When you've been around for 17 years, it's often assumed you've already experienced all of your firsts. Yet for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Six welcomes a new one: The introduction of The Fantastic Four. Since control of the franchise transferred back to Marvel Studios through the acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney in 2019, fans have been waiting in anticipation to see the team of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), and Benn Grimm (The Thing) in action once again.
This is why, despite their busy schedules and amid shoots for the upcoming Avengers movies, Producer and President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, director Matt Shakman, and the quartet consisting of Pedro Pascal (Reed), Vanessa Kirby (Sue), Joseph Quinn (Johnny), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben) are ready for the world to see the hard work and dedication that's been poured into The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
"I'm incredibly excited. Now is the time because we finally were able to do it, because we got to rights to them. That was one reason. The other reason is that we assembled an incredible cast that you see before you. And it is very exciting that people are now seeing the movie," Kevin expresses during the virtual press conference with the cast and director. "Matt [Shakman] has been working very, very hard for years to bring Marvel's first family to life in a way that, you know, we felt would fit within the world that we've created, even though this film very much stands alone, and stands apart."
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The Backstory
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This isn't the first time the quartet has been adapted to the screen, nor is it the first reboot of the franchise. There's the unreleased 1994 film produced under New Horizon Studios, followed by the 2005 series with which most millennials and older Gen Zers are familiar with, starring Chris Evans pre-Captain America as Johnny Storm. Chris would later make a surprise appearance, reprising his role, in 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine. Ten years later, a reboot with Michael B.Jordan as Johnny—who went on to rejoin the MCU several years later as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther—was released. Despite solid casts, familiar origin story, and a loyal fan base, the projects were far from fantastic, with mixed to poor reviews.
So, when it came time to tell their story once again ten years later, the team had to find a way to differentiate it from previous iterations. "It's all new. These are new characters to many people and in a new world to our universe. It's our 37th MCU film, and yet, this is the first standalone that we've done, setting up its own new established universe," explains Kevin. "And there's no homework required. Everything you need to know about the Fantastic Four, you learn in the first 10 minutes of this movie, which is that they're a family. They're humans—they're emotional, have flaws, love each other, and want to help."
The Plot
Previous franchises told the story of their origins in a modern-day setting. However, this adaptation takes them in a new direction. As the mastermind behind Marvel's smash-hit series WandaVision, which built specific realities based on sitcoms, Matt put the same energy and effort into creating a 1960s retro-futuristic world that feels nostalgic to readers of the comics created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, alongside Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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When talking about his creative vision for the film, Matt explains, "I'm a huge Fantastic Four fan—been one since I was a kid. So, it was an honour to get to bring these characters to the MCU. We knew that they were such public figures and are sort of the leading lights of their age and era that we would've heard about them if they were in the regular Marvel timeline. So, we had to put them in a different universe and a different earth, which meant we had the chance to build this retro-future 1960s."
Another big part of helping craft the world built for this film is the score, composed by Michael Giacchino. Michael knows a thing or two about crafting a melody fit for a superhero, having composed the scores for Marvel projects such as Jon Watts' Spiderman trilogy, Thor: Love & Thunder, and Werewolf By Night. He also composed the score for both The Incredibles films, a franchise coincidentally inspired by the Fantastic Four. Taking The Right Stuff and the Disney Electrical Parade as inspiration, Michael concocted the perfect score that was quirky, memorable, and fit the movie to a T. "I mean, I think he’s the best composer working today. We were lucky to get him," Kevin praises.
"He is a genius, right? And I think, even when we were first talking about the movie, I'm like, 'We have to get Michael to do this.' He’s the perfect person for it. I mean, he has such range as a composer, but he’s also able to touch emotionally," says Matt. "His range and all the stuff he’s done for Marvel are incredible. He’s just a wonderful human and a great storyteller as well. We talked a lot about it, and he sent me a theme before we even started filming. We all heard it together, and it just blew me away."
At the time, Jack and Stan brought a new form of storytelling to the comic book world. The Fantastic Four are known for being dysfunctional, bickering among one another, yet backing each other up against evil forces—the perfect superhero family. Their dynamics within the team were also well-loved, with Reed and Sue being the team's lovebirds, Sue and Johnny's sibling bond, Johnny and Ben's brotherly bickering, Ben and Reed's friendship, and Reed and Johnny's tight-knit bond as brothers-in-law. It was important to cast actors who could bring their dynamic to life.
"Matt is very wise and put the four of us together. And, I mean, they say you can immediately know in the first 10 seconds if you're compatible with somebody. We just really hit it off from the beginning," says Ebon. "Making a movie of this scale and spending however many months—five, six months—making this movie is also like a good, not a trauma bonder, but, you know, it's hard. You're pushing a boat over a mountain to try to make this. So, we just had many hours and many days of really pleasurable time. I feel very grateful and lucky to still be hanging out with this family."
"I wanted to populate this film with the most amazing actors with the most range I could find, and here they are... I think of all of these guys like Swiss army knives. They have every tool you possibly need to solve any problem—emotional depth, charm, humour, anything you need, right? And you bring together a group like this, great actors, they create great chemistry, like Ebon was saying. They find a way to build a family, to create that history, and bring it to life on screen," adds Matt.
The Superheroes
Playing a father figure on-screen is something Pedro is familiar with, despite not being one in real life. Yet Reed Richard, the smartest man alive with extreme elasticity and a soon-to-be dad, was a treat for the actor. "My favourite thing about it (playing Reed) was actually that this person, who is so brilliant and comfortable with figuring out the most complex science equations to create solutions for absolutely everything or understand how the world and beyond functions, doesn't know how to understand the much more complex equation of relationships, family, love, growing in a relationship, and growing in a family. As a partner, friend, and then of course, as a father," he expresses thoughtfully. "...but really at the core, for me, Reed, my authorship is that he’s an incredible codependent. And without them, he doesn’t know how to function. And he’s lost in his brain. His identity is related utterly to his family and his position in the family, and protecting them and being protected by them."
A leader, hero, and soon-to-be mother with powers of invisibility and force field generation, Vanessa's Sue Storm is all about protecting those she loves. When it came to bringing her to life in all her multifaceted qualities, Vanessa explains, "I mean, it's already there in the comics throughout all the decades. It always seemed to me kind of revolutionary to have this mother at the centre of this family, but also be absolutely part of the team, never left at home on her own. When I met Matt, then Kevin, for the first time, and we started talking about Sue, I was already so passionate about her. It was so exciting to me, this idea of having this pregnant superhero, this working mother."
She continues: "Even during filming, it was surreal, because I had this pregnancy bump, yet I was so included in everything. Matt and Kevin were such huge champions of having her be as complex, fierce, loving, and warm—all the things that I think the feminine is. So it was very daunting. I cared, and it's been a great honour to play her, and I know that I'm just one of many who's kind of got to know her over the years."
Unlike previous portrayals of Johnny Storm, the pyrotechnic playboy of the group, Joseph breathes life and substance into the role, on top of the humour and suavity. "I think there's something quite aspirational about this Johnny. The way he views space, he's a bit of a searcher, and he's looking for answers, I think," Joseph says. "All of these four characters are kind of sentenced to this idea of responsibility, superpower, and having this kind of puppet-facing life. I think that he's looking for answers outside of it. Inherently, from the script, he is someone who is very fully rounded and not two-dimensional. I was just very fortunate that the character had a lot, and it was a delight to dive in there, and just have a laugh."
As for Ebon's Benn Grimm, he had the opportunity to dive into the world of motion capture when it came to portraying The Thing in all his stone-like, super-strength glory. "I've certainly never done any performance capture work at all, and that was one of the main things that attracted me to doing the movie because I wanted to explore this way of acting. I was hoping it would be able to free me up. I'm never gonna get to play something like that—this incredibly strong, heavy character. And then, I had some anxiety and nerves about it just because it was such a departure for me with the technology of it," he reveals. "Within a couple of days, it melted away, and I found it to be freeing. I'm in all of the scenes with them, and we're looking into each other's eyes. I'm right there. And there was an immediacy and a freedom to it that I always found surprising."
The Villain
With every superhero movie, there has to be a supervillain. In the Fantastic Four's case, what better antagonist than Ralph Ineson's Galactus, a world-consuming cosmic giant without remorse or regard for mortal beings? "It’s a very strange one to try to get your head around. Being a 14-billion-year-old cosmic vampire, it’s not the kind of character prep I've had to do before," joked Ralph, who is a far cry from his character. "I think the goal was to think away from any kind of humanity and try to imagine this cosmic force that has intelligence beyond human understanding. He exists to feed the hunger, to maintain cosmic balance. It may be very inconvenient if you happen to live on the planet that he’s about to eat, but that doesn’t mean it’s done with any malice."
As for his messenger, Julia Garner, was tasked with bringing a new version of the Silver Surfer never introduced on-screen in any of the previous franchises: Shalla-Bal. "I mean, the Shalla-Bal story is part of Earth X, which is a different universe, as well... and her story is defined by family, as well and about this idea of sacrifice. These impossible choices that we’re presented with. We've all seen that scene of her coming to deliver the news, but what's so brilliant about that is you can see under the surface that there's a cost to her personally, even though she's done this a million times," Matt explains on bringing the character to the silver screen.
When Kevin saw her metallic form in action for the first time, it was astounding. "There was so much time spent by the team, Matt, and Ryan Meinerding (Head of Visual Development at Marvel Studios), who adapted the Surfer design, looking at the patina of the silver and the reflections, that when the final shots came in, it was pretty astounding. Combined with Julia's performance and that voice, it was awesome."
What To Expect
With fans flocking in the millions to theatres worldwide in anticipation, what could we expect from a movie of this calibre? "There's this dynamic, this family that we've cultivated and nurtured. I think that I'm incredibly proud to be a part of it. And I hope that they (the audience) resonate with the dysfunctionality, the love, and the unity of it," Joseph says. The same goes for Ebon, who says, "...There's an enormous amount of love in this movie between the characters and that Matt, Kevin, and the art department have had for the Fantastic Four. There's so much passion that's gone into making this, down from the tiniest little props to the bigger thematic ideas about motherhood and fatherhood."
The amount of love and care for this film and the first superhero family in comic book history is obvious, vivid and on the silver screen and for someone who has nurtured the Marvel Cinematic Universe from its humble beginnings close to 20 years ago, Kevin says this film goes back to the Fantastic Four's source and creator, Jack Kirby. "...I'm excited for people to see this movie as the love letter and tribute it is to the inspiration from the mind and imagination of Jack Kirby that not enough people know or talk about. That Marvel wouldn't exist without him, and certainly not this film."
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is showing in cinemas worldwide. For more information, visit Marvel's website.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.