While all eyes are on Thunderbolts* ahead of its release in theaters next weekend, we know that many of you are far more excited to see Marvel's First Family in action later this summer.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps has a lot riding on it; not only does it lead directly into Avengers: Doomsday, but this team has struggled to make an impact on screen in the past. This movie will also need to contend with competition from Jurassic World Rebirth and Superman.
More promo art from The Fantastic Four: First Steps has surfaced today, this time offering a comic-inspired take on the team. They all look great, though the depiction of Mister Fantastic's moustache is a little...distracting.
The Human Torch looks like he's flamed on straight off the page, while The Thing looks ready for Clobberin' Time. We just hope he loses the full body suit at some point because he's typically depicted as being shirtless on the page.
To bring The Thing to life, Ebon Moss-Bachrach wore a grey motion-capture suit with green dots for many scenes, while some costumes had "different body extensions" to better help him portray the character. There was also a stand-in who wore a Thing costume, a helpful reference for visual effects artists.
"I've never collaborated with so many people — literally hundreds of people, between the animators and the designers. It was a real team effort," the actor recently explained. "Even though a lot of it is motion-capture and created in animation, all of those costume pieces were built. We always had a suit on set that was the actual proportions so we could see how it would all fit."
"It was an ongoing and never-ending kind of dialogue between me and the designers and the VFX people," Moss-Bachrach continued. "It was a unique experience. I felt like the brain: I would make creative choices, and then we'd circle back, and they'd make it happen."
He added, "I was deeply, deeply impressed by the seriousness and the dedication that all the designers had to make this man compelling and human and inhuman all at the same time."
You can check out this new promo art for The Fantastic Four: First Steps 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.