Will Alicia Masters debut within the staff’s first MCU outing?
The Incredible 4: First Steps is giving Marvel followers no scarcity of issues to speak about, after the upcoming movie dazzled San Diego Comedian-Con with early seems at footage. As manufacturing on the Marvel Studios movie begins this week, the variety of questions surrounding the genre-bending movie are solely persevering with to develop. The Incredible 4‘s place within the bigger Marvel Cinematic Universe multiverse, in addition to the destiny of the movie’s ever-growing roster of characters, will certainly proceed to intrigue followers between now and its launch in the summertime of 2025.
Amid that early dialog, there’s one character who, ideally, must be reserved for the staff’s future MCU adventures — Alicia Masters.
Who Is Alicia Masters?
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962’s Incredible 4 #8, Alicia Masters is a blind girl who’s the stepdaughter of the supervillain Puppet Grasp. After assembly Ben Grimm / The Factor and discovering his candy character — whereas being unable to see him in his rock kind — Alicia is motivated to betray her father and assist the Incredible 4. She then turns into Ben’s love curiosity and a frequent ally of the Incredible 4, additionally taking part in a pivotal function in Silver Surfer turning on Galactus.
After Ben leaves the staff, Alicia seems to fall in love with and marries Johnny Storm / Human Torch, solely to find that she was a Skrull your complete time, and that the true Alicia continues to be in love with Ben. She continues to be part of the orbit of the Incredible 4, in addition to the heroes of the bigger Marvel Universe.
Why Alicia Masters Ought to Be Saved for The Incredible 4 2.
Throughout the casting course of and pre-production of The Incredible 4, there have been some theories that Alicia might issue into the movie. Some have puzzled if Natasha Lyonne, who’s solid within the mission in a thriller function, might actually be taking part in Alicia, though that idea depends extra on them having the identical purple hair and fewer on the mild-mannered vitality Alicia often has within the comics. There’s at all times an opportunity that Alicia might secretly be showing in The Incredible 4, particularly now that we all know the movie is not an easy origin story and will have Ben (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Alicia’s relationship already established. However an argument might be made for not together with Alicia Masters in The Incredible 4 in any respect, and as a substitute saving for a possible sequel.
We now undoubtedly know that The Incredible 4 is about within the Sixties in a unique universe from the primary MCU, one stuffed with a retro-futuristic aesthetic and its personal establishment. We additionally know that the world-eating Galactus (Ralph Ineson) is predicted to play a big function within the movie. With Avengers: Secret Wars on the docket for 2027, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige hinting that the Incredible 4 will reprise their roles within the movie, there was no scarcity of hypothesis about how these two movies will work together. It definitely is not out of the query that The Incredible 4 might culminate in Galactus destroying the staff’s world, inflicting them to leap ship and find yourself on Earth-616. That narrative choice would, presumably, go away practically all of The Incredible 4‘s supporting solid stranded in a dying universe — together with Alicia, if she had been launched within the movie.
Whereas the lack of Alicia might create an attention-grabbing emotional pull for Ben in his subsequent MCU appearances, it might additionally shut the door on their relationship simply as audiences are rising keen on it. That narrative alternative definitely is not something new in superhero media, as Surprise Lady equally left two of her greatest civilian confidants, Etta Sweet and Steve Trevor, caught within the Nineteen Forties (solely to should resort to problematic means to deliver Steve again within the sequel). However given the MCU’s previous struggles with introducing significant romances and elevating human supporting casts, The Incredible 4 is a compelling alternative to treatment each, as a substitute of sacrificing Ben’s real love in solely the primary film. Relying on how The Incredible 4 offers with Ben’s self-hatred in direction of his superhuman transformation (with feelings starting from well-adjusted to catastrophic within the comics) it will even be charming to doubtlessly watch him meet Alicia in no matter universe he results in post-Secret Wars. It’s abundantly clear that The Incredible 4 goes to shake up the MCU as we all know it — however this is hoping that Alicia Masters doesn’t get misplaced within the fray.
The Incredible 4: First Steps is presently scheduled to be launched solely in theaters on July 25, 2025.
