Fantastic Four fan theory changes the meaning of this Doctor Strange line

If rumors about the forthcoming Fantastic Four movie are correct, it changes the meaning of a Doctor Strange line in Multiverse of Madness.

After months of speculation, Marvel announced the actors who will be playing the Fantastic Four in the studio’s 2025 reboot of those characters. And to be honest, it’s who we all thought.

Via a post on social media, the studio confirmed that Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn would play Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm respectively.

An illustration was used to depict the actors as their characters, which resulted in the belief that this new film will be a period piece set in the 1960s. Which means a line from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness plays different now.

Fantastic Four fan theory changes the meaning of Doctor Strange line

During Doctor Strange 2, the title character is brought before the Illuminati, where he’s introduced to their council by Sorcerer Supreme Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Which consists of First Avenger Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell), Inhuman King Blackagar Boltagon (Anson Mount), Defender of the Cosmos Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch), and “the smartest man alive” Reed Richards (John Krasinski), of the Fantastic Four.

“Fantastic Four?” says Strange. “Didn’t you guys chart in the ’60s?” A reference to The Beatles, the biggest band of that decade, who were nicknamed The Fab Four.

But if the Fantastic Four are actually from that period, the joke has a double-meaning. Which could be coincidence, obviously. But Kevin Feige and the Marvel brain trust plan their Phases years in advance, so equally this might be a case of an inspired Marvel Easter egg, one that’s been hiding in plain sight for the last two years.

The Fantastic Four is scheduled to hit screens on July 25, 2025.