The MCU finally tackles Marvel’s First Family in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Here is everything fans need to know leading into this pivotal film.
Reed Richard, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm are a group of superheroes that have gone down in the annals of Marvel history since their comic book debut in 1961. Without the Fantastic Four, Marvel, as fans may know it, might not exist.
This year, President Kevin Feige, director Matt Shakman, and the team at Marvel Studios will finally launch the Fantastic Four in the MCU with the long-in-development feature film The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The movie can potentially be the First Family's strongest cinematic venture yet, with hordes of fans already hyped.
All the Major Reveals for Pedro Pascal's Fantastic Four Movie
Fantastic Four’s Cast Is Made up of Recognizable Actors From Mandalorian, The Bear, & More
A significant MCU movie like The Fantastic Four needs an equally significant cast. Marvel and its visionary casting director, Sarah Halley Finn, have pulled out all the stops to bring together a roster of top talents.
After much fuss was made by fans over the actors who would embody the MCU’s Fantastic Four (FF), Marvel Studios officially announced who was playing whom in February 2024.
This includes The Mandalorian and The Last of Us lead Pedro Pascal as the brainy, stretchy Dr. Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic. Mission: Impossible’s Vanessa Kirby plays Reed’s loving wife and team powerhouse Susan Storm or The Invisible Woman.
Rounding out the core four are Joseph Quinn (of Stranger Things fame) as the hotheaded Johnny Storm, Sue’s younger Brother and the high-flying Human Torch, plus The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, otherwise known as the Ever-Lovin’ Blue Eyed Thing.
Also starring in First Steps are Ralph Ineson as the Devourer of Worlds himself, Galactus, as well as Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal, an alternate version of the Silver Surfer, Sky-Rider of the Spaceways and Herald of Galactus.
Natasha Lyonne, John Malkovich, Paul Walter Hauser, and Sarah Niles have also been cast in undisclosed roles.
Fantastic Four Will Take Place on an Alternate Earth
Much like Summer 2024’s smash hit Deadpool & Wolverine, The Fantastic Four will not be set in the MCU proper. First Steps will introduce a new world into the vast Marvel Multiverse, set in the 1960s.
Judging by art released by Marvel Studios, this alternate Earth will have felt the effects of Reed Richards’ genius. The New York City skyline isn’t how it appeared in the '60s and has been rendered in a retro-futuristic aesthetic.
The FF being rooted in the '60s is an intriguing twist. The team’s early comic stories came out in this era, and setting the new MCU film during this decade gives it a license to embrace the unique period visuals, perhaps even with some extra Jack Kirby flair.
The Movie Is Not an Origin Story
Even though The Fantastic Four: First Steps will take the family back to its 1960s roots, the movie is not an origin tale, as has been confirmed by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
This isn’t the first time the studio glossed over the origin of its heroes. 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming indirectly references the spider bite that turned young Peter Parker into the Friendly Neighborhood Web-Slinger.
Likewise, The Incredible Hulk, the MCU’s second-ever film, elected to showcase a quick montage over the opening titles that set the stage for the rest of the story. Quick shots of Bruce Banner’s fateful gamma experiment and transformation into the Hulk are showcased, but the film doesn’t dally over them.
Marvel probably assumes that audiences are at least somewhat familiar with how the Fantastic Four got their powers, and skipping their origin will enable the film to jump straight into the action.
Fan-Favorite Michael Giacchino Will Compose the Score
Frequent Marvel Studios collaborator and three-time Grammy Award-winner Michael Giacchino is on scoring duties for First Steps.
The composer lent his talents to several other MCU projects, including the Spider-Man trilogy and the original Doctor Strange movie from 2016.
Giacchino notably directed the Marvel Studios Special Presentation Werewolf by Night. He also composed the music for the spooky special.
Marvel already revealed Michael Giacchino’s Fantastic Four theme and played it at various events since July, a few times with a live orchestra (via JamieCinematics on X (formerly Twitter)).
The First Promo Art From Fantastic Four Has Already Surfaced Online
In December 2024, key art for The Fantastic Four: First Steps debuted online, offering devotees a first look at its titular team.
The slightly grainy but no less official artwork featured Pedro Pascal’s Mister Fantastic front and center, with his teammates right behind him.
Interestingly, each FF member will wear a unique suit instead of the more uniform look they’re almost always presented with. Plus, the Thing will don a full jumpsuit instead of his usual shorts in the film.
The Thing Will Be Brought to Life Using CGI
Speaking of the Thing, in a not-so-revoltin' development, Ben’s burly, rocky form will be brought to the screen through visual effects.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach confirmed the use of digital motion capture technology to create the Thing to Variety:
"I’m doing a lot of motion capture on ['Fantastic Four']. So for maximum-data facial capture, I have to be clean-shaven."
In August 2024, photos captured from the set of Fantastic Four showed a man wearing a physical Thing costume. However, this was likely a simple model used so the crew could determine how light and shadow interacted with Ben’s craggy skin to better replicate it on the CGI model.
Previous Fantastic Four movies, the 2005 and 2007 versions, featured actor Michael Chiklis in a practical but restrictive Thing suit. The effect was convincing enough, but the MCU incarnation of the beloved character will be more authentically rendered.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom Isn’t Confirmed to Appear… Yet
Announced during Marvel‘s showstopping Hall H panel at 2024's San Diego Comic-Con, Robert Downey Jr. will don another iconic suit of armor as the menacing Doctor Victor Von Doom. Thus far, the actor is confirmed to play the part in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
With Doom traditionally serving as the FF’s arch-nemesis, it would seem like Downey would also be a shoo-in for a cameo in First Steps, maybe in a post-credits stinger.
But Doctor Doom has not been indicated to appear in The Fantastic Four in any official capacity. The rumor mill swirls, but the studio's lips are sealed on whether Doom could make his presence known.
This would be the sort of surprise that Marvel typically likes to hold until a movie's release date, much like the string of high-profile legacy cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine. Still, the possibility of someone involved with Fantastic Four spilling the beans remains.
Marvel Will Compete With a Big DC Film During Fantastic Four’s Release
Look up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… the Fantasticar?
Indeed, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps will compete with DC Studios and director James Gunn’s highly anticipated Superman. The DCU’s Superman movie will be released in cinemas on July 11, just two weeks before the Fantastic Four.
It is far too early to determine how successful either motion picture will be, but there is much more riding on Superman, which launches the new DCU. If Gunn’s film were to flop, it would spell certain doom for DC’s multimedia endeavors.
Audiences are clamoring for both Superman and Fantastic Four, so hopefully, both entries will be able to shine at the box office.
A Key Avengers 5 Player Is Rumored to Debut
Speculation persists that Reed and Sue’s son, Franklin Richards, is MCU-bound. As comic die-hards know, Franklin is unfathomably powerful, having inherited his parents' cosmic-ray-bathed genetics.
Imbued with the ability to warp reality and bend it to his whims, Franklin can do anything he wishes. He’s been shown spawning entire universes with a simple thought. He is also considered immortal and easily outclasses even the strongest Omega-level Mutants like Magneto and Storm.
After the 2015 comic book crossover event Secret Wars, Franklin, his parents, and their friends helped rebuild the Multiverse.
With the MCU currently barreling towards its version of Secret Wars in the sixth Avengers movie, Franklin Richards seems like a natural inclusion. Moreover, rumors indicate that the Richards’ son will also appear in Fantastic Four: First Steps, although this information is unsubstantiated.
Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters on July 25.
