After some San Diego Comic-Con early preview footage, enjoyable teaser imagery, and different sneak peeks, the very first teaser trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps has arrived.
Fantastic Four is the thirty seventh (!) MCU film, which is a bit ironic, contemplating the FF are sometimes known as “Marvel’s First Family” as a result of 1961’s Fantastic Four #1 marked the official launch of Marvel Comics – a re-naming of an organization that had been round since 1939 – and the kick-off of an enormous run of profitable superhero debuts. But with the Fantastic Four film rights lastly again with Marvel Studios, following a number of FF movies from twentieth Century Fox, we eventually have the gang that began all of it within the MCU! …Except that certain doesn’t appear like the MCU?
Days of Retro Future Past
As teased by these earlier pictures, the First Steps teaser totally reveals the Sixties-inspired, retro- futuristic world the movie is ready in. Clearly this isn’t the prime MCU (or “Sacred Timeline,” to make use of TVA terminology) we’ve been following for 17 years now, since that universe just about appears like our personal, simply with much more superhero battles. As with final 12 months’s Deadpool & Wolverine, we’ve received a brand new MCU movie not likely set inside the MCU – this one introducing a completely new universe. We’re unsure what 12 months it’s for the First Steps gang, nevertheless it’s very probably it’s merely 2025 or thereabouts, simply in a actuality the place the visible model has stayed firmly rooted in what we’d contemplate the previous.
In the teaser we see Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby) exhibiting a visitor round their kitchen, which boasts a midcentury fashionable look that might have been proper at residence within the period when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby launched the Fantastic Four. Despite the Sixties additionally introducing Marvel mainstays like Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Daredevil and the X-Men, there’s at all times been one thing extra innately throwback concerning the FF, due to many components from the unique comics. This included going so huge (typically actually) on Reed’s unimaginable innovations, the healthful household aspect of this crew, and the concept they had been native celebrities, a lot of which is referenced within the teaser.
This might be why the thought of a interval piece Fantastic Four film has at all times sounded interesting – and certainly was the strategy director Peyton Reed, eventual director of Ant-Man, and screenwriter Mark Frost (co-creator of Twin Peaks) had been going to take with the FF when Reed was going to direct the movie again within the early 2000s. At this level, the historical past of the MCU is means too established to say the Fantastic Four had been working round New York as movie star superheroes within the Sixties, however the multiverse strategy permits the movie to nonetheless keep this sense.
First Steps’ director, Matt Shakman, already has some nice expertise doing this sort of throwback model inside the MCU, having directed each episode of the TV-era-jumping WandaVision.
Of course, as optimistic and cheerful because the Fantastic Four could be, that doesn’t imply it’s devoid of any angst, which the teaser hints at by way of the second the place Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) sadly appears at footage of himself earlier than he was remodeled, silently lamenting his incapacity to vary again to human – a core facet of the character’s plight within the supply materials.
Fantastic Four and Other Decades’ Influence
While the first aesthetic of The Fantastic Four: First Steps is impressed by the Sixties, a few components within the teaser come from later eras within the crew’s historical past.
Among a small group that features the likes of Harley Quinn and Firestar, the useful robotic H.E.R.B.I.E. stands out as a comic book guide character initially created not for the comics themselves, however for a earlier adaptation – particularly the late Nineteen Seventies animated collection, The New Fantastic Four. But whereas there was most likely some R2-D2 affect at work when H.E.R.B.I.E. debuted within the wake of Star Wars, the thought of a cute robotic buddy definitely works for the Sixties as effectively.
And then there’s the Fantastic Four costumes within the movie. The FF have virtually at all times worn some variation of a blue crew uniform, although there have been many redesigns over time. The basic Sixties fits had been darkish blue with black trim, earlier than John Byrne gave the crew their largest overhaul up to now within the Eighties, with bigger white trim changing the black.
It’s clearly the Byrne uniforms the First Steps costumes are most impressed by, albeit with some tweaks, together with the white stripes happening the arms of the costumes for The Thing and Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), whereas the Invisible Woman uniform is closest to the precise Byrne look. Here although, all the crew is carrying a a lot brighter blue than within the comics, reflecting the movie’s cheerful, upbeat vibe.
Outer Space, Dimension-Hopping and More
The teaser signifies that the Fantastic Four are already very well-known throughout the movie, somewhat than this being a simple origin story, as we see not simply their fame but additionally hear Reed say “Before we went up the primary time” when mentioning the mission to house that gave them their powers – clearly indicating they’ve been again to house since. This very a lot matches the FF’s comedian guide adventures, which steadily have them touring to different worlds, whether or not they be by way of spaceships or dimension-hopping.
And after all we all know they’ll be dealing with a decidedly huge menace from the house in First Steps by way of Galactus (performed by Ralph Ineson), an enormous cosmic entity who actually consumes worlds. The one earlier live-action depiction of Galactus, in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, infamously turned Galactus right into a cloud somewhat than an enormous human-like alien, so seeing that distinct helmet of the character right here is a good way to let comedian guide followers know we’re going to get a extra basic Galactus this time.
We don’t see the Silver Surfer within the teaser, although we all know Julia Garner is taking part in this universe’s model, who’s an alien lady referred to as Shalla-Bal. However, we do get one shot of John Malkovich, who’s taking part in a thriller character. There are a few prospects that leap to thoughts although, together with the Red Ghost, a supervillain who has an analogous look with lengthy white hair within the comics, albeit with no beard. And then there’s Philip Masters, AKA Puppet Master, the daddy to the blind Alicia Masters, the longtime love curiosity to Ben Grimm, the Thing. With each Malkovich and Natasha Lyonne in First Steps in unspecified roles, it appears like they may very well be taking part in Philip and Alicia.
To Be Continued… in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars?
Though it feels uncertain Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom could have a big function within the FF film, it additionally appears like a somewhat protected wager that the actor will a minimum of seem in a concluding scene or credit scene to introduce the character earlier than we see him play an enormous function within the subsequent two Avengers films – that are additionally going to function the Fantastic Four.
The comedian guide Secret Wars storyline includes completely different universes colliding, with Doom taking part in a central function, so it at all times made sense he’d be part of that story within the MCU. Presuming we meet him in First Steps, it’s simple sufficient to determine him as Reed’s rival in brilliance, who for some cause units out on a path that may take him – and his enemies – throughout the multiverse.
Because clearly the Fantastic Four retro universe goes to one way or the other cross over finally with the common “Sacred Timeline” of the MCU that everyone knows. If the movies observe the comics model of Secret Wars, which may be extra of a “crash into” than a “cross over”…
And although it’s understandably not getting any of the eye, it’s amusing to notice that Robert Downey Jr. isn’t the one actor who performed a well-established function within the MCU who will now be taking part in another person solely too, as Ebon Moss-Bachrach, taking part in the Thing right here, additionally performed Micro in Season 1 of The Punisher. So whereas we’re all assuming characters like Peter Parker and the Avengers will gasp seeing Victor Von Doom’s face, how about we get a scene the place Frank Castle gasps seeing The Thing grow to be Ben Grimm?
Okay, that’s most likely not a precedence…
