The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a 2025 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Fantastic Four. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the second reboot of the Fantastic Four film series. The film was directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, and the team of Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. It features an ensemble cast including Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as the titular team, alongside Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson. The film is set in the 1960s of a retro-futuristic world which the Fantastic Four must protect from the planet-devouring cosmic being Galactus (Ineson).

20th Century Fox began work on a new Fantastic Four film following the failure of Fantastic Four (2015). After the studio was acquired by Disney in March 2019, control of the franchise was transferred to Marvel Studios, and a new film was announced that July. Jon Watts was set to direct in December 2020, but stepped down in April 2022. Shakman replaced him that September when Kaplan and Springer were working on the script. Casting began by early 2023, and Friedman joined in March to rewrite the script. The film is differentiated from previous Fantastic Four films by avoiding the team's origin story. Pearson joined to polish the script by mid-February 2024, when the main cast and the title The Fantastic Four were announced. The subtitle was added in July, when filming began. It took place until November 2024 at Pinewood Studios in England, and on location in England and Spain.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps premiered at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles on July 21, 2025, and was released in the United States on July 25, as the first film in Phase Six of the MCU. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $521.9 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Fantastic Four film. A sequel is in development.

Plot

On Earth-828 in 1964, the world celebrates the fourth anniversary of astronauts Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm becoming the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four after they gained superhuman abilities from exposure to cosmic rays during a space mission. Since then, the team have become celebrities and fought supervillains, while Reed's inventions have progressed technology and Sue's diplomacy via the Future Foundation has led to demilitarization and peace for much of the world. When Reed and Sue reveal that they are expecting a child, the world prepares for the new arrival and questions whether the child will also have superpowers.

Months later, the Silver Surfer comes to Earth and declares that it has been marked for destruction by Galactus, a planet-devouring cosmic being. Reed studies the disappearance of other planets and verifies this claim, and the team decides to return to space to stop Galactus from coming to Earth. They track the Silver Surfer's energy signature and, using faster-than-light (FTL) travel, arrive at a new planet just as it is destroyed by Galactus's ship. The team is captured and brought to Galactus, who reveals that he has an insatiable hunger that has driven him to consume planets for eons. Galactus senses that Reed and Sue's unborn child has an immense cosmic power and could take on his hunger, freeing himself from it. He offers to spare Earth in exchange for the child, and induces Sue to go into labor. The team refuses the offer and escapes from the ship. Using the gravity from a neutron star, which destroys their FTL system, the team delays the chasing Silver Surfer and propels themselves back to Earth. Sue gives birth to a boy, Franklin, on the way.

On their return to Earth a month later, Reed reveals the details of their encounter during a press conference. Their decision to save one child over the billions of other people on Earth leads to a public outcry, with many calling for Franklin to be sacrificed to Galactus. Johnny begins to decipher the Silver Surfer's native language using his interactions with her and some deep space transmissions Reed intercepted from her planet. They also have transmissions from planets that Galactus destroyed. As Galactus draws near and protests against the Fantastic Four escalate, Sue takes Franklin to meet with protesters. She explains that they will not sacrifice their child, but they will also not give up on the rest of humanity, regaining public trust. Using a teleportation system that he has been working on, Reed devises a plan to build large teleportation bridges across Earth so they can transport the entire planet to another solar system where Galactus cannot reach them. Through the Future Foundation, Sue organizes the world's nations to build the bridges and conserve the energy needed to use them.

As the bridges are being activated, the Silver Surfer returns and begins destroying them. Johnny stops her from destroying the last bridge in Times Square and reveals what he learned from the transmissions: her name is Shalla-Bal and she became Galactus's herald to spare her world, Zenn-La. Hearing transmissions from planets she helped destroy, Shalla-Bal expresses remorse but refuses to help and flees. Using Franklin as bait, the team plans to lure Galactus to the last bridge and teleport him away. Sue negotiates with Harvey Elder to evacuate New York City's citizens to Subterranea, his underground city. Galactus makes his way through the city and captures Franklin, avoiding the trap. Sue uses all of her power to push him towards the portal with a force field while Reed rescues Franklin. Johnny attempts to sacrifice himself to give Galactus a final push into the portal, but is stopped by Shalla-Bal. She pushes Galactus into the portal herself and it closes behind them. Sue dies from her efforts, but is revived by Franklin. The team later goes on a new mission as the world celebrates their fifth anniversary.

In a mid-credits scene set four years later, Sue is reading to Franklin at home and goes to get a different book. She returns to see him interacting with a man in a green cloak who is holding a metal mask.

Cast

Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic:A highly intelligent scientist and the leader of the Fantastic Four who can stretch any part of his body to great lengths. Director Matt Shakman described Reed as "the most scientifically intelligent person" on the planet, and a combination of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, and Robert Moses. Pascal said it was Reed's mind that was most important to him, rather than the character's physicality, and he considered "the brilliance of an octopus" when approaching the character. He also noted that he drew inspiration from many of the iterations of Reed from the comics, as opposed to previous portrayals of the character such as Ioan Gruffudd and Miles Teller in past Fantastic Four films, as well as John Krasinski in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Pascal wanted to give Reed a Mid-Atlantic accent, befitting the 1960s setting of First Steps, but Marvel Studios asked him to use his natural voice instead. Shakman said the character of Reed was the hardest to cast, but he found Pascal to be the best choice in part due to having a long-standing relationship working together in film. Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman:Reed's pregnant wife, Johnny's older sister, and a member of the Fantastic Four who can generate force fields and turn invisible. She is the founder of the philanthropic organization Future Foundation, which has achieved global demilitarization and peace. Shakman described Sue as "the most emotionally intelligent person" on the planet. Kirby enjoyed synthesizing the various comic portrayals of Sue into her version of the character, focusing on motherhood as the through-line. The actress said she was obsessed with the comics run where Sue takes on the negative persona "Malice", and she included elements of that version in her portrayal so Sue would not be "the stereotype of a goody, sweet mother". Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing:Reed's best friend, a former astronaut, and a member of the Fantastic Four whose skin has been transformed into a layer of near-impenetrable orange rock, granting him superhuman strength and durability. Throughout the film, the Thing grows a rocky beard, just like in the comics—specifically in Fantastic Four vol. 1 #605 (April 2012). Moss-Bachrach found comparisons between Grimm and his character Richie Jerimovich in the series The Bear (2022–2026), noting both were "deeply loyal people" and "fighters with a fierce sense of code, morality, and family". Moss-Bachrach portrays the Thing through motion capture and computer-generated imagery (CGI) rather than prosthetic makeup, and discussed that process with Mark Ruffalo, who portrays the Hulk in the MCU using the same technology. Portraying a character through motion capture was attractive to Moss-Bachrach because it gave him a freedom to experiment and "push [his] physicality as an actor". In addition to Moss-Bachrach performing his scenes in a motion-capture suit, some takes were re-filmed with the actor using different body extensions or a stand-in wearing a life-sized Thing costume to help the other actors reference the space that the character takes up. Moss-Bachrach felt it was beneficial to be on set with his other actors, who were able to look at him as Ben Grimm rather than the Thing. Shakman consulted scientists and studied desert rocks to find the best reference for the Thing's appearance; a specific desert rock that matched his desired look for the Thing, referred to as "Jennifer", was also filmed on set as a lighting reference for the visual effects team. Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch:Sue's younger brother and a member of the Fantastic Four who can control fire and fly. While Quinn was a fan of Chris Evans's portrayal of the character in the 20th Century Fox films Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), he did not base his portrayal on Evans's. Quinn and producer Kevin Feige discussed Johnny's womanizing in previous portrayals and concluded that this would not be considered "sexy" by modern audiences. Quinn wanted his version to be "less callous with other people's feelings" and more self-aware of his attention-seeking behavior, while still having a lot of bravado and humor. Shakman noted that Johnny is also smart and heroic, despite undercutting that with jokes. Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal / Silver Surfer:A former scientist from the utopian alien planet Zenn-La who agreed to become Galactus's latest herald in exchange for him sparing her planet. Shalla-Bal's entire body is coated in a "space polymer" that gives her a metallic appearance, and she travels through space on a surfboard-like craft in search of planets for Galactus to feed on. The Power Cosmic bestowed upon Shalla-Bal by Galactus grants her various abilities, including: superhuman strength, durability, and agility; faster-than-light (FTL) travel; energy manipulation; and intangibility. Garner portrays the Silver Surfer through motion capture. She said there was a "mysterious energy" to the character and her relationship with Galactus. To prepare for the role, Garner took surfing lessons, despite her fear of the ocean, to familiarize herself with the board and move like a surfer, as well as combining research on surfing poses with statuesque non-surf poses from the comics to have the character "[move] elegantly, like a dance". Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols: The Chief of Staff of the Future Foundation Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert: The host of a popular talk show called The Ted Gilbert Show