‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’: Everything to know about the return of Marvel’s First Family

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On July 25, the Fantastic Four are taking their First Steps into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But really, Marvel's First Family have assembled once every 10 years for the past two decades. (That extends backwards to three decades if you count the never officially released 1994 Roger Corman production.)

2005 brought us Tim Story's Fantastic Four, which featured the quartet of Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis playing the super-powered clan and the late Julian McMahon as their nemesis, Doctor Doom. (A sequel limped into theaters two years later.) Jump ahead to 2015 and that previous foursome was replaced by Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell in Josh Trank's ill-fated would-be franchise launcher.

Who are the Fantastic Four?

Individually they are: stretchy science wiz Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic (now played by Pedro Pascal); his forceful better half Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby); her hotheaded brother, Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch (Joseph Quinn); and their solid-as-a-rock friend Ben Grimm, aka the Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). But collectively they are the foundation on which the Marvel Age of comics — and later, movies — was built.

Cocreated by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961, the Fantastic Four's tight familial bond and fantastical adventures reached a large readership that became devoted Marvel Comics customers. The group's popularity also encouraged Lee to experiment with more team-based titles, leading to the formation of the Avengers and the X-Men — both of which spawned blockbuster film franchises.

The FF have had a more mixed big-screen track record, but they still hold a vaunted place in Marvel canon. Creating comics-accurate characterizations for the first fam has been one of Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige's chief missions since the team returned to Disney following the company's acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. And those careful steps seem likely to pay off.

What's the story behind First Steps?

While Marvel has previously tended to keep plot details for upcoming releases locked away in Stark Tower, they've been a lot more forthcoming about what the Fantastic Four will be facing. The events of the film are specifically inspired by one of the most famous comic book stories ever told — the three-issue Galactus Trilogy published between December 1965 and February 1966.

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The plot concerns the impending arrival of an intergalactic being named Galactus (Ralph Ineson) who sustains his life by devouring whole planets. His approach is heralded by the Silver Surver (Julia Garner), a sky-surfing alien and passive observer of his employer's appetites. The FF leap into action to save Earth, which, for the record, isn't the Earth populated by the Marvel heroes we've previously met. This is a different planet in the multiverse, one that exists in a retro-future past straight out of the '60s comics.

On the page, the quartet do ultimately nullify Galactus' hunger with an unexpected, but welcome assist from the Silver Surfer. Marvel isn't about to spoil the ending of First Steps, but it does appear that things will play out slightly differently in the movie's telling of the tale. A bonus scene included at the end of Thunderbolts* revealed that the Fantastic Four's spaceship is rocketing towards the MCU's prime Earth. Whether the passengers inside are coming to warn of Galactus' approach or announce his defeat remains to be seen...

What does it mean for the MCU?

The events of First Steps will lead directly into Avengers: Doomsday, which brings back Robert Downey Jr. as you've never seen him before (in the MCU anyway) — playing the bad guy. The former Tony Stark is now playing Victor Von Doom, the tyrannical despot of Latveria who regularly serves as a comic book foil for both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

First Steps also introduces a character whose influence seems certain to extend to Phase 7 and beyond. As the trailers have revealed, Sue and Reed are expecting their first child and their desire to protect him is likely one of the main reasons behind their desperate flight to Earth-616. That child is Franklin Richards and he has reality-warping powers gifted by his mutant genes — which makes him the ideal way for the X-Men to make their long-awaited MCU arrival.

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Doomsday arrives in theaters on Dec. 18, 2026, followed one year later by Avengers: Secret Wars, inspired by the classic Marvel Comics series that found Doom and Galactus joining forces in a multiversal battle royale that scrambles existing continuity. Both films are being helmed by Joe and Anthony Russo, back to close out another saga after the double bill of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

Sue Storm (Kirby) gets some face time with her son, Franklin Richards (Ada Scott), in Fantastic Four: First Steps20th Century Studios/Marvel

Who's behind the camera?

First Steps marks the first Marvel feature film from Matt Shakman, who previously oversaw the Emmy-nominated WandaVision series. Shakman replaced Jon Watts, who decided to take a time-out from superheroes following his back-to-back-to-back Spider-Man adventures. "I knew I didn’t have what it would’ve taken to make that movie great," Watts recently admitted about his choice to step aside. "I was just out of steam, so I just needed to take some time to recover."

Meanwhile, screenplay duties were handled by the foursome of Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. Pearson has been a Marvel mainstay for awhile, penning Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow and Thunderbolts*.

Onscreen faces to look out for besides the core cast include Natasha Lyonne and John Malkovich in yet-to-be disclosed roles; Paul Walter Hauser as the Mole Man, the villain the FF battled in their first-ever comic appearance; and Matthew "General Grievous" Wood as the voice of H.E.R.B.I.E., a chatty robot introduced in a '70s-era cartoon series who went from punchline to fan favorite.

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