The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters next weekend, and according to Deadline, the next Marvel Studios movie is currently eyeing a $100 million - $110 million start.
As the trade puts it, "I kept hearing 'Oh, Disney is nervous,' but the stats look good: With $13M presales as of Monday, Fantastic Four is pacing ahead of the presales for Thunderbolts ($74.3M) and Captain America: Brave New World ($88.8M 3-day) and 20% behind Superman ($125M)."
So, yes, for those of you who care about that kind of thing, it does appear that Superman's domestic opening will be bigger than The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Marvel Studios has a week to give the movie a final push, and the MCU is likely to perform better than Superman overseas, so we'll see what happens.
The first critic reactions for The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrive late on Monday, but film pundit Robert Meyer Burnett has shared on X, "So, my buddy in distribution saw [the movie] today. Loved it. The film is completely self-contained in its own universe."
"The opening ten minutes will leave comic readers with a huge smile on their faces," he continued. "All the cast were great, and he reluctantly admitted Pedro IS Reed."
His account was backed up by @ViewerAnon, who wrote, "So I've followed up on this and heard back from a couple people who've also seen the final cut of [the movie] and yeah, heard pretty much the same thing as [Burnett]. Everybody seems to really like it! Notably even those that aren't big comic book fans."
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is picture locked, so TV spots have started showing updated, finished scenes from the movie. For example, the Human Torch is now in full "Flame On!" mode for the scene where he tries to encourage The Thing to say, "It's Clobberin' Time."
We also have the full soundtrack listing for the movie. You can listen to it here, but the two most unique tracks have to be "The Fantastic Four Power Hour (Cartoon Theme)" and "H.E.R.B.I.E.'s Lullaby."
1. The Fantastic Four: First Steps Main Theme Extended Version (4:10)
2. Pregnancy Testing 1, 2, 3 (1:58)
3. Fantastic Four, First Cue (5:34)
4. Herald Today, Gone Tomorrow (3:48)
5. Out to Launch (6:10)
6. A Galactus Case of the Munchies (3:08)
7. Bowel Before Me (3:08)
8. The Light Speed of Your Life (3:43)
9. Nothing Neutron Under the Sun (2:23)
10. Starship Birth (5:07)
11. Span-tastic Voyage (6:36)
12. The Bridges of Silver Surfer County (1:34)
13. A Mole in Your Plan (3:09)
14. A Walk on the City (6:09)
15. The Other Sue Drops (5:34)
16. Don’t Sue the Baby! (2:53)
17. Without Further Adieu (1:24)
18. Carseat Drivers (1:17)
19. Fantastic Four to Be Reckoned With (2:28)
20. The Galactus/Silver Surfer Suite (7:24)
21. Tripping the Lights Fantastic (2:16)
22. The Fantastic Four Power Hour (Cartoon Theme) (0:34)
23. The Ted Gilbert Show – Michael Giacchino & Andrea Datzman (0:40)
24. Let Us Be Devoured (Studio Version) – Andrea Datzman (3:42)
25. H.E.R.B.I.E.’s Lullaby – Matthew Wood (1:18)
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.