The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Since Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2019 fans have been waiting with anticipation for the return of some of Marvel’s most famous characters. This is including the mutants from X-men as well as Marvel’s first family The Fantastic Four.

The Past

There have been versions of the heroes in cinema before. In 2005 Fox released Fantastic Four which starred Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm (who would go on to play Steve Rogers in Captain America.), Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm and Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom. This was an origin story of how the characters gained their powers whilst doing a mission in space. 

This was followed by the 2007 release of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. The main cast returns with the addition of the mysterious entity known as the Silver Surfer, who prepares planets to be destroyed by the terrifying world eater Galactus. 

In 2015 Fox released a reboot of Fantastic Four with a new cast. It featured Miles Teller as Reed Richards, Kate Mara as Sue Storm, Michael B Jordan as Johnny Storm, Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm and Toby Kebbell as Victor Von Doom. Unfortunately the film was not met with a warm reception. It was another origin story for the team and it was not met well with audiences.

The Future

Although fans are excited to see Marvel’s first family join the Marvel Cinematic Universe there has to be a degree of caution as what has been a turbulent time for Marvel, a mis-step with this franchise could lead to fans being further disjointed. 

At the Comic-Con in San Diego the title for the upcoming Fantastic Four film has been revealed. It will be called The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Matt Shakeman will direct the film with a release date of the 25th of July 2025 in place. The film is set to star Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm. Ralph Ineson has been announced to play Galactus and Julia Garner will portray the Silver Surfer. Other roles will be played by John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne and Paul Walter Hauser. The film will be a period piece set in the 1960s, which will potentially be an alternate universe instead of the main timeline. Filming began in July 2024.

There has been no mention of the recently announced Victor Von Doom, who will be played by Robert Downey Jnr in the upcoming Avengers films due for release in 2026 and 2027.

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