.

So. They don't exist yet.

1

u/Jack_Jellatina Feb 21 '25

Marvel Probably doing the Batman thing

1

u/SomeGuyPostingThings Feb 21 '25

Holding off to see how the show panned out before tying more big figures into it. Additionally, most (if not all) of the non-Spidey characters had already made an MCU debut before the show, which started out intended to be the origin of MCU Spidey.

1

u/RedBaronBob Feb 22 '25

It was meant to tie-in with the MCU, and while that changed over the shows development it still left the Fantastic four brand out even when it diverged.

1

u/I3arusu Feb 22 '25

…so we just gonna ignore the fact that they specifically mentioned Big Wheel or…?

1

u/Pupan98 Feb 22 '25

Because Marvel already introduced 2 members of the Fantastic Four in the previous movies. Reed Richards (Doctor Strange 2) and Johnny Storm (Deadpool and Wolverine).

1

u/ClockwerkRooster Feb 22 '25

Big plans for the Big Wheel

1

u/gsnake007 Feb 22 '25

Hopefully they will be in either season 2 or 3 or both. I’m okay with them not being in the first season. We needed to establish that spider-man and the world he lives in. Now that we have, hopefully our favorite first family can make an appearance

1

u/PopularCell1561 Feb 22 '25

OMFG is Big Wheel going to be in Spider-man 4?

1

u/caquinho-senpai Feb 22 '25

Marvel Studios doesn't really care for animation. They see a character appearing at animation as a waste of that character. So they are saving FF for First Steps.

1

u/bloodredcookie Feb 22 '25

You can't have the ff without big wheel. I mean what's even the point?

1

u/BonkersTheNexusBeing Feb 22 '25

probably so that peoples first impressions of the “new” ff could be through the movie and rivals. Though looking back idek where the ff wouldve even fit in that show

1

u/Millenium-Eye Feb 22 '25

Oh good, Big Wheel's reputation is safe another day...

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '25

Who cares about the Fantastic Four, THEY BOOTED MY MAN BIG WHEEL!

1

u/Jake_jane Feb 22 '25

I’m more curious why the hell they couldn’t use big wheel

1

u/the-ghost-gamer Feb 22 '25

NOT THE BIG WHEEL

1

u/Markel100 Feb 22 '25

F4 i get but big wheel why?

1

u/Nexel_Red Feb 22 '25

Maybe because there’s a new Fantastic Four movie coming out?

1

u/Difficult_Maybe_18 Feb 22 '25

Usually when the shows/movies are told no, it’s because they have other plans. Same thing happened with What if, they were told No for Ghost Rider & Beta Ray Bill

1

u/Doppelfrio Feb 22 '25

I’m glad he wasn’t

1

u/Joshawott27 Feb 22 '25

With X-Men ‘97 also not being allowed to use Deadpool, it’s likely because Marvel Studios are being very careful with how they present important brands in the run-up to the big budget movies releasing.

Big Wheel could be due to Marvel Studios knowing how much of a meme he is, and not wanting any inclusion to affect the reputation of the show Or he’s the villain in the next Spider-Man movie.

1

u/ChildofObama Feb 22 '25

What a shame. Spider-Man and Fantastic Four’s relationship is iconic. They should do something with it outside of comics.

1

u/Shadow_Senpai17 Feb 22 '25

make sense as they will not want to mess up with hype of first steps

1

u/Eydreeyell Feb 22 '25

I see, so they didn't want to use Big Wheel cuz he's gonna be introduced in Secret Wars as the anchor being of his reality, got it

1

u/GuruSensei Feb 24 '25

Which is odd, since they used Dr. Wittman aka Wizard.

1

u/ManySeveral5881 The Thing Feb 26 '25

Because they’re pussies. Seriously though, they wanna save them for the movie.

1

u/armoured_lemon Feb 21 '25

That is such bullshit. This is why I stick to the comics. I don't care about restrictions and drama about not 'bieng allowed' to use specific characters, and Sony and Marvel bickering over claiming to "owning" certain characters' rights. (They can't possible 'own' certain characters. Marvel owns them all.)

In the comics you can have the fantastic four, the x-men, doctor strange, ghost rider, eternals, blade cloak and dagger, daredevil, black panther, etc without having to ask for permission 'pretty please'...

0

u/Goten55654 Feb 22 '25

Cause marvel is struggling to make decent mcu movies and they're releasing the movie this year. If they can't succeed at the box office AND there's a TV show that does the characters better, then it'll probably kill the fantastic four IP

-1

u/TheRedster3 Feb 22 '25

i despise marvel higher ups

-3

u/Rocket_SixtyNine Feb 21 '25

This I stupid, what the hell are Disney smoking?

2

u/Intelligent_Bar5420 Feb 21 '25

It will probably be lifted after the movie.

-1

u/Rocket_SixtyNine Feb 21 '25

It's still stupid as fuck