At a time when Marvel films were made under the 20th Century Fox and Sony banners, there were three superhero series that found immense popularity in the early 2000s: Sony and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, and Fox’s X-Men and Fantastic Four. The third one was actually a direct result of the incredible critical and commercial success Fox found with the X-Men. And after the second mutant movie, the production house deemed it fit to have a tribute scene for its main lead in the Fantastic Four movie.

However, the scene was ultimately cut, and we never got to see what might have been the very first crossover of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The deleted scene from the 2005 Fantastic Four movie has recently resurfaced, depicting Ioan Gruffudd’s Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic morphing into none other than Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, paying homage to the actor after the success of X2: X-Men United.

The scene circulating on X (Twitter) is the climax scene where Reed is chatting with Sue Storm, saying that he thought that she always liked strong men, and then morphs into Wolverine. However, the makers, for some reason, did not keep the morphing bit. In the theatrical version, he just makes his chin appear a little stronger while talking to Sue about the kind of man she wants him to be.

In the 2005 film adaptation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's superheroic comic book franchise, Ioan Gruffudd played Reed Richards, also known as Mister Fantastic. Michael Chiklis played The Thing, Jessica Alba co-starred as Sue Storm, and future Captain America Chris Evans played Johnny Storm. Fantastic Four debuted in theaters at a time when the X-Men franchise was booming, with X2 emerging as a huge box office success and X-Men: The Last Stand firmly under development. Given this, Fox saw a chance to enjoy itself, as seen in the deleted scene on X.

Alas, the enjoyment could not make it to the big screen, and fans also did not hesitate to voice their feeling clearly in the comments over the deleted scene.

The deleted Wolverine scene from the 2005 Fantastic Four has made an uproar on the internet, with several fans who did not know about this initial tribute plan wondering what it would have felt like to see a Marvel crossover that early on, when the MCU as an idea was not even conceived. Some who knew about it were simply unhappy with the studio’s decision to cut it out of the film.

“That scenes in the movie. They just cut the face morph effect,” pointed out one fan.

“Should have been in the movie cause I need to see live audiences reaction to this LMAO,” wished an user.

“We really were about to get an early 2000’s MCU were we. Then again probably just some cheeky easter eggs but still,” said another.

Some also noticed how the scene was inconsistent with Mr. Fantastic’s power in the comics, while some went on to make fun of the terrible CGI.

“the scene didn't even really make sense... he can use his stretchy powers to change his facial structure, sure... but, can't just grow facial hair out of nowhere,” suggested a fan.

“Looks more like Liam Hemsworth,” according to one user.

“How… did he … stretch mutton chops….,” asked another.

The X-Men and Fantastic Four brands as we know them came to an end when Disney acquired Fox in 2019. In any case, during the nearly two decades that Fox produced Marvel films, it never succeeded in crossing characters from these two universes. But Marvel is seizing this opportunity by the horns and transforming it into a spectacle in Avengers: Doomsday.

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What do you think of this missed opportunity by 20th Century Fox? Do let us know.