The Fantastic Four: First Steps is shaping up to be the most unique Marvel project in years, if only by virtue of its setting. While part of Marvel’s multiverse, the upcoming reboot is notably set outside the franchise’s main timeline. That’s given director Matt Shakman a chance to craft a totally different world for Marvel’s First Family: a sparkling, retro-futurist utopia that brings their brand back to basics.
Initial trailers have done their job selling this new universe, but it may be wise not to get attached to it. It’s a clever move to position the Fantastic Four as the heroes of their own world, but they do eventually have to make their way into Marvel’s main timeline. How the super-squad will transition to Earth-616 has been a mystery for months, but the latest trailer for First Steps just brought us closer to a concrete answer.
The First Steps trailer introduces our heroes well into their tenure as the Fantastic Four. They’ve already embarked on the space mission that endowed them with their powers, while Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) has somehow “stretched the bounds of space.” That attracts an extraterrestrial threat in Galactus, the consumer of worlds. He’s got his sights set on Earth, and he’s sent his herald, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), to warn the planet’s protectors. Naturally, the Fantastic Four answer the call, but as they seem to be the only superheroes on Earth, they’re way out of their depth.
For all its retrofuturist optimism, there’s a real sense of dread hanging over First Steps. The visibly pregnant Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is determined to fight Galactus, but Reed doesn’t have much faith in their abilities. When asked if the world is safe from someone like Galactus, he’s unsure. “There’s not enough time,” he says.
Even when he seems to come around at the end of the trailer and promises to protect the people of Earth, he’s not all that convincing. Maybe it’s a matter of Reed, ever the pragmatist, putting faith in other members of the Fantastic Four rather than numbers and science. On the other hand, he could be right to doubt their abilities, setting First Steps up for a tragic ending.
In any other Fantastic Four story, Marvel’s First Family would find some way to defeat Galactus, typically by teaming up with the Silver Surfer. They could get by on some mixture of pluck and familial love, as Sue’s rousing speech in the trailer suggests. But First Steps could go a different way, if only to set up the events of a future Marvel film, Avengers: Doomsday.
Marvel’s most recent casting announcement for Doomsday confirmed the Fantastic Four will appear in the film. That means the First Family will have to make their way to Earth-616, where most MCU projects take place — but how? The collision of two parallel universes, also known as an incursion, could make that possible. Maybe Galactus will destroy their world or tear a hole in the fabric of their universe (as the Kree villain Dar-Benn did in The Marvels), allowing the Fantastic Four to escape his destruction. Time will tell, but First Steps may actually commit to the true scope of Galactus’ devastating power.
