Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm's powers underwent some crazy iterations in concept art for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Better known as the Invisible Woman, Storm is typically regarded as the most powerful member of Marvel's First Family, thanks to her ability to manipulate certain cosmic energy, create force fields, and turn invisible. That power has allowed her to reach great feats in the MCU already, including holding back Ralph Ineson's Galactus as he trolls through New York.
The official art book for Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps pulled back the curtain on alternate designs for Sue Storm's superpowers in the MCU. Concept artist Wes Burt admitted that there was a "quite a period of exploration" into how Sue's force fields and invisible energy could be uniquely interpreted:
"There was quite a period of exploration into how Sue's powers could be represented visually in a way that we haven't seen before. I wanted it to be reminiscent of the choices visual effects artis would have made in the 1960s, but done through a modern approach with CGIs."
Burt particularly namedropped 20th-century artists Austin Briggs (Flash Gordon) and Coby Whitmore as inspirations for his work on Sue's powers.
The MCU artist noted that some ideas projected Sue's powers as "an overlay in glass or marble," resulting in some rather unique concepts:
"In some of my concepts, her force field would be like an overlay in glass or marble, which could have been done in 3D today. In others, I was looking at abstracting light into RGB colors. I also explored her physical interactions as she would cast her force field and was trying to show it coming from her heart."
These crystalline forcefields may have edged too closely into the diamond aesthetics of another female hero, the X-Men's Emma Frost.
Director Matt Shakman (who is expected to return for The Fantastic Four 2) wanted to untangle a "different way" to approach these unique superpowers beyond the classic "force field bubble" that has been done many times before:
"Sue has a really interesting power set. One thing I didn't want to do was just the force field bubble, which we've seen in the comics a lot. I wanted to figure out a different way to do that."
Shakman has been clear in the past that 2001: A Space Odyssey and the work of the late director Stanley Kubrick heavily inspired First Steps. That even translated to Sue's powers as he contemplated how the sci-fi icon would handle such ideas:
"We wanted to think about 1960s optics and color palettes - ways to do it that felt very much in camera. I tried to ask myself, 'What would Stanley Kubrick do if he had a character with this power set?' There are ways to do it emotionally, comedically, and dramatically. The emotional ones are the ones that I think hit me the most."
Out of all her Fantastic Four comrades, Baker especially explored ways to unite "work together" with her fiery brother, Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm:
"I also asked myself how she and Johnny could work together. So maybe she makes this shield with a specific pattern, and Human Torch's flame is being shot out through the holes in the shield to target multiple areas."
Sadly, these team-up moments came few and far between in The Fantastic Four, as the closest fans got to this concept art was when Sue levitated part of a railway as Johnny used his flaming heat to weld it back together.
Notably, it wasn't just the Invisible Woman who almost looked very different in The Fantastic Four, as the Marvel Studios art book also unveiled four more powers for Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards. While these designs never made the cut for First Steps, some may speculate that they could be saved for Avengers: Doomsday.
The Fantastic Four's unique visual aesthetic was one of the biggest points of praise for the Summer 2025 blockbuster. Regardless, many would argue that some of these alternate designs for Sue's powers are more distinct and therefore could have brought a cooler flair to her MCU debut.
Why Sue Storm's Powers Could Be Different in Avengers: Doomsday
When The Fantastic Four: First Steps begins, Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm and the rest of her super-powered family are already four years into their superhero careers. Thanks to the MCU epic's post-credit scene time jump, they will now have been heroes for over eight years in their next appearance: Avengers: Doomsday.
Moviegoers could see a very different side to Storm in Doomsday, as her most experienced self is faced with the team's greatest, most personal challenge yet. As fans already know, Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom is set to abduct Franklin Richards to use as his secret weapon in the Multiversal conflict to come.
As Sue and the Fantastic Four are truly pushed to their limits, it's possible her powers will ultimately look a little different in Doomsday and Secret Wars. After all, the Avengers blockbusters will be helmed by the Russo Brothers, not Matt Shakman, and they may wish to put their own spin on her visuals.
