Marvel's First Family is returning to the big screen – this time under the watchful eye of Marvel Studios – for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It was a long and rocky road to having the superhero group join the MCU. Prior to Marvel Studios getting control of the franchise, the Fantastic Four were overseen by Fox. During the studio's time with the property, three films were released: Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and Fantastic Four (2015).
The latter starred Kate Mara as Sue Storm, Miles Teller as Reed Richards, Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm and Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm. The film offered a drastically different take on the superhero group, delivering a gritty story that delved into body horror and angst, rather than the optimisim associated with its source material. The approach didn't work. 2015's Fantastic Four was critically panned (it holds an RT score of 9%), and it became a box office failure ($167 million worldwide).
Now, one of the movie's stars has shared her thoughts about the upcoming MCU reboot. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Kate Mara was asked whether or not she would be watching The Fantastic Four: First Steps once it hits theaters. The actress said the reboot doesn't bring up bad memories from her time making 2015's Fantastic Four, and stated she would be excited to watch the movie alongside her family:
"The movie that's coming out doesn't really bring things up, good or bad. I love going to the movies. It's my favorite thing to do, especially with my husband [Jamie Bell] and our kids. ['First Steps' is] totally different than ours ['Fantastic Four' (2015)], so why not? I really love the cast. I love Pedro Pascal. Yeah, I would totally see the new Marvel."
It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's good to know the reboot doesn't bring up bad memories about her time as Sue Storm, especially given how she previously revealed how difficult making the film was for her. Speaking to Emmy Magazine in 2020, Mara described her time on the film as a "horrible experience":
"I had a horrible experience on 'Fantastic Four.' I've never talked about it before. I married one of my costars, so I don't regret doing that movie at all. But do I wish I had responded differently to certain things? Yes, definitely."
She then went into more detail about her experience in both Fantastic Four and another one of her films:
"The fact of the matter is that my two horrendous experiences with directors were male directors. Have I not gotten along with a female director? Absolutely. And was it not the greatest work experience? Sure. But there was never a time that I felt, 'This is happening because I'm a woman.' Where with the male directors, it 100 percent was only happening with me; it was a power dynamic thing. And on both of my bad experiences, the movies were 95 percent men and I was the only woman in the movie."
Going back to the MCU, it's fun to know she'd be willing to watch Marvel Studios' version of a superhero she played previously. Also, who knows? Given its multiversal nature, Avengers: Secret Wars could bring together past versions of Marvel characters (crossing my fingers for more Tobey Maguire Spider-Man), so there could technically be a possibility of Mara joining the MCU as her version of the Invisible Woman.
What do you think about Mara's comments regarding First Steps? Are you excited about the movie? Share your thoughts in the comments.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters on July 25, 2025.