Marvel's First Family has starred in three (four, if you count the unreleased one) unsuccessful movies. Now, Marvel Studios needs to redeem the characters in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Kevin Feige is well aware of the pressure to deliver.
Talking to Empire Online, the executive acknowledged that "there are no four characters that are more important for the history of Marvel." Calling the Disney/Fox merger "an unexpected dream come true," he said the team "came at the perfect time, to help us launch into a new era."
Feige added, "They are Marvel’s First Family, and I really wanted to do them justice." With WandaVision director Matt Shakman at the helm, the goal was to tap into the "classic Fantastic Four energy."
Addressing the approach taken to the previous Fantastic Four movies, he says, "There was still a bit of fear of being silly." With a retro futuristic 1960s-inspired setting, the MCU was able to take some risks. "In another time, some might consider the notion of somebody with a big, angular helmet walking through a city goofy," Feige added. "I consider it awesome."
One of the biggest ways The Fantastic Four: First Steps embraces the comics is, of course, with the introduction of Galactus, not as a cloud, but as Shakman puts it, "a humongous, 14-billion-year-old, planet-devouring cosmic vampire." The actor tasked with bringing him to life, Ralph Ineson, calls him the villain a "cosmic force" and "a God, of sorts."
He continues, "I don’t think Galactus is evil. But Finchy’s a proper c*nt" (that's a reference to the Todd Packer-like character he played in the original UK version of The Office).
Galactus being portrayed as a God-like being puts him in the same realm as the Celestials, and there's every chance Marvel Studios will reveal a connection between them. In the Earth X comic, which features the Shalla Bal Silver Surfer, Galactus only devours planets with Celestial seeds in them, so we may get an unexpected Eternals tie-in.
A new still from The Fantastic Four: First Steps has also been released. You can check that out 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.