Christopher Nolan not too long ago proclaimed that the choice to rent Robert Downey Jr. to play Tony Stark in “Iron Man” was “some of the consequential casting selections that’s ever been made within the historical past of the film enterprise.”

By the tip of this decade, the identical could be mentioned for the 4 actors who have been simply solid because the titular superheroes in Marvel’s “The Improbable 4”: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Like Downey, all of those actors have had current experiences with big-budget productions — Pascal with “The Mandalorian” and “The Final of Us,” Kirby with the 2 most up-to-date “Mission: Inconceivable” movies, Quinn with “Stranger Issues” and Moss-Bachrach with “Andor.” However, additionally like Downey, none of them have headlined their very own studio motion blockbuster earlier than signing up with Marvel.

Downey, in fact, proved to be such an electrifying presence as Iron Man that he propelled the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the subsequent 11 years, showing in 10 motion pictures which have collectively earned $12.5 billion in international field workplace grosses earlier than Stark died in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Since then, Downey’s absence has been acutely felt by Marvel followers, as has the lack of Chris Evans’ Captain America, who additionally took his (presumably) ultimate bow in “Endgame.” These two characters served because the yin and yang for the early MCU — Stark the brash, rakish genius; Cap the stalwart, aw shucks warrior — that turned the franchise’s gravitational middle. With the Guardians of the Galaxy breaking apart, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor taking sabbaticals, and the deaths of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and, tragically, Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther, Marvel has been hurting for characters who can function the central anchor for probably the most profitable film franchise in Hollywood historical past. (With all due respect to Physician Unusual and Ant-Man, they’ve at all times labored finest as potent facet dishes relatively than the principle course.)

This new Improbable 4 may very well be these characters, as they lastly step into the roles on the large display that they’ve been taking part in in comedian books since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby first dreamed them up in 1961, launching the Marvel universe as we all know it right now. Reed Richards (Pascal) and Johnny Storm (Quinn) are like remixes of Stark and Cap — Reed’s Mr. Improbable because the stalwart, aw shucks genius, Johnny’s Human Torch because the brash and rakish warrior. Sue’s Invisible Girl grows into some of the spectacular suites of powers within the Marvel canon, however in contrast to Captain Marvel or Scarlet Witch, she’s way more grounded, with Earth-bound, on a regular basis issues. And Ben Grimm (Moss-Bachrach) is strolling pathos, a scrappy, good natured man caught with the Factor’s seemingly monstrous physique of orange boulders — he’s Hulk with out the uncontrollable rage and Rocket with out the delinquent misanthropy. 

Readers of Marvel comics know that these 4 characters have been integral to the continued Marvel universe — usually at its very middle. However whereas the “Improbable 4” motion pictures of the 2000s (with Evans taking part in Johnny) have their charms, it’s honest to say that Marvel’s First Household has by no means gotten the highest shelf function movie adaptation that they deserve. (The much less mentioned in regards to the 2015 reboot, the higher.) Bringing them into the MCU is a win-win: Marvel will get the central characters it’s wanted, plus the Improbable 4 get a cinematic residence worthy of their significance in Marvel historical past. It definitely doesn’t damage that Pascal, Kirby, Quinn and Moss-Bachrach are all wildly gifted actors, both.

What’s most tantalizing about Wednesday’s announcement, nevertheless, is the means Marvel went about it, with a playful illustration of the actors as their characters celebrating Valentine’s Day. From the retro title therapy, to the mid-century fashionable costumes and furnishings, to the truth that Ben seems to be reading a difficulty of Life journal from December 1963, it appears fairly clear that “The Improbable 4” might be set within the Sixties.

Extra to the purpose, that implies that “The Improbable 4” will exist in a parallel universe separate from the core MCU — if there was a household of area age superheroes who have been contemporaries of Peggy Carter and Howard Stark, we in all probability would’ve heard about them by now. As an alternative, Marvel seems to be utilizing this movie to offer itself a literal recent begin, permitting audiences to stroll into this film with out essentially having to know something in regards to the 50-plus MCU titles that can precede it.

In fact, ultimately, the Improbable 4 will be part of the principle MCU — almost definitely in 2027’s “Avengers: Secret Wars,” which (if it follows the storyline from the 2015 comics run of the identical identify) will contain a number of parallel universes colliding with one another. That may result in a model new, semi-rebooted MCU with the Improbable 4 (and the X-Males, as urged by the post-credits scene of “The Marvels”) at its middle. 

After the roughest yr in Marvel’s historical past, that’s improbable information, certainly.