The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Disney+ release included the movie's enhanced edition that most moviegoers will have missed. The Fantastic Four debuted in July as Marvel Studios' third and final movie of 2025 and, despite disappointing at the box office, landed well with fans. The MCU reboot was instantly praised for its impressive visuals and, notably, its grand portrayal of the cosmic planet-eater Galactus.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrived on Disney+ with its IMAX Enhanced Edition available to watch from Day One. As such, streamers can enjoy the MCU’s latest offering with the same, superior expanded 1:43:1 picture they could on premium theater screens during its theatrical run that began in July.
The Fantastic Four's IMAX offering was particularly praised for how it highlighted Ralph Ineson's Galactus and his impressive stature, most notably in Act 3.
The enhanced inclusion came as somewhat of a shock, as the IMAX version wasn't included on the Blu-ray or digital editions.
As the IMAX edition was omitted from the home release and the majority of moviegoers opt for the standard version, The Fantastic Four's Disney+ release will be the first time most audiences see it.
Despite being heavily praised for how Galactus is presented in IMAX, The Fantastic Four has only six minutes of its 114-minute runtime in the format.
Of course, the vast majority of Galactus' glory is found in the third act as he tears through New York in pursuit of Franklin Richards and the Fantastic Four.
Beyond that, Galactus' ship looks even more impressive in IMAX, as his full head and upper torso can be seen, as opposed to cutting off the top of his head.
Clearly, Marvel Studios put an impressive amount of detail into Galactus' full cosmic body, which many audiences will have missed until now, as IMAX features 26% more picture than standard formats.
First Steps gives another peek at Galactus' grandeur, once again on his spaceship, when Julia Garner's Silver Surfer goes to speak with him.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps' streaming release completes it journey, from theaters, to digital, to physical, to streaming. However, Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm, and Ebon Mass-Bachrach's Ben Grimm will be back next year in Avengers: Doomsday.
The MCU future for Marvel's First Family is only just beginning, as they will return the following year in Avengers: Secret Wars. And, after that, Marvel Studios is already hard at work on The Fantastic Four under Matt Shakman, once again.
Marvel Studios Needs to Step Up Its IMAX Game in 2026
The Fantastic Four‘s IMAX Disney+ release comes after Thunderbolts*’s streaming debut omitted the expanded picture edition. Despite rumors that the IMAX upgrade will arrive in the future, there have been no updates in the two and a half months since its Disney+ debut, raising concerns about whether it will ever arrive.
Next year, MCU fans will enjoy Avengers: Doomsday in IMAX next December, bringing the Russo Brothers’ next blockbuster offering to screens in the best picture possible. That said, Spider-Man: Brand New Day isn’t expected to get the IMAX treatment as it will clash will Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in July.
Fans can only hope that Doomsday includes more IMAX footage than The Fantastic Four, as, while it was an impressive six minutes, it means that only around 5% of the movie's total runtime benefited from it.
