While Marvel Studios has been struggling a bit recently with underwhelming big-screen entries such as The Marvels, strong stories like Loki (both season 1 and 2) and the fun diversion that is Deadpool & Wolverine are keeping the spark alive and letting us know the production company is still capable of putting out good stuff. Its Fantastic Four reboot is perhaps the most anticipated Marvel movie at the moment, and we're now finally close to watching it in cinemas. Here's everything we know The Fantastic Four: First Steps so far.
The Multiverse Saga, despite all the disappointment surrounding Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania and other recent entries, is still marching forward after being delayed due to strikes as well as real-life drama, and box office hits like this summer's Deadpool threequel prove there's a lot of gas left in Marvel's tank.
Meanwhile, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has been reworked into Avengers: Doomsday, coming in 2026 and with Robert Downey Jr. back as another universe's Victor Von Doom. First, however, 2025 is bringing us Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Marvel's first family's long-awaited reboot.
If you’re in the mood for some fresh Marvel goodness, X-Men '97 has been a great debut for the Marvel Animation banner; the show works on its own and outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Need to catch up? Our list of the Marvel movies in order: chronological & release order is what you want.
Related: Best Marvel games of all time
The Fantastic Four: First Steps release date
After many delays and shakeups in Disney and Marvel Studios' packed release schedule for the next few years, it seems like The Fantastic Four: First Steps will finally come to theaters on July 25, 2025.
The Fantastic Four will supposedly mark the beginning of Phase 6 of the MCU. Other 2025 theatrical releases coming from Marvel Studios are Captain America: Brave New World (February 14) and Thunderbolts (May 2).
What is the plot of The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
Unsurprisingly, plot specifics haven't been shared by Marvel, though we can infer from the recently released artwork to announce the cast that creatives and producers might've chosen to stick close to the characters' space-related origins. The traditional explanation behind their powers was exposure to cosmic rays that should've killed them, but instead gave them wildly different abilities. That said, Marvel honcho Kevin Feige has teased in the past that most people know the basics, so they may try their luck with a twist.
The official promotional material that we've seen does confirm rumors that the movie would be set in the 1960s. We're dealing with a multiverse now too, so they'll be coming from a different reality altogether when they meet up with Earth's Mightiest Heroes and everyone who shows up in the two next Avengers movies. As for the origins of the next Doctor Doom, we're taking bets right now.
The first movie will wow everyone from the get-go with new iterations of the Silver Surfer and Galactus. Those are two huge names that could have long and impactful runs in the current MCU, so let's just hope they last longer than one movie if they’re being introduced this soon.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailers
No trailers for The Fantastic Four have been released yet, as the movie’s production will take place over 2024 in hopes of hitting that sweet summer 2025 slot. We’ll be updating this article with all the big details and chunks of promotional material that come out, so stay tuned.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast
The Fantastic Four is a very important movie for Marvel Studios, especially after way too many disastrous live-action adaptations, so they’re making sure diehards as well as casual audiences are interested in the reboot beyond brand recognition. We do think the amazing cast they’ve put together will surely help.
Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) plays Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic; Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One) is Sue Storm aka Invisible Woman; Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) plays her brother Johnny Storm aka Human Torch; and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear) is Ben Grimm aka The Thing after playing Punisher ally David Liverman aka Micro in Netflix’s The Punisher series.
We now know they're joined by Julia Garner (Ozark) as Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer, Ralph Ineson (The Creator) as Galactus, and Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell), Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll), and John Malkovich (Space Force) in mystery roles. Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom hasn't been confirmed yet, but the chances of the Avengers-level villain getting at least a major cameo in this movie are huge.
And no, fan-favorite Mr. Fantastic actor John Krasinski won’t be reprising the role after having a surprise cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Mind you, we could be seeing him again thanks to multiversal events and whatnot. However, the MCU’s main Reed Richards is Pedro Pascal, who is arguably one of the busiest actors in Hollywood right now and already was in the Star Wars side of the Disney family as Din Djarin aka The Mandalorian.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps director, writers, and crew
While the director behind the last Spider-Man trilogy, Jon Watts, was once set to direct The Fantastic Four, he instead chose to focus on the Star Wars series Skeleton Crew. Now, WandaVision’s Matt Shakman will be the man getting the movie made, as he’s gradually become one of the studio’s go-to creatives.
As for the script, it's gone through many iterations and writers, with scribes like Eric Pearson (Black Widow) and Cameron Squires (WandaVision) once being attached. Unless the trades missed new details, the script going into production has been put together by Josh Friedman (Avatar 4), with relatively unknown writing partners Jeff Kaplan (Atom TV) and Ian Springer (The Last of the Great Romantics) also silently working on it at some point.
Jess Hall (WandaVision, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) will re-team with Shakman to handle the cinematography, and Marvel Studios veteran Michael Giacchino (Werewolf by Night, Spider-Man: No Way Home) has been chosen to score the sci-fi adventure.
