The Fantastic Four: First Steps was hit with a pretty steep drop at the domestic box office during its second weekend in theaters, leading to questions and concerns about the MCU reboot's franchise potential. Marvel Studios doesn't seem overly daunted, however, and may already have plans in place for a sequel.
Though nothing has been officially announced (and probably won't be for a while), Jeff Sneider has heard that "Matt Shakman will likely return to direct a sequel."
Apparently, Marvel execs are confident that a second movie will be a bigger box office success once audiences become more familiar with Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben after they return for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
During yesterday's earnings call, Disney's Bob Iger said that The Fantastic Four had “successfully launched this important franchise into the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” which was our first indication that more FF movies are in the early planning stages.
It's obviously way too early to speculate about what a potential sequel would focus on (we should have a much better idea after the Avengers movies), but we have heard that Marvel does have future plans for Galactus and Julia Garner's take on the Silver Surfer.
Though some fans expressed disappointment that the movie didn't introduce Norrin Radd as the MCU's Surfer, Shalla-Bal seems to have won over a few doubters despite her relatively limited screentime.
First Steps stars Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place Day One) as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, and Julia Garner (Wolf Man, Ozark) as the Silver Surfer.
Ralph Ineson plays Galactus, and Natasha Lyonne and Paul Walter Hauser are also on board in undisclosed roles. John Malkovich's Red Ghost has been cut from the movie.
"Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal."
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now in theaters.