Like the X-Men, Marvel Studios didn't acquire the Fantastic Four franchise until the Disney/Fox merger in 2019. We're still waiting to see a new take on mutants but, rather than add Marvel's First Family to Earth-616 over a decade-and-a-half after Iron Man's debut, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will take place in an alternate reality.
That's allowed filmmaker Matt Shakman to set the action in a futuristic 1960s which pays homage to the team's earliest comic book adventures.
While we expect them to eventually end up calling Earth-616 home, there's been a lot of speculation about whether we'll get to see some very different takes on other superheroes when we meet this new Fantastic Four.
In a resurfaced, and previously overlooked, interview from this past July's San Diego Comic-Con (via MSN), Shakman confirms that the foursome are their world's only superheroes.
"The great thing about this is we're building a new universe where there are no other heroes," he revealed. "It's the Fantastic Four."
So, no 1960s-style Avengers or Spider-Man! While the Fantastic Four will be major players in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, it makes sense not to waste too much time on cameos during their introduction.
However, if this social media tease is anything to go by, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman's son will be the one to play a significant role in the Multiverse Saga's closing chapters...
Earlier this year, Shakman explained why The Fantastic Four: First Steps won't serve as another origin story for Marvel's First Family.
"One of the things we decided early on was not to do an origin story," the filmmaker explained. "One of the ways we're making it our own thing is we're not telling the story of them going up and being changed, and starting our story [there]. There's a lot of well-known narrative that leads into that moment, right?"
"And then you're making up your new story starting basically at the end of the first act, and we thought, 'Well, let's just start this thing off on a completely new foot,'" Shakman added, "So we are beginning after that."
Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing) will lead The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast.
We'll also see Ralph Ineson as Galactus, Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer, and Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, and Natasha Lyonne in mystery roles. The story sees Galactus and Silver Surfer target Earth for destruction.
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.