First Steps Will ‘Do Them Justice’

It’s ironic: previous attempts at bringing the Fantastic Four to the screen have not necessarily been… well, fantastic. Tim Story’s Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer are products of a different blockbuster era. 2015’s reboot Fantastic Four (aka ‘FANT4STIC’) was a critical and box office bomb. And yet, the Fantastic Four themselves – Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm – are cornerstone characters of Marvel’s comic book history. The arrival, then, of The Fantastic Four: First Steps is both a massive opportunity, and a huge roll of the dice – can Marvel’s First Family finally be translated in all their glory to the screen? And how will they mesh with the MCU?

Marvel boss Kevin Feige knows how pivotal it is to get the Fantastic Four right. “I think that there are no four characters that are more important for the history of Marvel,” he tells Empire in the world-exclusive The Fantastic Four: First Steps issue. And as soon as the rights came up for Marvel Studios to tell their story, the mantle was set. “When Disney bought Fox, it was really an unexpected dream come true,” Feige explains. “It came at the perfect time, to help us launch into a new era. They are Marvel’s First Family, and I really wanted to do them justice.”

That meant not only gathering a stellar cast – with Pedro Pascal as the stretchy Mr. Fantastic; Vanessa Kirby as the light-bending Invisible Woman; Joseph Quinn as the flame-doused Human Torch; and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as rock-man The Thing – and putting them in the hands of returning MCU directing talent in WandaVision’s Matt Shakman. It also meant channelling, as Feige puts it, “classic Fantastic Four energy.”

Having produced Tim Story’s films two decades ago, when comic book blockbusters were in a very different place, Feige is now ready to go all-out. “There was still a bit of fear of being silly,” he says of those films. Now, it’s time to embrace the ‘60s retro-future; the groovy cosmic vibes; and, yes, a comic-accurate depiction of planet-eating baddie Galactus, no longer rendered cinematically as a giant cloud. “In another time, some might consider the notion of somebody with a big, angular helmet walking through a city goofy,” Feige says. “I consider it awesome.” Strap in: the Four are finally ready to be truly fantastic.

Read Empire’s full The Fantastic Four: First Steps cover story – going on set Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and speaking to director Matt Shakman, Marvel boss Kevin Feige and more – in the July 2025 issue, on sale Thursday 5 June. Pre-order a copy online here. The Fantastic Four: First Steps comes to UK cinemas from 25 July.