It’s February 4 — or F4. Get it? So Marvel decided to cross-promote their movie with the Gregorian calendar, and used “F4” to release the first trailer for their biggest superhero film of 2025, The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Although there have been multiple previous Fantastic Four film franchises, this is the first from Marvel Studios, and the first set within the confines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The new Fantastic Four are Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, playing Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing, respectively. Matt Shakman, best known for his work on the WandaVision Disney+ TV series, directed the film.
Watch the first full trailer for the movie below:
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This is the fourth attempt at a Fantastic Four movie franchise, although the first technically never got released. That was the one produced by Roger Corman and made solely to preserve a producer’s hold on the property’s film rights. It was bad, but unfortunately that’s sort of been a running theme with FF films. The first legit, big-budget, actually-released Fantastic Four came from Fox in 2005, and featured Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and a pre-Captain America Chris Evans as the Human Torch. Although the film is not great, it did well enough at the box office to get a sequel, 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
That one was also not great, but it was practically Hamlet compared to the next FF movie, 2016’s Fantastic Four, a darker take on the material starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, and a pre-Black Panther Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch. Hounded by rumors of a production in disarray (and multiple reshoots) the film bombed in theaters and got some of the worst reviews of a Marvel movie in history. After that, Marvel eventually acquired Fox, setting the stage for this new take on the material.
Here is the official synopsis for Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps:
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) 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 (Ralph Ineson) 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.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently scheduled to open in theaters on July 25.
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