In 2005, 20th Century Fox brought Marvel’s iconic Fantastic Four superheroes to life in their own self-titled film. Fantastic Four starred Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm AKA The Thing.
The film was relatively successful, and two years later, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was released. Unfortunately, the sequel did not perform as well and follow-up films were canceled.

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Eight years later, 20th Century attempted to relaunch the superhero franchise with a new cast: Miles Teller starred as Reed Richards, Kate Mara played Sue Storm, Michael B. Jordan played Johnny Storm, and Jamie Bell played Ben Grimm. Sadly, the movie was a total box office bomb, losing the studio nearly $100 million.
However, all hope was not lost on The Fantastic Four.
Even though Disney purchased Marvel in 2009, it did not acquire the rights to The Fantastic Four until it purchased 21st Century Fox in 2019. After the purchase, Bob Iger revealed that Marvel Studios planned to make The Fantastic Four an official part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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The official trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps was released on February 4. It gave fans a first look at the new team: Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing.
The trailer shows how close the group is and how they got to where they are. For those unfamiliar, the group of former astronauts gained their superpowers during a space flight when they were exposed to cosmic rays.
The rays altered their cellular structure, giving Reed Richards the ability to super stretch, Sue Storm the ability to become invisible and create force fields, Johnny Storm the ability to create fire and become a human torch, and Ben Grimm’s skin turning into rock and giving him superhuman strength.
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However, it was not the trailer that got people talking. Instead, it was the new poster created for the film. The poster sparked near-immediate backlash, with fans accusing Marvel of using artificial intelligence instead of actual artists to create it.
Critics pointed out that the poster seemed to feature the same woman twice and another woman’s arm that they thought was not shaped correctly.
Marvel looses all goodwill from the F4 trailer for then releasing this AI slop as a poster
Marvel looses all goodwill from the F4 trailer for then releasing this AI slop as a poster
— Wayne Talbot (@waynetalbot.bsky.social) 2025-02-04T14:42:48.056Z
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The poster caught such heat that Disney and Marvel were forced to speak out. In an exclusive report from TheWrap, Marvel confirmed that no AI was used in its creation.
Users flooded social media platforms like X and Bluesky with posts singling out each of the poster’s strange details and accusing Marvel of using AI to create the promotional art instead of hiring human artists. Despite what many suspected, though, a Marvel spokesperson confirmed to TheWrap that AI was not used in the creation of these posters.
Some fans also defended the poster, saying that it didn’t appear AI-generated, but instead looked like sloppy Photoshop work.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps will hit theaters nationwide on July 25, 2025, and will be the first movie in the MCU’s Phase Six. The new phase will also include Avengers: Doomsday (2026), the untitled sequel to Spider-Man: No Way Home (2026), and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
Are you looking forward to seeing The Fantastic Four: First Steps? Do you think Disney and Marvel can finally create a successful franchise with these superheroes? Share your thoughts in the comments!