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Credit: D23Marvel is officially bringing its First Family into the heart of the MCU with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, launching on July 25, 2025. Directed by Matt Shakman, the film kicks off Phase Six and serves as the franchise’s first canonical take on the iconic team.
A New Era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe
While John Krasinski briefly appeared as an alternate Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), this new chapter marks the formal arrival of the Fantastic Four in the MCU’s main narrative. Pedro Pascal leads as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, alongside Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing.
Julia Garner as Shala-Bal/Silver Surfer and Ralph Ineson as Galactus are also joining the cast. John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Paul Walter Hauser are confirmed in undisclosed roles.
The film’s screenplay is credited to Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer, Josh Friedman, Cameron Squires, Eric Pearson, and Peter Cameron, with production based at Pinewood Studios in London.
According to Marvel’s official synopsis, First Steps is “set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world,” introducing the Fantastic Four “as they face their most daunting challenge yet.”
But the setting isn’t the same Earth fans know from previous Avengers films. As revealed in an earlier Entertainment Weekly feature: “So the new film will be set in the ’60s — just not our ’60s. First Steps is the 37th installment in the MCU, but it won’t be set on the same Earth as Iron Man or The Avengers.”
Instead, the film takes place in a parallel universe where utopian dreams of the mid-20th century came true. “In our timeline, the ’50s and ’60s were full of artists and thinkers who imagined utopian futures full of miracle inventions like flying cars and robot friends. In this world, Reed Richards exists to invent them.”
Shakman, who replaced Jon Watts in 2022, explained how this world recontextualizes the team’s origin. “We knew that we’d be on another Earth, so we had a chance to reinvent what the ’60s looked like,” he told EW.
“I was really interested in imagining the Fantastic Four being astronauts,” he said. “Instead of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin going to the moon, what if it was Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben who were really the first to go into outer space, the first to push those boundaries?”
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Run Time
But just how long will audiences spend in this new universe? According to a listing from AMC theaters, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is coming in at 130 minutes–a record-setting length for the Fantastic Four franchise on screen. 1994’s Fantastic Four was just 90 minutes, while Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) came in at 106 and 92 minutes, respectively. 2015’s widely panned feature had a run time of 100 minutes.
It’s not unusual for an MCU movie to be over two hours long, even as more and more movies in the franchise skirt the other side of the two-hour mark.
Cultural Changes and Casting The Fantastic Four
Shakman called casting the family “the hardest part” due to the emotional dynamics at play. Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm will be pregnant in the film, with motherhood serving as a key thematic thread. In EW, she said she looked to Sue’s darker comic alter ego, Malice, to add complexity to the role.
Joseph Quinn also shared how his Johnny Storm will depart from past portrayals. “He’s a man that leads with a lot of bravado, which can be an affront sometimes. But also, he’s funny,” Quinn told EW. “Myself and [Marvel Studios boss] Kevin [Feige] were speaking about previous iterations of him and where we are culturally. He was branded as this womanizing, devil-may-care guy, but is that sexy these days? I don’t think so.”
“This version of Johnny is less callous with other people’s feelings, and hopefully, there’s a self-awareness about what’s driving that attention-seeking behavior.”
Before First Steps hits theaters, Marvel’s 2025 roadmap continued with Captain America: Brave New World, which struggled with reshoots and controversies but managed to earn over $400 million worldwide. That was followed by Thunderbolts* in May 2025—described by Disney as the “least-anticipated group of misfits”—featuring the return of characters like Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), and Red Guardian (David Harbour).
Meanwhile, the long-troubled Blade reboot has been pulled from the 2025 release slate. Though Mahershala Ali remains attached, creative instability has kept the project in limbo. Its slot was replaced by Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands under 20th Century Studios.
The Fantastic Four’s journey won’t end with one film. The team is confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday (formerly The Kang Dynasty) and Avengers: Secret Wars, releasing in 2026 and 2027, respectively. Kevin Feige unveiled the studio’s long-term plans at last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con, with a livestream event later confirming their extended role in the Multiverse Saga.
In a major twist revealed during SDCC last year, Robert Downey Jr. will return to the MCU—not as Tony Stark, but as Victor Von Doom. Anthony and Joe Russo are confirmed to direct both Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Following First Steps in July 2025, Marvel’s schedule includes Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026), Avengers: Doomsday (December 18, 2026), and Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027). With a fresh take on Marvel’s earliest heroes and a distinctly stylized setting, The Fantastic Four: First Steps looks to ignite the next chapter of the MCU.
How do you feel about the Fantastic Four finally entering the MCU? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!