Will Alicia Masters debut in the team’s first MCU outing?
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is giving Marvel fans no shortage of things to talk about, after the upcoming film dazzled San Diego Comic-Con with early looks at footage. As production on the Marvel Studios film begins this week, the number of questions surrounding the genre-bending film are only continuing to grow. The Fantastic Four‘s place in the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe multiverse, as well as the fate of the film’s ever-growing roster of characters, will surely continue to intrigue fans between now and its release in the summer of 2025.
Amid that early conversation, there is one character who, ideally, should be reserved for the team’s future MCU adventures — Alicia Masters.
Who Is Alicia Masters?
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962’s Fantastic Four #8, Alicia Masters is a blind woman who is the stepdaughter of the supervillain Puppet Master. After meeting Ben Grimm / The Thing and discovering his sweet personality — while being unable to see him in his rock form — Alicia is motivated to betray her father and help the Fantastic Four. She then becomes Ben’s love interest and a frequent ally of the Fantastic Four, also playing a pivotal role in Silver Surfer turning on Galactus.
After Ben leaves the team, Alicia appears to fall in love with and marries Johnny Storm / Human Torch, only to discover that she was a Skrull the entire time, and that the real Alicia is still in love with Ben. She continues to be a part of the orbit of the Fantastic Four, as well as the heroes of the larger Marvel Universe.
Why Alicia Masters Should Be Saved for The Fantastic Four 2.
Across the casting process and pre-production of The Fantastic Four, there have been some theories that Alicia could factor into the film. Some have wondered if Natasha Lyonne, who is cast in the project in a mystery role, could really be playing Alicia, although that theory relies more on them having the same red hair and less on the mild-mannered energy Alicia usually has in the comics. There is always a chance that Alicia could secretly be appearing in The Fantastic Four, especially now that we know the film isn’t a straightforward origin story and could have Ben (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Alicia’s relationship already established. But an argument can be made for not including Alicia Masters in The Fantastic Four at all, and instead saving for a potential sequel.
We now definitely know that The Fantastic Four is set in the 1960s in a different universe from the main MCU, one filled with a retro-futuristic aesthetic and its own status quo. We also know that the world-eating Galactus (Ralph Ineson) is expected to play a significant role in the film. With Avengers: Secret Wars on the docket for 2027, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige hinting that the Fantastic Four will reprise their roles in the film, there has been no shortage of speculation about how those two films will interact. It certainly isn’t out of the question that The Fantastic Four could culminate in Galactus destroying the team’s world, causing them to jump ship and end up on Earth-616. That narrative decision would, presumably, leave nearly all of The Fantastic Four‘s supporting cast stranded in a dying universe — including Alicia, if she were introduced in the film.
While the loss of Alicia could create an interesting emotional pull for Ben in his subsequent MCU appearances, it could also shut the door on their relationship just as audiences are growing fond of it. That narrative choice certainly isn’t anything new in superhero media, as Wonder Woman similarly left two of her biggest civilian confidants, Etta Candy and Steve Trevor, stuck in the 1940s (only to have to resort to problematic means to bring Steve back in the sequel). But given the MCU’s past struggles with introducing meaningful romances and elevating human supporting casts, The Fantastic Four is a compelling opportunity to remedy both, instead of sacrificing Ben’s true love in only the first movie. Depending on how The Fantastic Four deals with Ben’s self-hatred towards his superhuman transformation (with emotions ranging from well-adjusted to catastrophic in the comics) it would also be charming to potentially watch him meet Alicia in whatever universe he ends up in post-Secret Wars. It is abundantly clear that The Fantastic Four is going to shake up the MCU as we know it — but here’s hoping that Alicia Masters does not get lost in the fray.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently scheduled to be released exclusively in theaters on July 25, 2025.
