Conspiracy Theorists Dragged After Being Confused By 'Fantastic Four' Sky-Writing Promo

The marketing team for The Fantastic Four: First Steps caused real-life mayhem among Q-Anon conspiracists who confused the superhero family’s logo for a “Q.”

This all happened on July 4th, when Marvel and Disney hired skywriters to promote the upcoming summer blockbuster, which is set to premiere on July 25th.

Consisting of the number 4 in the center of a circle, the marketing campaign flew over Chicago, Los Angeles, and Jersey City. The stunt echoed Marvel hero Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch’s iconic move of drawing the team’s “F4” logo in the clouds.

Social media user Michael Piff posted a photo of the sky art on X:

"Johnny celebrating the 4th a little early"

Needless to say, Marvel is going all out to promote the first film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s phase six. The Fantastic Four Instagram account continued their social media campaign with a “July 4th fan letter” written by a young fan named Jimmy to Johnny Storm.

You can read the sweet letter below:

The Fantastic Four: First Steps features the “First Family of Marvel” defending their multiverse version of Earth, set in a retro-futuristic 1960s, from a planet-devouring Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer. The movie follows Thunderbolts* starring Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, considered a box office disappointment at a meager $75 million in domestic sales.

The cast features Pedro Pascal as the flexible Reed Richards, also known as Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, and the super-strong Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, the Thing.

You can watch the trailer for the movie below:

- YouTubeMarvel/YouTube

Despite the viral campaign and commercials, the skywriting art caused confusion among Q-Anon followers and conspiracy theorists who believed the circular logo was a sign of a “Q” alert. Q-Anon is an alt-right conspiracy group that claims the “Deep State” of Satan-worshipping and pedophilic followers controls the government, global affairs, Hollywood, and the media.

X user @HustleBitch posted about the confusing “Q” sky writing event:

Look at that community note!

And @JnetMags thought the logo looked like the start of a Satanic pentagram drawing. Yikes!

The social media user posted her video on X:

While others on TikTok questioned if the sky art over Chicago was UFO-related, as seen by user @stanmarqui:

With so many Q theories circulating, the campaign unintentionally sparked an internet war as Q and conspiracy theorists refused to accept that the sky art was for the upcoming movie.

And they shared their confused and paranoid reactions for all the world to see.

Fantastic Four fans’ reactions to the Q-Anon reactions were relatable.

Hopefully, the marketing stunt boosts the Fantastic Four’s box office numbers as the MCU competes with Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World: Rebirth and the DCU’s Superman, directed and written by former MCU star James Gunn.

Like the Human Torch, the Superman film will take to the skies on July 11th. Debuting on July 2nd, Jurassic Park earned an impressive $322 million worldwide, making Scarlett Johansson the highest-grossing box-office star in Hollywood.