(Updated 02/05/2025)
Even as superhero movies have become easier to make (well, "easier" is perhaps not exactly the correct word) some characters remain particularly difficult to bring to the big screen. Marvel's Fantastic Four have been unusually challenging. After four FF movies, there is still no definitive film version of the team that set the comic book version of the Marvel Universe in motion back in 1961.
That is about to change, however. Marvel Studios is finishing THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, which will finally bring the FF into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here's the first trailer and everything else we know about THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Arrives in July
Marvel Studios will release THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS exclusively in theaters on July 25, 2025.
Watch the First Trailer for The Fantastic Four
Here's the first teaser trailer for THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS! It shows off the cast and most of their powers while keeping a stretchy display from Reed Richards in reserve for some future trailer. There's a hint of a very classic-looking Galactus and many fun small details.
One of the best bits is right at the end when the Four stand on a stage in full costume. Some part of your mind might think that setup looks familiar, for good reason. It's basically the stage set The Beatles used for their debut performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964. That performance kicked off Beatlemania in the States and should be a suggestion that, in their world, the Fantastic Four are about to be super-famous. (That's if kids wearing Thing masks and all the other images from the trailer hadn't already made the scenario clear.)
Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby Lead the Cast of The Fantastic Four
In THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, Pedro Pascal ("The Last of Us") plays Reed Richards; Vanessa Kirby (the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE series, "The Crown") plays Sue Storm; Ebon Moss-Bachrach ("The Bear") plays the Thing; and Joseph Quinn ("Stranger Things," A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE) is Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch.
The FANTASTIC FOUR cast also features Paul Walter Hauser (CRUELLA, RICHARD JEWEL) in an as-yet unspecified role. Maybe he's voicing the robot H.E.R.B.I.E.? We only hear the robot make a few sounds in the trailer, but presumably, the 'bot will get a voice. There's also a role for Natasha Lyonne, who could be playing Alicia Masters, the blind sculptor who has long been an important supporting character in FF comics.
Julia Garner is also confirmed for the movie. She plays Shalla-Bal, known in comics as the lover of Norrin Radd, aka the Silver Surfer. In the movie, she is the Surfer, which is not unprecedented in comics.
And John Malkovich has been added in an undisclosed role. We see him in one shot in the trailer, wearing long white hair. He has been speculated to play the villain Mole Man, who appeared in the very first issue of "The Fantastic Four," and who may be the first baddie we see the team face in the movie. But that's just a guess at this point, and there are several other characters Malkovich could be playing instead.
Finally, the big news out of Comic-Con was that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU to play Doctor Doom. While Doom is the most classic Fantastic Four villain, it seems like Downey will primarily appear in the next two Avengers movies — but there's a chance that we'll see him in at least a post-credit sequence in FIRST STEPS.
Who's the Big Bad in The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
There's no bigger bad than the villain of THE FANTASTIC FOUR. Galactus, Eater of Worlds, will oppose the Four in this new movie. Ralph Ineson (HARRY POTTER, NOSFERATU) plays, or at least voices Galactus.
That explains why the Silver Surfer is in the movie, as the Surfer is the herald of Galactus who is responsible for finding new planets for the big guy to eat. (Alicia Masters also has a big role in some Galactus stories, bolstering the assumption that she will be part of the movie.)
Will The Fantastic Four Be an Origin Story?
While Marvel chief Kevin Feige once suggested that THE FANTASTIC FOUR will not be an origin story, we expect that some recount of the team's origin will take place. "A lot of people know this origin story," Feige said in 2022. "A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before?”
The trailer makes clear that everyone in the world around the Fantastic Four knows their origin story. So while we might get a quick recap, it seems like how they became superheroes isn't as important as what happens afterward.
Where Have the Fantastic Four Been All This Time?
The most likely answer to that question is that the characters do not exist in the primary world of the MCU's multiverse. These characters seem to originate in a universe other than the "main" one of the MCU. See that bit above about Julia Garner playing a very different version of the Silver Surfer from the one most fans know and love.
So What Is The Fantastic Four About?
The family team — Reed Richards, who has stretchy powers and a brilliant mind; his wife Susan Storm, who can become invisible; her brother Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch; and their pal Ben Grimm, a giant rock man better known as The Thing — are superstars in the New York of whatever dimension they inhabit. The Four went to space on a daring mission and came back changed. The Thing wasn't always a big pile of rocks.
That's the setup and, likely, the Four are just trying to figure out their new lives after returning from space. And then Galactus shows up. He's a giant planet-eating alien who wants to chow down on Earth. Naturally, the Four aren't in love with that idea, and they set out to stop Galactus. That's probably a more complicated task than it seems — and it seems wildly complicated.
The Director of "WandaVision" Made The Fantastic Four
Matt Shankman directed THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS. In the event his name is not familiar, maybe it's easier to put it this way: he made Marvel's "WandaVision" series, which also played with different eras of American culture, making him a clear fit for a story that is set in an alternate version of 1960s America.
Will Spider-Man Appear in The Fantastic Four?
Right now, we don't know. The characters overlapped frequently in early comic stories, and Spider-Man and the Human Torch have a great friendship/rivalry that runs through many tales. Tom Holland's Spider-Man would be a great lure for audiences who don't know the Fantastic Four characters. But it seems like most of the film's action takes place in a different universe than the primary home of the MCU, making Spider-Man a very long shot for a cameo at best.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR opens on July 25, 2025.
All images courtesy of Marvel Studios.