Marvel Phase 4 Facebook Leaks Fuel Sinister Six, Fantastic Four Rumors
Is this the MCU's plan for 'Spider-Man 3'?
by Eric FranciscoThis week, the same week Marvel Studios is expected to announce its Phase 4 slate of new movies, fans have discovered “phantom” Facebook pages — social media pages that are registered by an unknown party but have not yet published any content — that may hint at Marvel’s new movies., and the latest discovery could reveal the studio’s plans for Spider-Man’s next adventure.
After Inverse discovered pages for Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, and Avengers vs. X-Men, fans on Reddit have found even more for characters/franchises including Fantastic Four, Deadpool, the Celestials, and the Sinister Six.
On Reddit, in the community r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers, user u/NinjaSpidey1 shared a full list of phantom Facebook pages that may or may not be reserved by Marvel. (It is, like, super hard to identify who reserved these pages.) Using Marvel’s typical naming conventions — either “Marvel” or “Official” beside the names — Reddit has found reserved pages for the following characters:
Reddit also found more pages for existing franchises (that already have live Facebook pages) for Daredevil, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, and the Hulk.
"Who, me?"
Because identifying the owners of these pages is impossible beyond breaking into Facebook’s campus in Menlo Park, none of this information should be taken as confirmation of new Marvel films or TV shows. In fact, because the news is now being reported across different geek movie sites, opportunistic fans could be registering these “official” pages to clown pop culture sites.
But you can’t blame fans for getting excited. This week is San Diego Comic-Con, the annual pop culture extravaganza in southern California where Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige is expected to unveil the future of Marvel Studios.
In the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, fans are speculating what’s to become of the Avengers, and what new heroes they’ll see in action on the big screen. While films like Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and The Eternals have had reports regarding directors, stars, and even filming in progress, Marvel Studios has not publicly announced its new movies. Thus, fans’ restless energies have been diverted towards oddball places like Facebook, where many brands, including film studios, quietly register social media pages for upcoming projects.
And some of these pages could be real. Marvel is indeed producing a series starring Tom Hiddleston, reprising his Thor villain Loki in a new live-action show for Disney+. Feige has also previously expressed interest in the X-Men and Fantastic Four for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though their return to Marvel from former owners 20th Century Fox suggests those franchises won’t be featured until Phase 5.
