The Fantastic Four: First Steps wasn't Marvel Studios' biggest commercial hit, but it received rave reviews and felt like a step in the right direction for the MCU after a hit-and-miss Multiverse Saga.
A big part of that was the huge practical sets. Filmmaker Matt Shakman oversaw the construction of Earth 828's Times Square and Yancy Street, and photos of The Fantastic Four: First Steps cinematographer Jess Hall's work on the reboot confirm that some of those cosmic sets were also the real deal.
That includes Galactus' massive Worldship, surroundings you'd have been forgiven for assuming were an entirely CG creation. Perhaps Marvel Studios learned its lesson after relying so heavily on The Volume in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
We also see that Joseph Quinn took flight as the Human Torch for that conversation with the Silver Surfer. Julia Garner, meanwhile, seemingly donned a Shalla-Bal costume, likely so Hall and the movie's VFX artists could correctly light the shiny character to help with post-production.
"She was terrifying as Shalla-Bal," Shakman recently said of Garner. "But beneath the heralding of doom, there was an empathy and humanity, and you could see that transition happening in her performance as she looked down at the people below shivering in terror. That really paved the way for the rest of the movie."
Garner added, "There’s a quite complex and tragic story with her. A lot of suppressed emotion. So I wrote things down that bothered her, especially earlier in her life. And then I suppressed them again."
You can check out these new photos from the set of The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the Instagram gallery below.
In our review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we concluded, "The Fantastic Four is an exceptional introduction to the MCU’s First Family, and thanks to a Jack Kirby-infused feel that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, it proves to be a quintessential superhero movie with Marvel Studios at its brilliant best.
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.
Also appearing are Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert. John Malkovich was set to play Red Ghost, but was cut due to time constraints.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer.
The movie is now playing in theaters.