The Fantastic Four: First Steps brings Marvel's First Family into the MCU and needs to redeem the team after three poorly received efforts from 20th Century Fox that rank among the worst superhero movies ever made.
It's been a decade since Josh Trank's Fantastic Four disappointed fans, and with another 10 years' worth of comics to draw inspiration from, Marvel Studios' Invisible Woman will have a lot more agency in the MCU.
Filmmaker Matt Shakman describes Sue Storm as "the inspiring, idealistic leader of what the Fantastic Four represents, as she is in some of the later comic runs. She’s essentially the Secretary-General of the UN." So, the Invisible Girl, no more!
Of course, another way this version of the character stands apart from the Sues played by Jessica Alba and Kate Mara is that she's a mother. The Fantastic Four: First Steps will introduce Franklin Richards, the son of the Invisible Woman and Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (a first look at the team's youngest member was revealed earlier today).
As you might expect, Vanessa Kirby embraced the challenge of playing the iconic hero. "I’m such a Sue nerd. I think I out-nerded everyone in that room," she said. "I got so into quantum physics. It’s sad how much I got into it. I could waffle on about cellular vibration frequency."
While Kirby declined to give too much away about Franklin's role in the reboot, she did tease, "It’s not just adults that have superpowers..."
In the comics, Franklin is a mutant reality warper and one of the most powerful beings in the universe, even at a young age. Following Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars, Franklin used his God-like abilities to restore the Multiverse, a role he could take on in the MCU with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon.
We didn't expect to see Franklin's powers quite this soon, but showing us what he can do here should help set the stage for what's to come in the remainder of the Multiverse Saga.
A new still from The Fantastic Four: First Steps has also been released. You can see that in the X post below.
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.
Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, and Natasha Lyonne have been cast in mystery roles. Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom is rumoured to appear, though that's surely a given with Avengers: Doomsday on the way.
Director Matt Shakman worked with both Avatar: The Way of Water co-writer Josh Friedman and WandaVision's Cam Squires on The Fantastic Four: First Steps' screenplay, with Eric Pearson (Black Widow) later coming on board for a final polish.
The movie is set to be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.