The Fantastic Four is unquestionably one of the most important superhero teams in the history of Marvel, but has always been kept outside the gates of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thanks to the comic book company's bankruptcy in the 1990s, film rights to the heroes and all associated characters were sold off, and therefore they couldn't come to play with Iron Man, Captain America and Thor when they first made their way to the big screen a decade ago. Thankfully, barriers are now coming down due to the recently announced merger between Disney and Fox, but the situation presents its own special quandary: at this point, how do you properly go about introducing the Fantastic Four into canon?

There are many factors in play -- including the Fantastic Four movies that we've already seen, and the level of weirdness audiences are prepared to swallow narratively in a mainstream blockbuster -- but keeping them in consideration, we've determined four possible routes for the franchise to go. Read on for our explanations, and hit the comments section below with your own thoughts on how it should go down.