The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Release date, characters and MCU news

Fans in Hall H in San Diego also got their first looks at some test footage, featuring Ralph Ineson's Galactus, Pascal's Reed Richards teaching a science class and the team preparing for a space mission.

It was also confirmed that the film will be set in an alternate universe during the early 1960s, as had long been rumoured, and that the Fantasticar will feature.

We already know that Black Bird‘s Paul Walter Hauser and Hollywood legend John Malkovich will also be starring in the film in as-yet-undisclosed roles, while Ozark star Julia Garner will play Shalla-Bal, one of Galactus’s heralds.

While the characters are making their debut outside of the official MCU, with the film set in an alternate universe, don't think this discounts them from meeting heroes like Captain America and Spider-Man - we already know that they will be appearing in both of the upcoming Avengers films.

Read on for everything else we know so far about the much-anticipated reboot of Fantastic Four.

Fantastic Four: First Steps release date

Fantastic Four will be released in cinemas on 25th July 2025, over two months after its most recent former release date of 2nd May 2025.

The film was previously pushed back alongside other projects, including Avengers: Secret Wars, Thunderbolts* and Deadpool & Wolverine, largely as a result of Hollywood's writers' strike of 2023, according to Variety.

Who is in the cast for Fantastic Four: First Steps?

The central cast of Fantastic Four has now been confirmed by Marvel Studios, with Pedro Pascal playing Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby cast as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn taking on Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach playing Ben Grimm/The Thing.

Pascal is best known for his roles in Game of Thrones, The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, while Kirby is known for her roles in The Crown and the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Meanwhile, Quinn gained fame for playing Eddie in Stranger Things season 4, and Moss-Bachrach has won plaudits as Richie from The Bear.

Before the cast was confirmed, some had assumed that John Krasinski would play Reed Richards, after he had a cameo as the character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Meanwhile, other names linked to character at one time or another included Adam Driver and Doctor Who's Matt Smith.

Aside from the main four, it has been revealed that Ralph Ineson will play villain Galactus and Julia Garner will star as one of his heralds, Shalla-Bal.

There will also be roles for Paul Walter-Hauser and John Malkovich, although exactly who they will be playing remains a mystery at this stage.

Who are the Fantastic Four characters?

The following characters are the traditional line-up of the Fantastic Four.

• Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards
• The Invisible Woman/Susan 'Sue' Storm
• The Human Torch/Johnny Storm
• The Thing/Benjamin 'Ben' Grimm

If you're a novice to the FF's adventures, here's your bitesize guide to the super team which effectively kicked off Marvel's shared comic book universe back in November 1961.

Leading the team is Reed Richards, a brilliant scientist whose obsession with discovery, invention and research sometimes makes him appear cold and distant to his family. He has the superhuman ability to stretch his body into any shape.

The compassionate Sue Storm, also known as the Invisible Woman, has the power to (you guessed it) turn invisible, as well as to project force fields.

The latter ability is primarily used in a defensive capacity, although it can become a dangerous weapon in some situations - eg Sue once temporarily blinded Wolverine by placing tiny force fields around his optic nerves.

Her rebellious brother Johnny Storm takes on the code name "the Human Torch" after acquiring the ability to engulf his entire body in flames, fly, and control and absorb fire.

Completing the team is tough guy test pilot Ben Grimm, aka The Thing, who gains incredible strength and durability - but is transformed into an unsightly monster with rock-like skin.

In the original comic book story, the Fantastic Four's powers are the results of a test flight into space gone wrong, which saw their craft bombarded by cosmic rays.

Another prominent character in the Fantastic Four comics – and previous screen adaptations – is Alicia Masters, a blind sculptor who meets Ben Grimm after his transformation and falls in love with him for his warm personality.

Meanwhile, initial art revealed for the film by Marvel seems to suggest the inclusion of HERBIE - the Fantastic Four's robot ally from the comics.

Plus, another character of sorts is the Fantasticar – which will feature in the film, as confirmed (and debuted) at San Diego Comic-Con 2024.

Who will be the villain in Fantastic Four?

Given recent casting news, it looks like the Fantastic Four will be going up against Galactus in the new film, with Ralph Ineson taking on that role.

Galactus made his first appearance in the comics in 1968, and is presented as a former mortal man who has since transformed a cosmic entity – and who sustains his life force by guzzling entire planets. A worthy foe, then.

Whether he'll be the only villain to appear is less clear. According to one report, both Galactus and Doctor Doom will be introduced in the film, in addition to other prominent supporting characters including the Silver Surfer and Franklin Richards.

Doctor Doom (real name: Victor Von Doom – yes, really) is the FF's chief nemesis, and is the monarch of a fictional European nation called Latveria, who hides a scarred face behind a mask of metal.

Doom has featured in several previous screen adaptations of the Fantastic Four comics, though it's not yet been confirmed whether he'll appear in Marvel's new Fantastic Four film.

We do however, as of July 2024, know that he will be the central villain of the next two Avengers films - Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars - played by none other than Robert Downey Jr. We certainly wouldn't discount him making an early appearance here.

Disney has a wealth of other antagonists to choose from within the FF's rogues gallery, including Mole Man, Super Skrull, Annihilus, Galactus, Namor and Molecule Man.

Could Spider-Man appear in Marvel's Fantastic Four?

There had been speculation that Spider-Man could appear in the film, as Jon Watts appeared to be helming both franchises.

However, following Watts's departure from the project, there's been no word on whether Tom Holland's Peter Parker will appear in the Fantastic Four reboot.

Is Marvel's Fantastic Four linked to Fantastic Four (2015) or Fantastic Four (2005)?

That's likely to be a firm no.

Produced by Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox, two Fantastic Four movies were released in 2005 and 2007 starring Ioan Gruffudd as Mr Fantastic, Jessica Alba as the Invisible Woman, Michael Chiklis as The Thing, Julian McMahon as Dr Doom and a pre-Captain America Chris Evans as the Human Torch.

Marvel and Fox collaborated again on another screen version of the Fantastic Four in 2015, with Miles Teller as Mr Fantastic, Kate Mara as the Invisible Woman, Jamie Bell as the Thing, Toby Kebbell as Dr Doom and a pre-Killmonger Michael B Jordan as the Human Torch.

These adaptations are not currently linked to each other or to the new Fantastic Four movie – though with the MCU now built on the concept of a multiverse, it's not totally out of the realm of possibility that these older movies could retroactively be incorporated into one shared continuity.

Is there a trailer yet for Marvel's Fantastic Four?

There's no trailer for Fantastic Four just yet, as the film has yet to start production. We will update this page as soon as any new footage is released.

While you're waiting for Marvel's Fantastic Four, check out more of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.

Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.