With Insomniac's Spider-Man just around the corner, fans are dealt a killer blow as it sounds like the Fantastic Four will definitely not be making an appearance in the open-world game. The biggest Spider-Man game to date promises to boast plenty of famous foes from Peter Parker's rogues' gallery, but the number of heroes may be a little thin on the ground.
Spider-Man has crossed paths with Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Sue and Johnny Storm, on a number of occasions, while the Fantastic Four were also part of Spider-Man: The Animated Series's "Secret Wars" storyline. The PS4-exclusive Spider-Man is confirmed to be a veritable Easter egg hunt across the world of Peter Parker to include key locations like Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum and the Avengers Tower, but somewhere very familiar to fans of Richards and co. will be missing from New York City skyline.
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As comic book fans hope a Fox-Disney merger could bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU just as Spider-Man himself joined the party in Spider-Man: Homecoming, one Spidey fan asked Insomniac creative director Bryan Intihar if the team could at least be alluded to in Spider-Man with the inclusion of the Baxter Building.
With a categorical no, the Fantastic Four's base of operations will not be somewhere players can explore in the game. Although Intihar doesn't discount the Fantastic Four completely, it is highly unlikely they exist in this world without their signature headquarters. Considering the Wakandan Embassy and lesser locations like Damage Control HQ all get a nod in Spider-Man, the exclusion of the Baxter Building is a pretty big sticking point.
While the lack of Fantastic Four could be chalked up to the looming 20th Century Fox merger with The Walt Disney Company, video game rights for Marvel characters are typically separate from their movie rights. So, in all likelihood, Marvel Entertainment's Marvel Games division could already hold the rights to the superhero team, they just aren't willing to add them in at this time. After all, this is a Spider-Man game. With Venom also confirmed to not be in the game because he is simply "too big" for Spider-Man, this is the second piece of bad news in as many weeks. That being said, with the likes of Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, confirmed to be alive and well in the game's universe, who knows what the future holds?
Although the waiting game is a frustrating one, all signs point to Marvel building its own gaming universe similar to the MCU and presumably getting around to the Fantastic Four eventually. Batman fans have seen this happen before with Rocksteady's critically-acclaimed trilogy of games and the gritty Arkhamverse. Just like Rocksteady's world, Insomniac looks to at least be putting the pieces in places to expand in a possible sequel. The Fantastic Four may be sitting Spider-Man out, but if Peter Parker plans on taking on Venom or someone like Doctor Doom in another game, five heads are better than one.
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Source: Bryan Intihar