Marvel Boss Tells Fans What They Need to Watch Before Fantastic Four 2025

Marvel Studios' top executive, Kevin Feige, clarified whether fans need to watch any other MCU projects ahead of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. This film marks Marvel Studios' first efforts with Marvel's First Family, after the team's movie rights belonged to 20th Century Fox for most of the 21st century. Following Disney's massive purchase of 20th Century in 2019, the time has finally come to dive into the quartet's adventures behind the MCU branding.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed that fans do not have to watch any other MCU movies or TV shows to be prepared for the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Throughout the Multiverse Saga, Marvel Studios focused heavily on sequels on the big and small screens, leading fans to revisit dozens of movies and shows from the MCU's past (see the best way to watch the MCU for the first time here). However, there is now a change of pace when looking at the MCU's next venture.

Speaking with Deadline, Feige described The Fantastic Four as "a no-homework-required" film. He made it abundantly clear that the new outing has no connection to anything else Marvel Studios has ever made, reconfirming its place as the first movie in the MCU's Phase 6 slate:

"It’s a no-homework-required go-see-the-movie. It’s literally not connected to anything that was made before. It kicks off Phase 6."

Thus far, Marvel has used characters from the Fantastic Four in two Multiverse Saga movies. This came when John Krasinski played Reed Richards in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Chris Evans later reprised his role of Johnny Storm in 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine. With those being multiversal variants and The Fantastic Four taking place in a universe outside of Earth-616, the stories have no tangible ties to one another.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps, directed by Matt Shakman and starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, is the MCU's last 2025 theatrical release and the first film in the MCU's Phase 6. Featuring a handful of villains, the titular team will be pitted against Galactus and the Silver Surfer, who will put their universe in danger of being annihilated. The Fantastic Four: First Steps debuts in theaters worldwide on Friday, July 25, 2025.

Why Having No MCU Homework for The Fantastic Four Is a Good Thing

Throughout the Multiverse Saga, one complaint coming from many fans is that each new show and movie is so heavily connected to the past without standing on its own. Even though this is one of the MCU's biggest foundational ideas, the sheer number of releases following the end of the Infinity Saga has, at times, made it difficult to keep track of everything happening in theaters and on Disney+.

With The Fantastic Four already showing marked improvement in its marketing from what fans have already seen, this move should entice general audiences to see the film. Even though the titular team will quickly dive into the multiversal mayhem closing out this saga after their solo movie, they are not burdened by anything happening on Earth-616 at the time of their arrival.

This, amongst many other factors, seems to be working in the film's favor, as The Fantastic Four is already earning positive reviews mostly across the board from critics who saw it early.

Considering this could be the only remaining project in the Multiverse Saga that will have this little initial connection to the greater story, fans are eager to find out how the titular team operates in their own world before joining Earth-616's mightiest heroes.