The Fantastic Four are called Marvel’s First Family because, well, they actually are. Back in 1961, the company formerly known as Timely Comics transitioned into Marvel Comics. They kept some of their titles, such as Journey Into Mystery, but began a new approach to superhero comics with The Fantastic Four. These new titles would show the internal drama between the characters and not just their superheroics. After these characters became a big hit, the company created other heroes such as The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, and Iron Man. Fox would end up with the movie rights to bring these characters to the big screen but ultimately would produce content that really didn’t live up to what the comics promised. After four attempts (ironic), the rights have finally reverted back to Marvel Studios through Disney’s purchase of Twentieth Century Studios. Now that the MCU is around, fans are interested in seeing how the family will fit into the complex web of continuity that has become a bigger problem for Marvel. The MCU’s attempt at bringing the Fantastic Four to the screen is going by the title The Fantastic Four: First Steps (as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2024), and here’s everything we know about it:
While there have been some replacement characters throughout the years, the main cast of the FF (as they are often referred to in comics) are the primary family members. Sometimes, when rights become sticky, you’ll get a H.E.R.B.I.E. robot that was created for the 1978 animated series. Or, in the comics, a storyline will come up that will require Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, and Ghost Rider to take over the mantle of the team when they go missing. Even sometimes Marvel will decide not to use the name Fantastic Four since Fox had the movie rights, and they wanted to lessen the popularity of the brand. Corporations can be shady.
When the team went on a space mission and was bombarded with cosmic rays, the family patriarch, Reed Richards, gained the ability to stretch his body like a rubber band. His intellect is second to none, and he is considered the most intelligent person in the entire Marvel Universe. This has gotten him and the family in plenty of trouble on numerous occasions. He’s usually considered dull by a lot of his peers, as his absent-mindedness causes issues between his friends and family. His single focus on science has caused more than one Earth-shattering problem.
He was played by Ioan Gruffudd in the early 2000s and by Miles Teller in the last iteration. Lots of speculation was attached to the role as the internet fandom had attached John Krasinki to the role before. It gained enough of a groundswell that he would end up playing the character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. With the family getting their own title now in the MCU, some even thought Adam Driver might be a front-runner for the role. In the end, it would go to someone who is well-known for jumping into well-known properties.
Pedro Pascal will be Reed Richards for the upcoming film. Being a big part of Star Wars, The Last Of Us, Game of Thrones, and the last Wonder Woman film just wasn’t enough for him. He truly is the Thanos of collecting massive fandom roles. How his Reed will differ from the others remains to be seen, but he has shown he can lead a family, even if it takes him a while to get there. Just ask Grogu and Ellie.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Pascal acknowledged the mixed reactions, saying he’s hopeful audiences will embrace the film, even as he’s aware of the critics he’s picked up online. “I’m getting an inkling of excitement because it seems to reflect what our common goal was, and what we want to share, which is all of our f***ing hearts on a platter within this genre,” Pascal said “You just never know if people are going to be disgusted by your heart or not. I’m more aware of disgruntlement around my casting than anything I’ve ever done. ‘He’s too old. He’s not right. He needs to shave.’“
Sue is considered one of the most powerful female superheroes in the Marvel Universe. During the group’s trip to outer space, Sue would gain invisibility. She can turn herself invisible and generate invisible force fields. This can sort of act as a form of telekinesis. Invisible barriers can push people apart or even trap them. She is married to Reed, and they have a couple of children in Franklin and Valeria.
When it comes to the family, Sue is thought of as the one who keeps the group together. With Reed’s aforementioned obsession with making new scientific discoveries, her hot-headed brother (literally), and her friendship with Ben Grimm, she is able to keep everyone from fracturing. Although when she has become the interest of Namor, whom we met in the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever film, it has proven that the family will put their differences aside to save her.
Jessica Alba and Kate Mara have both played her, but Vanessa Kirby will be portraying her in the upcoming film. This is fitting as renowned comic book artist Jack Kirby (no relation) was responsible for a lot of the early Fantastic Four comics. One aspect about the film that’s been revealed is Sue Storm being pregnant. Entertainment Weekly recently spoke with the cast about the film and Vanessa Kirby talked about this element that is a significant plot point in the movie. Kirby says, “Matt and I were really aware that there hasn’t really been a mother with a baby in these superhero archetypes women have been getting. One of the things I love most from Sue’s history is when she becomes Malice, and all her dark stuff comes out. I was obsessed with that chapter of her life. So I wanted to make sure that there were tones of Malice in there with her, that she wasn’t just the stereotype of a goody, sweet mother. I’ve always been really interested in the mess of femininity, and how can you be both? How can you be all the things? Not just the tough, invincible, powerful woman, but also a mother who gives birth, which is itself a superhero act. I love that these characters are real humans in a messy family who argue and try to work it out and get things wrong.”
Sue’s younger brother was part of the team and found he had the ability to set himself ablaze when he returned home from the group’s mission. He would take on the moniker of The Human Torch, but he is actually not the first Marvel hero to use it. Back when the company was still known as Timely Comics, a character was already known as The Human Torch. This was an android named Jim Hammond. A scientist created him, and he could catch fire. The character was retired in the 50s, and Stan Lee reused the name and power set for the new characters he had come up with.
Johnny is usually shown as a brash character who sometimes acts before he thinks. This causes all sorts of issues and can cause tension on the team from Ben Grimm. His recklessness has made him form a friendship with Spider-Man, and the characters constantly try to outperform each other. This competition has made the duo a fan-favorite buddy team whenever they appear in a comic together.
Chris Evans previously played Johnny Storm in the early 2000s films. For the 2015 film, Michael B. Jordan was cast as Sue’s adopted brother. Maybe we can get all the Johnny Storms together in Avengers: Secret Wars? For the upcoming film, we’ll see Stranger Things Joseph Quinn takes on the role. His popularity on the show should bring a lot of fans in to see what he brings to the character.
The most sympathetic of the group, Ben Grimm, transforms into the living rock formation The Thing. You would think they would name him something else since he is very sensitive about his appearance. He would often be portrayed as the group member who suffered the most from their newfound powers. While he is now strong enough to go toe-to-toe with The Hulk on numerous occasions, they show that this is a burden rather than a gift for him.
Even with his new body affliction, he would find love numerous times in the comics, even if it usually was never meant to be. His rivalry with Johnny usually plays a lot of the comic relief in the comics. Their banter back and forth is hilarious and some of the best parts of the books. Seeing a good version of this on screen would be a great addition to the MCU.
Michael Chiklis and Jamie Bell played the character before. This time out, we’ll see Ebon Moss-Bachrach from The Bear take on the role. From the numerous roles he has been known for, this version of the character should be interesting. Rather than trying to find an actor with a larger frame to play the role, they are going with someone who seems to have a large personality. He has confirmed that he will use motion capture to play The Thing. How it looks on screen will determine how successful the character is.
While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Moss-Bachrach was asked if he says, “It’s clobberin’ time” at some point in the film. “I slipped it in there a couple times,” Moss-Bachrach said. “We’ll see what happens. I don’t have final cut on this one.“
The Thing will be brought to life through motion-capture in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and the actor even got some help from the godfather of motion-capture performance, Andy Serkis. Moss-Bachrach said, “They’ve got lots of animators working on this. I wore a motion-capture suit, two cameras right here and so they’re capturing absolutely everything, every nuance in my eye. It takes a while to build it, and they’re building it right now. Andy Serkis, who’s sort of the godfather of motion-capture, he has this company, The Imaginarium at Pinewood Studios, where we shot this. They have a room they call the Magic Mirror, where you put on the motion-capture suit and you put on monitors, and you can see in real time a beta rendering. It’s not fully realized, you can’t see the face too much. But there are stairs and a doorframe so you can see the physics, how big the character is.“
With all the Earth-threatening situations we have already seen in the MCU, it has been made clear that the Fantastic Four are not present in the MCU at this moment. The excuse they used with Eternals of them being told not to interfere with human problems wouldn’t cut it this time around. Let’s be honest, it didn’t really work the last time around. From the teaser art that Marvel put out on Instagram when they announced the main cast, fans started assuming that the film will take place in the 1960s. The retro feel of the decor in the picture and the clothing the characters are wearing seemed to indicate it. Marvel’s Kevin Feige and director Matt Shakman have since confirmed that The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set in the ’60s – but it’s not the ’60s as we knew them, or the way other characters from the MCU would know them. This is set in a different universe that allows Shakman to take the heroes back to the comic book roots while also giving the film a retro-futuristic look and vibe.
Shakman told Comic-Con attendees that the look of the film is inspired by the work of Syd Mead, the famed designer who helped bring Alien, Blade Runner, and more to life. Attendees also got to see a sizzle reel that gave an idea of what the ’60s retro-futuristic style is going to look like. Shakman has also said that Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four comic book stories were a great source of inspiration for the film and the script: “I fell in love with the Fantastic Four when I was a kid growing up in Ventura, California. Encountering a family of super heroes that felt so familiar blew my mind: the humor, the heart, the sniping and griping, the messiness. At the same time, I was taken by the optimism and wonder of their world. With their roots in the ’60s space race, the F4 have always been about exploration — whether it is to the cosmos or the Negative Zone or deep into the human mind. Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny may have incredible powers, but they are family first, scientists and explorers second, and superheroes only when absolutely necessary.
Every Marvel filmmaker attempts to build on what has come before in publishing while simultaneously reinventing the characters for the current moment. The same is true with comic creators. What Lee and Kirby launched in the ’60s changed Marvel forever. Their bold gamble to center a realistic family turned into the biggest hit of the early Silver Age. Every artist and writer since has attempted to build on that legacy while finding something in the characters that made them sparkle anew.
In preparation for Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” I delved into the 60-plus years of comics history. Marvel’s First Family has been continuously cared for by the best and brightest the company had to offer. None shone so bright as Jonathan Hickman. The humor and heart I loved as a kid? It’s there and better than ever. The messy family dynamics? Made even more interesting as Val and Franklin take center stage. And that sense of optimism and wonder? I don’t think the Fantastic Four have been quite as fantastic as they are in the pages of this book.
As we developed the script for the film, I returned again and again to this epic run — thrilled by brain-bending innovations like the Council of Reeds and riveted by heroic standoffs against the likes of Annihilus. But it was Hickman’s deep insight into the specific family dynamics of the Four that affected me the most.“
The setting explains why the Fantastic Four have never shown up in any previous MCU movie: they’re in a different universe. Presumably, this movie will explain how they finally cross over from that universe into the MCU – because it has already been confirmed that the Fantastic Four are going to be in the upcoming Avengers films Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Casting announcements have given away the fact that the villain Galactus, “a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force,” is part of the story. So, obviously, Galactus is going to be a serious threat to the world the Fantastic Four are living on. Perhaps he’ll be successful in devouring their world, forcing them to jump universes. Although Javier Bardem was up for the role at one point, Ralph Ineson of The Witch ended up landing the role of Galactus.
One thing that won’t be taking up a lot of the running time is a reiteration of the Fantastic Four origin story. Shakman told Entertainment Weekly, “We decided early on not to do an origin story. One of the ways we’re making it our own thing is we’re not telling the story of them going up and being changed, and starting our story [there]. There’s a lot of well-known narrative that leads into that moment, right? And then you’re making up your new story starting basically at the end of the first act, and we thought, ‘Well, let’s just start this thing off on a completely new foot.’ So we are beginning after that.”
Here’s the synopsis: Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/The Thing as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
“I think that there are no four characters that are more important for the history of Marvel,” Feige told Empire. “When Disney bought Fox, it was really an unexpected dream come true. It came at the perfect time, to help us launch into a new era. They are Marvel’s First Family, and I really wanted to do them justice.“
Asked why Doctor Doom isn’t the villain in the film, Shakman said, “Doom’s a great character, but he takes up a lot of air. Other film adaptations have done both an origin story and Doom. We’re doing neither, and that allows us to look at them from a fresh perspective.” We won’t have to wait long to see the Fantastic Four battle Doom, as he’ll be the villain in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
At one point, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far from Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts was attached to direct The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but he stepped away because he was “out of gas” after making the third Spidey movie. “The emotional strain of having to go through all of those COVID protocols while also trying to make something creative while also trying to make sure that your cast and crew were all safe — literally, people could’ve died if you did things wrong — that and the postproduction process was very difficult,” Watts said. “When you’re doing [visual effects work], there’s a whole international component to it where you’re using vendors from all over the world, and the supply chain had been interrupted because of COVID. It was really hard to get effects done in a traditional way.“ Once it came time to focus his attention on Fantastic Four, Watts realized he didn’t have enough energy to do his best work. “I am out of gas. The COVID layer on top of making a giant movie layer, I knew I didn’t have what it would’ve taken to make that movie great,” he said. “I was just out of steam, so I just needed to take some time to recover. Everyone at Marvel totally understood. They had been through it with me as well, so they knew how hard and draining that experience has been; in the end, very satisfying, but at some point, if you can’t do it at the level that you feel like you need to for it to be great, then it’s better to not do it.”
The Fantastic Four are likely to play a pivotal role in the MCU moving forward, especially since their nemesis Doctor Doom is going to be at the center of both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, where he’ll be played by Robert Downey Jr. (For now, we’re just left to wonder whether or not Downey’s Doom will make any kind of appearance in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.) In the Secret Wars comic book event, Doom plays an essential role. The universe is destroyed, but Doom is granted almost God-like powers to reassemble it. He grabs parts of alternate worlds to piece them together. So, for our understanding, it would be like he would grab part of the Fox X-Men universe, part of the Sony Spider-Man Universe, and part of the MCU and slap them together.
With Doctor Doom being such a big part of that story, it only makes sense that The Fantastic Four would play a pivotal role in Secret Wars.
One of the most controversial aspects of the new Fantastic Four movie is that it will be introducing the Silver Surfer into the MCU. However, it will not be the male Norrin Radd character most associated with the comic. Rather, it will be a female variant, Shalla-Bal, to be played by Ozark star Julia Garner. Garner told Entertainment Weekly, “I can’t really speak a lot about that project. All I can just say is that I’m very lucky to have a part in that project, and the Fantastic Four are fantastic. They are so amazing in this. I’m very excited for people to see them. I’m assuming that this Silver Surfer is gonna be really shiny like in the other previous ones and the comic books. So, yeah, that’s all I’m gonna say.“
The cast also includes Paul Walter Hauser and Natasha Lyonne. John Malkovich was part of the cast as well, but didn’t make it into the finished film. The running time is 116 minutes, making this one of the shortest films in MCU history. “There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room floor,” Shakman explained to Variety. “When we were building a ’60s retro-future world, introducing all of these villains, introducing these four main characters as a group, as well as individually, introducing the idea of a child — there was a lot of stuff to balance in this movie and some things had to go ultimately in terms of shaping the film for its final version.” Shakman added that Malkovich was “brilliant” in the film and “gave it his all,” which made it all the more “heartbreaking” when he realized he had to leave him on the cutting room floor.
The plan is for it to be released on July 25th, 2025.
At Disney’s CinemaCon presentation, it was announced by MCU head-honcho Kevin Feige that two upcoming Marvel films will be shot in IMAX, one of which is going to be Fantastic Four.
More character art can be seen HERE and HERE. If you want to check out the Fantastic Four’s home base, the Baxter Building, click THIS LINK.
Early reactions to The Fantastic Four: First Steps have been very positive, with JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray giving the film an 8/10 review.
Are you excited for a new Fantastic Four film? Let us know in the comments. And yes, I didn’t talk about the Roger Corman film because that deserves its own column.