Preview:
- The first teaser for Marvel’s ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ has arrived.
- Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach star.
- The movie arrives on July 25th.
After a long, long wait (partly because Marvel Studios didn’t have the rights to the characters for years –– more on that below) we’re now meeting the latest iteration of The Fantastic Four on movie screens.
The first teaser for ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ has now arrived, giving us our first look at Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn as the iconic characters. Oh, and H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot, straight from the pages of the comic books, where he was introduced in 1978.
The tone is here is light and funny, in keeping with the comic books, stressing the familial connections and the tight bond, while also hinting at the issues that each character carries. It’s also interesting to note that the trailer shows off everyone’s powers save for Reed Richards (Pascal).
Is there a reason for that? We’d speculate, but that could be a stretch.
(L to R) Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios' 'Fantastic Four: First Steps'. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 Marvel.
There is also the looming (literally, he ‘s huge) of Galactus (Ralph Ineson), whose big thing is snacking on planets.
One thing that doesn’t show up is any big reference to Doctor Doom, to be played by returning Marvel acting veteran Robert Downey Jr., and introduced with great fanfare at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con).
Our guess is that he could show up in a post-credits scene, which is how Marvel usually tends to include connective tissues between its movies and various characters. But it’s early days for the promotion on this one –– who’s to say he doesn’t just show up somehow?
And interestingly, Marvel chose to get a jump on the usual Super Bowl trailer drop scrum, smartly choosing to stay out of that particular battle for attention and dominate the news cycle in Fantastic fashion (even given the huge success of the ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ spot last year; we can likely look forward to a ‘Thunderbolts*’ spot.)
Related Article: Pedro Pascal Unites the ‘Fantastic Four’ Cast for Behind-The-Scenes Image
Who are the Fantastic Four?
Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios' 'Fantastic Four: First Steps'. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 Marvel.
Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch and Ben Grimm/The Thing are key players in the pages of Marvel, known as the “First Family”, and introduced in 1961. They are among most anticipated characters (alongside the X-Men) to be included in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe.
They’re canonically exposed to galactic radiation and end up cursed/blessed (depending on how you view it) with strange abilities. Reed can stretch his body in a variety of ways, Sue can turn invisible and generate forcefields, Johnny’s body becomes engulfed in flame (and he can fly), while Grimm becomes a rock-covered, incredibly strong creature.
And to be clear here, Pascal is Reed, Kirby’s playing Sue, Quinn is taking the role of Johnny and Moss-Bachrach is Ben.
They’ve been brought to screens before –– an unauthorized Roger Cormanversion floats around the internet after being traded on bootleg videos years ago, and then there were the Fox efforts, 2005’s ‘Fantastic Four’ and 2007 sequel ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’. They were followed by the dark, gritty and unsuccessful reboot in 2015.
What’s the story of the new ‘Fantastic Four’ movie?
Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios' 'Fantastic Four: First Steps'. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 Marvel.
Here’s the official logline: “Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ introduces Marvel’s First Family 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 (Ineson, as mentioned above) 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.”
From the looks of the trailer, the movie will cover both some of the team’s origin story –– they get their powers during an accident in space while on a scientific mission –– and have them fully set up in their world.
Which, given everything we’ve heard about the movie so far, takes place outside of the MCU, but they’ll be headed there soon enough, since they’ll be interacting with other heroes going forward (especially in the upcoming two new ‘Avengers’ movies.
Who else is in the new ‘Fantastic Four’ movie?
(L to R) Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing and H.E.R.B.I.E in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios' 'Fantastic Four: First Steps'. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 Marvel.
The cast for the new movie also includes Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne and Sarah Niles,
Who is making the ‘Fantastic Four’ movie?
Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios' 'Fantastic Four: First Steps'. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 Marvel.
Matt Shakman, the key director on ‘WandaVision,’ is overseeing the new film.
This one has been in development for a long time now, with Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer among those who have worked on drafts of the script. ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ co-writer Josh Friedman crafted the latest version.
The score, meanwhile, comes from Oscar winner and occasional Marvel music-maker Michael Giacchino, who has also directed for the company, producing TV movie ‘Werewolf by Night’ for the MCU and Disney+ in 2022.
When is ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ be in theaters?
‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ will finally bring Marvel’s First Family into the MCU on July 25th.
(L to R) Pedro Pascal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, and Vanessa Kirby star in 'Fantastic Four: First Steps'. Photo: Marvel Studios.
List of ‘Fantastic Four' Movies and TV Shows:
- 'Fantastic Four' (1967 - 1968)
- 'The Fantastic Four' (1978)
- 'The Fantastic Four' (1994)
- 'Fantastic Four' (1994 - 1996)
- ‘Fantastic Four' (2005)
- 'Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes' (2006 - 2007)
- ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' (2007)
- ‘Fantastic Four' (2015)
- 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' (2025)
