The Fantastic Four: First Steps

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Fantastic Four. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is intended to be the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the second reboot of the Fantastic Four film series. The film is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by the writing team of Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, Josh Friedman, Cameron Squires, Eric Pearson, and Peter Cameron. It features an ensemble cast including Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the titular team, alongside Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles. In the film, the Fantastic Four must protect their 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic world from the planet-devouring cosmic being Galactus.
20th Century Fox began work on a new Fantastic Four film following the failure of Fantastic Four (2015). After the studio was acquired by Disney in March 2019, control of the franchise was transferred to Marvel Studios and a new film was announced that July. Jon Watts was set as director in December 2020, but stepped down in April 2022. Shakman replaced him that September when Kaplan and Springer were working on the script. Casting was underway by early 2023, and Friedman joined to rewrite the script in March, with Squires and Cameron also writing. Marvel Studios wanted to tell a new story with the characters rather than retell their origin story. Pearson joined to polish the script by mid-February 2024, when the main cast was announced. Filming occurred from July to November 2024 at Pinewood Studios in England, and on location in England and Spain.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 25, 2025, as the first film, and beginning, of Phase Six of the MCU.
On a 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic Earth, the Fantastic Four must protect their world from the planet-devouring cosmic being Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer.
Additionally, the Fantastic Four's robot companion H.E.R.B.I.E. appears in the film. Also expected to appear are the character Mole Man, and Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom in a post-credits scene.
After the critical and commercial failure of the 2015 film Fantastic Four, co-written and directed by Josh Trank and based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Fantastic Four, 20th Century Fox began looking at new directions to take the franchise. Having also produced two earlier Fantastic Four films directed by Tim Story a decade prior, the studio did not want to just make another Fantastic Four film. By June 2017, Seth Grahame-Smith was writing a new film that would shift focus to Franklin and Valeria Richards, the children of the original Fantastic Four leaders Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic and Sue Storm / Invisible Woman. Taking inspiration from the comic book series Ultimate Fantastic Four (2004–2009), the screenplay included original Fantastic Four members Ben Grimm / The Thing and Johnny Storm / Human Torch, and was described as kid-centric with a tone closer to the animated film The Incredibles (2004) than Trank's darker film. The basis of Grahame-Smith's screenplay came from a separate script that Carter Blanchard had written as an adaptation of the children's book Kindergarten Heroes by Mark Millar. Millar previously consulted with Fox on their Marvel-based films. In July 2017, Noah Hawley, the creator of the Marvel Television series Legion (2017–2019), was hired to develop a separate film focused on Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four's primary antagonist in the comics and previous films. The Walt Disney Company officially acquired 21st Century Fox in March 2019 and gained the film rights for the Marvel Comics characters that Fox controlled for its subsidiary Marvel Studios, including the Fantastic Four. The Marvel-based films that Fox had been developing were placed "on hold".
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed in July 2019 that the company was developing a new Fantastic Four film for their shared universe, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Feige said he was "extremely excited about those characters, and about bringing Marvel's first family up to the sort of platform and level they deserve". In December 2020, Feige announced that Jon Watts, who previously directed the MCU Spider-Man films, had been hired to direct Fantastic Four. Marvel Studios had begun meeting with writers by February 2021. That June, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said Feige and Marvel Studios were planning to "mine" the Fantastic Four franchise. Watts stepped down as director in April 2022 and chose to direct Wolfs (2024) instead, citing his need to step away from superhero films after working on the Spider-Man films for seven years. Grant Curtis and Nick Pepin were producing the new Fantastic Four film by the next month after working on the Marvel Studios miniseries Moon Knight (2022). John Krasinski portrays Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic in the MCU film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Krasinski had been a popular suggestion for the role among fans for some time, and rumors that he had been cast as Reed had especially circulated since confirmation of the new film's development. The version of the character that he plays in Multiverse of Madness is from Earth-838, an alternate universe to the main MCU, and is a member of the Illuminati.
Marvel Studios was searching for a new director by June 2022 and were not close to shortening their list of candidates, which reportedly included some high-profile filmmakers. Feige was said to be looking for a director who could oversee the filming process without him being present for the entire shoot, similar to Multiverse of Madness director Sam Raimi. Later that month, Raimi said Feige cast Krasinski in Multiverse of Madness because it was for an alternate universe cameo appearance and an opportunity to deliver on a popular fan casting. This led to speculation about whether Krasinski's role was a one-off or if he would return to star in the Fantastic Four film. Krasinski later said he appreciated the role but there had been no discussions about him reprising it. At the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in July, Feige announced that the film would be released on November 8, 2024, as the first film in Phase Six of the MCU. Filming was set to begin in 2023. Feige said it would not be an origin story for the Fantastic Four because many audience members were already aware of the basic details, and the studio wanted to tell a new story instead. He likened this to the MCU introducing Spider-Man without retelling his origin story. Feige added that the studio had "set a very high bar for ourselves" in wanting to live up to the group's long history in the comic books going back to 1961.
Matt Shakman was in early talks to direct by late August 2022. He and Michael Matthews were considered the finalists in a search that also considered Reid Carolin. Deadline Hollywood felt Shakman was the person to beat given his familiarity with Feige after directing the Marvel Studios miniseries WandaVision (2021). Shakman subsequently exited a planned Star Trek film due to the schedule for Fantastic Four. Feige confirmed that Shakman would direct at the 2022 D23 Expo in September. Later that month, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer were revealed to have been writing the script with Feige for some time before Shakman's hiring. The four were set to work on aligning their visions for the film while Feige and Shakman began searching for actors. In October, the release date was pushed back to February 14, 2025. Journalist Jeff Sneider reported that Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom was not planned to be the main antagonist of the film, but could have a small role such as an appearance in a post-credits scene, and Marvel Studios wanted a major star to play the character.
Talent agents were preparing for casting by January 2023. The following month, Shakman explained that he chose to work on Fantastic Four because he did not want to pass up the opportunity and was excited by the film's focus on family, optimism, and technology. He said filming would begin in early 2024, and they were in the early process of casting, which was reportedly focused on casting Sue Storm / Invisible Woman before the other Fantastic Four members. Feige said the group would be a big pillar in the MCU moving forward. Josh Friedman was hired to rewrite the script at the end of March. Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter felt Friedman's hiring indicated a possible tonal shift because he had written many science fiction projects while Kaplan and Springer were known more for comedy. Sneider reported that Shakman wanted to heavily feature cosmic elements from the 1960s comic books, including the characters Galactus—who was set to be the main antagonist—and Silver Surfer, and said Friedman was hired to bring the film closer to Feige and Shakman's vision.
Sneider reported in April 2023 that Marvel Studios had offered the role of Reed to Adam Driver. The next month, filming was set to begin in January 2024 in London. Sneider reported that Emma Stone was the studio's top choice for the role of Sue, but the actress declined the offer after they refused to pay her the $15–20 million she wanted for the role. Driver also passed on the film after the studio did not want to pay his high salary, and after he struggled to connect with an early draft of the script, but Sneider believed that he could re-consider after Friedman submitted a new draft following the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. In June, the release date was pushed back to May 2, 2025. Prior to the start of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike in July, Marvel Studios held screen tests for the role of Reed with several actors, including Christopher Abbott and Jamie Dornan, which Sneider said "did not go very well". The studio wanted a high-profile actor and offered the role to Jake Gyllenhaal, who portrayed Mysterio in the MCU film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), but they did not want to pay the salary he asked for as Feige wanted to contain the studio's talent spending. They were also considering non-white actors for Reed and Pedro Pascal became interested, though he would not engage in conversations during the strike. In August, Ebon Moss-Bachrach was offered the role of Ben Grimm / The Thing, after playing Micro in the first season of the Marvel Television series The Punisher (2017). Marvel Studios was committed to casting a Jewish actor like Moss-Bachrach as the Thing, who is depicted as Jewish in the comics but was not portrayed by Jewish actors in the previous Fantastic Four films. David Krumholtz met with Shakman about the role after campaigning for it online, but was unsuccessful. He began campaigning to portray the villainous Mole Man instead. Sneider reported that Marvel Studios was looking at Vanessa Kirby for the role of Sue, who was expected to be the lead character, and Joseph Quinn for her brother Johnny Storm / Human Torch. Nicholas Galitzine was also rumored to be portraying Johnny and had conversations about the role, but was not cast. Marvel also approached Matt Smith about portraying Reed, but that was not expected to work out and they were instead looking for "a bona fide movie star". A Latino actor was expected to be hired as Galactus.
Shakman confirmed in October 2023 that they planned to start filming in early 2024 at Pinewood Studios in England, and said the cast would be announced once the SAG-AFTRA strike ended. He said during the strikes they were able to work on the production design and early tests of the visual effects for translating the team's abilities from comic art to the screen. Alexandra Byrne returned from several previous MCU films as costume designer while Kasra Farahani was hired as the production designer after working on the Marvel Studios television series Loki (2021–2023). Shakman revealed that Cameron Squires was co-writing the script with Friedman. Both worked with Shakman on the Star Trek film, and Squires was a writer on WandaVision. Shakman discussed the film with comic book writer Matt Fraction, and said his work on the television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005–present) helped inform his approach to the film's playfulness, collaboration, and improvisation. Following the conclusion of the actors' strike in November, Pascal entered talks to portray Reed and was negotiating his schedule around other commitments. Marvel Studios was expected to make offers for the other leading roles soon after, having waited because they deemed it essential to find the actor for Reed first. Quinn sought advice from Pascal on the role of Johnny during the production of their film Gladiator II (2024), and the latter confided that he was in talks to play Reed which Quinn appreciated. /Film reported that Pascal had signed on and an announcement would be made shortly. Javier Bardem was being eyed to portray Galactus after Antonio Banderas had previously been linked to the role, though Bardem had a potential scheduling conflict with the film F1 (2025). Sneider reported that Moss-Bachrach had been cast as the Thing and the studio was looking to cast a woman as Silver Surfer, who is usually the male character Norrin Radd in the comics.
In January 2024, Sneider reported that filming had been delayed from a start in March or April to a start between July and September, and this delay had caused Pascal to leave his commitment to the film Weapons (2025). Sneider questioned if Fantastic Four could still make its May 2025 release date if filming was not starting until mid-to-late 2024. In early February, SAG-AFTRA listed Pascal as being cast in the film and filming was reported to be beginning in August. On February 14, Marvel Studios released a Valentine's Day-themed announcement that confirmed the casting of Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing. The film was officially titled The Fantastic Four and its release date was delayed to July 25, 2025, swapping places with the MCU film Thunderbolts*. The announcement's promotional art includes the December 13, 1963, issue of Life magazine with Lyndon B. Johnson on the cover and uses a new logo style with a "certain throwback tone and sense of aesthetics", indicating that the film is set during the 1960s like the first Fantastic Four comic books. Adding to this speculation, Pascal referenced 1960s songs from the Beatles when sharing the promotional art on his social media. The art includes the comic book character H.E.R.B.I.E., a robot companion to the Fantastic Four.
Feige said family dynamics were key to the film and "90 percent of the work was done" by confirming the main cast. He later confirmed that it would be a 1960s period piece, but indicated that it would be set in an alternate universe from the main MCU within the multiverse. Shakman called it a "retro-future '60s" aesthetic, describing it as "part what you know from the '60s, but part what you've never seen". Industrial designer and concept artist Syd Mead was an inspiration for the film, along with the optimism of the Space Race and ideas of future space travelers that people had in the 1960s when the comics were being written. Shakman stated, "I really wanted to take all of that great stuff from Apollo 11 and just imagine that instead of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, it was the Storms and Ben Grimm and Reed Richards heading off into space". He reaffirmed that the story would begin after the Fantastic Four have gained their superhero abilities, avoiding a re-telling of their origin and allowing the film to have its own story. Shakman studied all of the Fantastic Four comics, from their original creation up to present day. The team's costumes are pale blue with white necklines, similar to designs introduced in the comics with Fantastic Four vol. 1 #256 (1983) and those worn in Roger Corman's unreleased Fantastic Four film (1994).
Also in February, Sneider reported that Bardem was the studio's top choice for Galactus, that they had begun meeting with actors for Silver Surfer, and that Doctor Doom would be cast during filming, while Eric Pearson was revealed to have been "quietly hired" to polish the script. Pearson had a reputation for "taking projects over the finish line" for Marvel Studios. In April, Julia Garner was cast as Shalla-Bal / Silver Surfer. In the comics, Shalla-Bal is the love interest of original Silver Surfer Norrin Radd and she becomes the Silver Surfer herself in the 1999–2000 Earth-X limited series by Jim Krueger and John Paul Leon. Justin Kroll of Deadline Hollywood reported that the role of Galactus was open, with no actors holding an offer or being in talks for the character. Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Ralph Ineson, and Natasha Lyonne joined the cast the following month, with Ineson cast as Galactus. Ineson previously appeared as a Ravager pilot in the MCU film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), while Lyonne voiced the original MCU character Byrdie in the third season of the Marvel Studios animated series What If...? (2024). Malkovich had previously been approached to appear in Marvel films, but had declined because he felt the pay being offered was not equal to the work involved. He chose to accept a role in this film to work with Shakman again after previously doing so in the film Cut Bank (2014). Hauser had worked with Shakman on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and met with him to discuss joining The Fantastic Four. He was initially reluctant to join due to the poor reception of the previous Fantastic Four films, but was won over by the film's script, cast, and crew. Sneider reported that Mole Man would appear at the beginning of the film and he believed Hauser was cast in that role. WandaVision writer Peter Cameron had contributed to the script by then.
At the end of June 2024, Feige said filming would begin at the end of July. A few days of pre-filming occurred before SDCC in late July, capturing footage of an astronaut preparation area, the Thing as a contestant on a dating game show titled Let's Make a Match, and a children's science show hosted by Reed titled Fantastic Science with Mister Fantastic. At the convention, the film was retitled The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the main cast were revealed to be reprising their roles in the MCU crossover films Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027), and Robert Downey Jr. was announced to be portraying Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom in those films. Feige wanted Downey to return to the MCU after he portrayed Tony Stark / Iron Man in the franchise from 2008 to 2019, and had discussed the actor taking on the role of Doom around a year prior to the SDCC announcement. Sneider reported that Downey would be introduced as Doom in a post-credits scene at the end of First Steps. Shakman said he knew about Downey's casting for a while before the announcement. The new subtitle references the film's ideas of optimism and space exploration, but Shakman said it also has additional meanings which led to speculation about what those could be.
Principal photography began on July 30, 2024, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England, under the working title Blue Moon. Filming was previously reported to be starting in 2023, then early 2024, and then in August 2024. The film was shot for IMAX, with Jess Hall returning from WandaVision as cinematographer. Shakman worked to have the film look as if it was made by Stanley Kubrick in 1965 with his camera lens choice and "approach to filmmaking that feels more of the time". Practical sets and props were employed, such as a 14-foot (4.3 m) spaceship scale model to create a miniature effect. Location shooting occurred at Durdle Door in Dorset, England, in mid-October. Lyonne finished filming her scenes later that month. In mid-November, Sarah Niles was revealed to have been cast. Filming took place from November 19–22 at the Palace of Congresses in Oviedo, Spain, for scenes set at the headquarters of the United Nations (UN). Filming also took place in the Middleton mine in Derbyshire Dales, England, and wrapped at the end of November.
Scott Stokdyk is the visual effects supervisor, with visual effects provided by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Framestore, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Digital Domain, and Wētā FX.
Michael Giacchino was announced to be composing the score in July 2024, after scoring various MCU projects, and his music for the Fantastic Four and Galactus was previewed during a drone show at SDCC that month. His main Fantastic Four theme was played in full at the D23 convention in August during a "Music of Marvel Studios" panel that Giacchino moderated, and at the Hollywood Bowl later that month as part of Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience. Mike Roe of TheWrap called the theme "a jaunty vibe" that "blends a dreamy sense with future-looking heroic optimism, along with elements that echo the sounds you might expect from a film featuring, say, a space launch". He likened it to the score of the MCU film Ant-Man (2015).
On April 4, 2024—known as "4–4 Day"—Marvel Studios released a teaser poster of the Human Torch creating the Fantastic Four symbol. A link was also included that led to a 404 error page featuring H.E.R.B.I.E., who had an embedded QR code leading to a Future Foundation-themed page with a list of Fantastic Four comics available to read on Marvel Unlimited: Fantastic Four vol. 1 #1 (1961), the team's first appearance; Fantastic Four vol. 1 #48–50 (1966), which features the first appearances of Galactus and Silver Surfer; and Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 (2021), which is set in the 1960s. Following a screening of the MCU film Deadpool & Wolverine at SDCC on July 25, a drone show occurred over Petco Park that included images of Galactus and the Fantastic Four logo, teasing announcements regarding the film at Marvel Studios' Hall H panel two nights later. That panel featured Shakman and the main cast, revealed the full title, showed a teaser reel, and had the film's futuristic Fantasticar float across the stage. Shakman explained that the teaser reel featured pre-filming footage combined with pre-visualizations and animatics that were created during development. The footage was presented in an "old-timey 4:3 aspect ratio". Further footage was shown at D23 Brazil in November.
The first teaser trailer was released on February 4, 2025. Pascal, Kirby, Quinn, and Moss-Bachrach appeared at a fan event at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, which is known as "Rocket City", to launch the teaser. In the lead up to this, a short "teaser for the first teaser" was released featuring children running to a television that displays Fantastic Four imagery. Vulture's Jesse David Fox noted a stock sound effect used for the children's laughter, wondering if it was an intentional indication of something or if the footage had just been rushed. Kotaku's Zack Zwiezen likened the widely-used sound effect, which had originally been recorded for the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), to the Wilhelm scream sound effect. He was confused why it was used twice in such a short clip. Discussing the full teaser, Ben Travis at Empire felt the film was "on the right track", appreciating the tone and style as well as different references to the comics. Several commentators noted that all of the Fantastic Four's powers are seen except for Reed's stretching abilities. A scene of the Thing cooking with H.E.R.B.I.E. was highlighted by commentators who compared it to Moss-Bachrach's role as chef Richie Jerimovich in the series The Bear (2022–present). The teaser was viewed 202 million times in its first 24 hours, the third-best for a Marvel Studios trailer after those for Deadpool & Wolverine (365M) and 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home (355M). It became the top trending video on YouTube and a livestream of the teaser's launch became Marvel's most-viewed ever. Alongside the teaser, Marvel also released a number of posters featuring the tagline "Prepare 4 Launch". One of these was criticized by some who believed it was created with artificial intelligence (AI), pointing to a woman's face seemingly being used multiple times and hands that appear to have the wrong number of fingers. Marvel denied that AI was used, and other commentators suggested these issues could be the result of poor photoshopping. IMAX screenings for the MCU film Captain America: Brave New World, released later in February, featured a First Steps-themed countdown.
Footage was shown at the 2025 CinemaCon which revealed that Sue and Reed would be expecting a child in the film, and the first look at Garner's Silver Surfer. Sydney Bucksbaum at Entertainment Weekly said Sue being pregnant gave "new meaning" to the film's title. When the film's subtitle was originally announced, Jenna Anderson at ComicBook.com theorized "First Steps" could relate to the first steps of a child, indicating the film would see the introduction of either of Reed and Sue's children, Franklin and Valeria Richards; both were never seen in the previous Fantastic Four films.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 25, 2025, in IMAX, ScreenX, and 4DX. It was previously scheduled for November 8, 2024, February 14, 2025, and May 2, 2025. It will be the first film, and start, of Phase Six of the MCU.