(Updated 02/14/2024)
Even as superhero movies have become easier to make (well, "easier" is perhaps not exactly the correct word) some characters remain particularly difficult to bring to the big screen. Marvel's Fantastic Four have been unusually challenging. After four FF movies, there is still no definitive film version of the team that set the Marvel Universe in motion back in 1961.
That is about to change, however. Marvel Studios is developing THE FANTASTIC FOUR as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For a couple of years we've known nothing more than that. Now the cast has been announced, and with that reveal comes a new logo and some art that tells us a lot more about the movie.
Here’s everything you need to know about FANTASTIC FOUR.
What's The Fantastic Four Release Date?
THE FANTASTIC FOUR is set to open exclusively in movie theatres on July 25, 2025.
Is There a Trailer for The Fantastic Four?
There is no trailer for THE FANTASTIC FOUR. The movie hasn't filmed yet. But with the cast announcement, expect to see a great many fan-made trailer concepts until real footage arrives.
Who Is in the Cast of The Fantastic Four?
Pedro Pascal ("The Last of Us") plays Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby (the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE series, "The Crown") plays Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach ("The Bear") plays the Thing, and Joseph Quinn ("Stranger Things," A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE) is Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch.
We know that Marvel has been looking for someone to play Doctor Doom, but no casting is confirmed. And the art you can see in full just above also shows the robot H.E.R.B.I.E. (aka Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics), who was created for early FF cartoons when rights agreements prevented the Human Torch from being used on the show. We expect a notable name to be cast to voice the robot, but that also has yet to be announced.
And, yes, DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS featured a variant of Reed Richards played by John Krasinski. We don't know if we'll ever see that version again. RIP..
The multiverse also means that other actors who have played Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben could show up in the MCU as well. Most notably that means that Chris Evans, who played Johnny Storm for Fox in two Fantastic Four movies in 2005 and 2007, could cameo.
Will The Fantastic Four Be An Origin Story?
While Marvel chief Kevin Feige once suggested that THE FANTASTIC FOUR will not be an origin story, suggests Marvel chief Kevin Feige, we expect that some recount of the team's origin will take place.
"A lot of people know this origin story," Feige said in 2022. "A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before?”
Is The Fantastic Four Set in the 1960s?
The image that accompanied the cast reveal suggests that at least some of THE FANTASTIC FOUR will be set in 1963. From the styling of the Marvel Studios and movie logos to the astronaut portrait of Ben Grimm, the furniture in the room, and even the issue of "Life" magazine the Thing is reading, the only way Marvel could indicate a 1960s setting more specifically would be to paint the year right into the image.
Will the entire movie be set in the 1960s? Probably not!
Where Have the Fantastic Four Been All This Time?
If FANTASTIC FOUR isn't an origin story, there are a couple of assumptions to make. One is that the FF already exists in the main world of the MCU. If that's the case, where have they been hiding?
The most likely answer to that question is that the characters have not existed in the primary world of the MCU's multiverse. These characters could originate in a universe other than the "main" one of the MCU.
Alternately, the characters might find themselves pulled into either the Negative Zone — which would be true to early FF comics — or, more likely, the Quantum Realm. In the comics, the FF got their powers during an ill-fated trip to space. In the movie, they might get them during a trip to the Quantum Realm. And if they stay there for a while, the rest of the world would zoom right past them, leading to a moment when the FF can suddenly emerge into the present day. That would set up not only an immediate conflict for the team, but also a fish out of water storyline that could reveal many different aspects of each character.
So What Is The Fantastic Four About?
The team consists of Reed Richards, who has stretchy powers and is supposedly the smartest man in the Marvel Universe; his wife Susan Storm, who can become invisible; her brother Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch; and their pal Ben Grimm, a giant rock man better known as The Thing.
That doesn't really tell us anything about the story, however. If this movie isn't an origin story, what will the focus be? We currently have no answer to that question, but the plot is almost certainly going to involve the MCU’s greatest villain, Doctor Doom. "Secret Wars" fans know he’s a crucial element in that story, and hopefully he will be when the AVENGERS: SECRET WARS movie rolls around, too.
What better way to introduce him than with a FANTASTIC FOUR movie?
Who Is Making The Fantastic Four?
Matt Shankman will direct THE FANTASTIC FOUR. In the event his name is not familiar, maybe it's easier to put it this way: he made Marvel's "WandaVision" series, which also played with different eras of American culture, making him a clear fit for a story that at least partially takes place in the 1960s.
(And, yes, for a while, FANTASTIC FOUR was going to be directed by Jon Watts, who also made the Sony/MCU SPIDER-MAN trilogy. Not long after the release of NO WAY HOME, Watts backed away from the project.)
Will Spider-Man Appear in The Fantastic Four?
Right now, we don't know. The characters overlapped frequently in early comics stories, and Spider-Man and the Human Torch have a great friendship/rivalry that runs through many tales. Tom Holland's Spider-Man would be a great lure for audiences who don't know the Fantastic Four characters. But at this point, it's far too early to say — and we wouldn't be surprised if Marvel gave the spotlight entirely to the team that launched Marvel in the first place.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR opens in July 2025.
All images courtesy of Marvel Studios.