What To Expect: ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’
Marvel Studios is finally ready to reintroduce its most foundational properties onto the big screen. Of course, I’m talking about Marvel’s First Family in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. With official casting confirmed, directorial vision established, trailers and pictures released, I can say that this project carries the weight of fulfilling fans’ expectations and being critically acclaimed.
After years of a break between F4 projects, finally, we will get one that will represent the classic and original version of the family, but with modern twists. Marvel is using its resources to reintroduce The Fantastic Four, this time on a different Earth, with different time and world settings, as well as different rules of this world. Let’s take an in-depth look at what to expect from the upcoming film.
This MCU story’s greatest strength is family
What we have known for a rather long time is that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will not be another origin story. Kevin Feige and director Matt Shakman have both confirmed that the team’s powers and backstory are already established by the time we meet them, and there is no need to relive this moment of their stories over and over again.
What’s perhaps most intriguing is the confirmed 1960s setting, or more specifically, the futuristic-looking Earth set in that time. This allows us to experience a Marvel movie set in a different world, with different rules, different cultures, and more.
The idea of “first steps” is more than a title. It teases and is an Easter egg to numerous things. Foremost, “First Steps on the moon”, “First Steps of baby Franklin Richards”, “First Steps for a good Fantastic Four movie in the last 18 years”.
There will be time jumps which I won’t spoil, but the story won’t be hurt by this. On the contrary, we will be able to see how our favorite family evolves throughout the ages, preparing for something. That something being… Galactus (Ralph Ineson).
The main point of this movie is to introduce us to this team in the beginning, show a few of their past missions using Ted Gilbert’s (Mark Gatiss) show, experience their current position as the most powerful beings in this world, and to prepare us for more.
After Sue (Vanessa Kirby) and Reed (Pedro Pascal) reveal to Johnny (Joseph Quinn) and Ben (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) that they are expecting a baby, there is a warning. Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner) comes to Earth to warn The Fantastic Four about Galactus coming to consume their world. They have to go with her to see Galactus with their own eyes and to stop him.
After they fail to do this, we learn that they have a few months/years to prepare for his coming to Earth to destroy it, or maybe there’s another reason for him to target this world.
Why that long? Let’s think of their space travels as much more advanced than we think. Black holes, wormholes, and more, but let’s not dwell much on it. The trailers don’t reveal as much as one would think, also the Thunderbolts* New Avengers movie did NOT reveal anything, contrary to what many may think.
But don’t worry because this movie is about something important. The whole story is about… family. Yes, family is the main point of this movie. No matter if we see action scenes, interviews on TV, aliens, villains, flying spaces, it all comes down to one big, most important thing: family. After all, their greatest strength is each other.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps: main characters and villains
Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards is expected to be a more emotionally thoughtful, introspective, and haunted by possible failures version of the character than we’ve previously seen in films. This Reed is not the selfish, “mister know-it-all, I’m always right” genius often portrayed in comics, but a much more deeply human scientist trying to be the best husband, friend, father, and person he can be. This Reed is much more like a mixture of Einstein, Oppenheimer, Darwin, Newton, Hawking, and Galileo. He has this brilliant mind, tries to find a fix for every single problem, but sometimes even he understands that he cannot save everyone.
Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm leads both The Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation. She is the heart and moral compass of the team. Kevin Feige has stated that she will not be treated as an accessory to Reed’s arc but rather as an equal lead with her agendas and perspectives.
Sue is a part of the most important story arcs of this movie, as she will become a mother to Franklin Richards. It will be his first on-screen appearance, and to everyone who has read comics with Fantastic Four, it’s a tease for many amazing stories to come.
Johnny Storm is and will always be my favorite Fantastic Four member. This version is more youthful, not so cocky, not that nonchalant, and not as much of a gigolo. He may serve as a comic relief, but this Human Torch is not a dumb young kid, and he cares for his family.
Finally, Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm will be one of the emotional standouts of the film. Ben’s transformation into The Thing has always carried tragic consequences for his mentality and created a hate around his person. But this version of The Thing is beloved by people. He is not seen as a monster or an outcast, even though he still sometimes sees himself as one.
Notably, the main villain of this movie is Galactus. He has a different agenda than usual. He doesn’t want to only consume Earth, but he has another target. Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal, being introduced, will provide a different take on the Herald of Galactus. She will have a similar role to that of Norrin Radd (Doug Jones/Laurence Fishburne) in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
One of the other villainous characters that will appear in the movie as part of the “background events” will be Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser) and Red Ghost/Ivan Kragoff (John Malkovich).
What’s also worth noting is that many scenes that we would think are CGI were actually done practically. There will be moments where Ineson, for example, is in the armor of Galactus, and we see him, not a generated computer model of him. Scenes in the city were done with a miniature model of New York City, and he just walks through it, destroying everything. It’s a small thing, but one that makes me happy to know that it will not only be the voice of the actor playing Galactus, but the actor himself was on the set to play in some scenes.
Comics that helped inspire this Fantastic Four movie
The MCU’s Fantastic Four will not be a 1:1 adaptation of any single comic run. But it is inspired by some of the best of them. The comic books that influenced the story of not only this movie, but of the future of the characters are the Fantastic Four run of Jonathan Hickman & Fantastic Four (1961) #48-50 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Visually, the retro-futurist vibe seen in the movie, as well as Easter eggs to that era, such as costumes, atomic age aesthetics, and trying to be like The Jetsons, proves that Marvel can set a movie in any point in time, without making it feel outdated.
We will also see light touches of the Future Foundation, which is a scientific think tank founded by Reed and Sue that is meant to “plant seeds” for future storylines.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters July 25, 2025
First Steps is my most anticipated movie of this year, ex aequo with James Gunn’s Superman. The highly anticipated film has a bold 1960s aesthetic, a talented cast to show the emotional depth of the characters, and gives heart-warming vibes of a real, loving family.
Marvel Studios’ handling of this film is meant to avoid past mistakes. By skipping the origin story and leaning into an already established, stylized, timeless tone, they’re treating The Fantastic Four as a standalone movie, where they can do anything they want because it’s a different universe. And that is one of the best ideas they’ve had in some time.
The Fantastic Four comic books have always been about imagination, exploration, and the unbreakable bonds of family. With First Steps, they finally have a chance to live up to that promise on screen. And as the title suggests, this is just the beginning.
Also check out: Fantastic Four Reading Guide: 1998-2024
