A new TV spot for The Fantastic Four: First Steps aired during yesterday evening's ESPYs, and while it's primarily made up of familiar footage, there are still some exciting new scenes from the MCU movie.
That includes a shot of the Silver Surfer riding across the water on her surfboard, and Mister Fantastic and The Thing doing battle with Galactus. Neither of them appears to be faring particularly well, though it seems they're attempting to distract the Devourer of Worlds.
Variety has published a piece on The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman, explaining that he was initially working on the next Star Trek movie when Marvel Studios found itself without a director for the reboot (that came after Spider-Man: No Way Home helmer Jon Watts' departure from the project).
Explaining that Star Trek 4 "had stages" and "we had crew...we were moving ahead," the filmmaker added that the movie "changed dramatically" and lost its start date.
He does, however, believe that Star Trek 4's "core idea, I think, remains the same. I really hope they get a chance to make that movie."
A meeting with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, co-President Louis D'Esposito, and producer Grant Curtis followed, where he expressed an interest in Marvel's First Family after working on WandaVision. Curtis recalled, "He showed a picture of himself holding his daughter right after she was born. To see how much importance he put into family — when we saw that, I was like, 'Oh, this is a no-brainer.'"
For Shakman, there's a personal element to depicting Reed Richards and Sue Storm as parents. "I was 40 when I had my daughter, and she definitely took a little bit of assistance from science," he explained. "I think anyone who’s tackling something of a large scale has to find something deeply personal in it to connect to."
Watch this new TV spot for The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the player 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, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles 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.