It’s safe to assume that the Fantastic Four won’t appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe anytime soon. Or, at all. But as Marvel’s First Family languishes in 20th Century Fox jail, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn admits he would have used a prominent foe of the Fantastic Four if Marvel had the cinematic rights to them.
During a Monday Q&A session on Facebook Live, Gunn said that he was a big fan of the Fantastic Four villain Annihilus and would have likely used him in one of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
“I think that there’s a good chance that if we had all of those characters—I really like the character of Annihilus,” Gunn said. “And there’s a chance that I would have done Annihilus as a villain in one of the movies.”
Annihilus, an Arthrosian alien who rules over the Negative Zone, was introduced in Fantastic Four Annual #6 in 1968. He most famously led a large armada called the Annihilation Wave in 2006’s Annihilation, from Keith Giffen and Andy Schmidt. Had James Gunn had his way, it’s likely his film would have taken after Annihilation because Star-Lord and Drax (as well as the Silver Surfer) are also featured predominantly in the story.
Annihilus in Marvel Comics
But while significant portions of the Marvel Universe are considered “off-limits” for the movies, it’s nice to know that the filmmakers are still aware of these forbidden comic characters’ existence. Still, we as viewers can only imagine how different Captain America: Civil War would have been with Wolverine and Johnny Storm having a part in the fray, or what Galactus would get up to in next year’s Avengers: Infinity War.
