Marvel Studios is officially launching Phase Six of the MCU with a bold new spin on its foundational superhero team in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Directed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman and slated for release on July 25, 2025, the long-anticipated film will formally introduce the Fantastic Four to the franchise’s main continuity—albeit not on the Earth fans might expect.
Pedro Pascal leads the new ensemble as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing. Joining the quartet are Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer and Ralph Ineson portraying the planet-consuming Galactus. The film also features John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Paul Walter Hauser in undisclosed roles.
Filming kicked off last summer at Pinewood Studios in London. The screenplay, penned by a team including Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer, Josh Friedman, Cameron Squires, Eric Pearson, and Peter Cameron, promises a stylistic shift for the MCU.
This version of the Fantastic Four hails from a different Earth—one shaped by the idealism of mid-century futurism rather than the modern realism of Earth-616. Here, flying cars, sentient robots, and optimistic scientific progress are part of everyday life, largely thanks to Reed Richards’ innovations.
As director Shakman told Entertainment Weekly, “We knew that we’d be on another Earth, so we had a chance to reinvent what the ’60s looked like. I was really interested in imagining the Fantastic Four being astronauts. 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?”
Shakman also emphasized the emotional weight carried by the central duo. Reed and Sue are positioned as both scientific pioneers and emotional anchors. In First Steps, the couple leads the Future Foundation, a philanthropic science organization that aspires to global cooperation and understanding. And for Sue, the journey is uniquely personal—she’s pregnant during the events of the film.
A recent trailer has already begun shaping expectations—not just with glimpses of retro sci-fi aesthetics, but with the reveal of Julia Garner’s take on the Silver Surfer. But rather than gender-swapping the well-known Norrin Radd version, First Steps introduces Shalla-Bal, a character with deep roots in the Marvel Comics mythos, first appearing in *Silver Surfer #1* (1968) as Radd’s former love interest.
Garner’s casting prompted backlash from corners of the internet, where critics accused Marvel of replacing a male character with a female one, adding to the absurd “M-She-U” debate—a debate previously sparked by projects like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and 2023’s The Marvels. However, this version of the Silver Surfer was always intended to be Shalla-Bal, not Norrin Radd.
“I have to be so cryptic about everything, otherwise I’m going to have Marvel come after me,” Garner joked to Entertainment Weekly. “But it was described as there’s this mystery about her, and there’s this sense of this ambiguous energy going on of whether she’s good or not… She has this mysterious energy about her, and slowly that mystery will get solved with the audience throughout watching it.”
While it remains unclear if Garner’s version of the character will appear beyond First Steps, the Ozark and Inventing Anna actress is open to more. “A hundred percent, I would love to do that. The Silver Surfer is such a cool character, and I feel like it’s so rare to be presented with any sort of mystery in this day and age.”
Shakman also emphasized the importance of casting chemistry among the core four. While Pascal and Kirby ground the film’s emotional stakes, Joseph Quinn brings new life to Johnny Storm—a character famously portrayed by both Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan in previous iterations.
“He’s a man that leads with a lot of bravado, which can be an affront sometimes. But also, he’s funny,” Quinn said. “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.”
Quinn added that this take on Johnny will feel more emotionally layered. “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.”
As First Steps approaches, Marvel’s broader strategy for the next few years is taking shape. Captain America: Brave New World, which opened in February 2025, overcame early turbulence—including poor test screenings and some headline-making controversy—to clear $400 million globally. That’s followed by Thunderbolts*, hitting theaters in May 2025, which will officially close out Phase Five.
But it’s First Steps that serves as the crucial bridge to what comes next. The team is already confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday (formerly The Kang Dynasty) and Avengers: Secret Wars, arriving in 2026 and 2027 respectively. According to Kevin Feige, the Fantastic Four will be pivotal players in the Multiversal saga.
Following First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday will debut May 1, 2026, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day set for July 31, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars closing the saga on May 7, 2027. Two more Marvel dates—February 13 and November 6, 2026—remain on the calendar, though Disney CEO Bob Iger has stated the company will reduce Marvel’s yearly output moving forward.
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