Background After the critical and commercial failure of
20th Century Fox's 2015 film
Fantastic Four, co-written and directed by
Josh Trank and based on the
Marvel Comics superhero team the
Fantastic Four, Fox began looking at new directions to take the franchise. Having also produced
two earlier Fantastic Four films directed by
Tim Story a decade prior, the studio did not want to just make another
Fantastic Four film. By June 2017,
Seth Grahame-Smith was writing a new film that would shift focus to
Franklin and
Valeria Richards, the children of the original Fantastic Four leaders
Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic and
Sue Storm / Invisible Woman. Taking inspiration from the comic book series
Ultimate Fantastic Four (2004–2009), the screenplay included original Fantastic Four members
Ben Grimm / The Thing and
Johnny Storm / Human Torch, and was described as kid-centric with a tone closer to the animated film
The Incredibles (2004) than Trank's darker film. The basis of Grahame-Smith's screenplay came from a separate script that Carter Blanchard had written as an adaptation of the children's book
Kindergarten Heroes by
Mark Millar. Millar previously consulted with Fox on their Marvel-based films. In July 2017,
Noah Hawley, the creator of the
Marvel Television series
Legion (2017–2019), was hired to develop
a separate film focused on
Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four's primary antagonist in the comics and previous films.
The Walt Disney Company officially
acquired 21st Century Fox in March 2019 and gained the film rights for the Marvel Comics characters that Fox controlled for its subsidiary
Marvel Studios, including the Fantastic Four. The Marvel-based films that Fox had been developing were placed "on hold".
Development at
San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019, where he confirmed that development had begun|alt=Picture of producer Kevin Feige in 2019 Marvel Studios president
Kevin Feige confirmed in July 2019 that the company was developing a new Fantastic Four film for their
shared universe, the
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Feige said he was excited about the characters and about "bringing Marvel's first family up to the sort of platform and level they deserve", wanting them to take their rightful place within the "pantheon of Marvel heroes" and bring the importance they had in the comic books like those that had inspired the MCU, such as
Jim Starlin's "
The Infinity Gauntlet" (1991) and
Mark Millar's "
Civil War" (2006–2007) storylines, which included the Fantastic Four but whose MCU adaptations did not because of the film rights issues at the time. In December 2020, Feige announced that
Jon Watts would direct the film after doing so for the
first three MCU Spider-Man films (2017–2021). Marvel Studios began meeting with writers by February 2021. That June, Disney CEO
Bob Chapek said Feige and Marvel Studios were planning to "mine" the
Fantastic Four franchise. Watts stepped down as director in April 2022, choosing to take a break from the superhero genre after being "out of gas" from dealing with the COVID-19 protocols on
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and its post-production process; he chose to direct the film
Wolfs (2024) instead.
Grant Curtis and Nick Pepin were producing the new
Fantastic Four film after working on the Marvel Studios miniseries
Moon Knight (2022).
John Krasinski portrays
Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic in the MCU film
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Krasinski had been a popular suggestion for the role among fans for some time, and rumors that he had been cast as Reed had especially circulated since confirmation of the new film's development. The version of the character that he plays in
Multiverse of Madness is from
Earth-838, an alternate universe to the main MCU, and is a member of the
Illuminati.
Multiverse of Madness director
Sam Raimi said Feige cast Krasinski as the character because it was for an alternate universe
cameo appearance that was also an opportunity to deliver on a popular fan casting. This led to speculation about whether Krasinski's role was a one-off or if he would return to star in the new
Fantastic Four film. Krasinski later said he appreciated the role, but there had been no discussions about him reprising it. Marvel Studios was searching for a new director by June 2022, when the studio was not close to shortening their list of candidates. The list reportedly included high-profile filmmakers, and Feige was said to be looking for a director who could oversee the filming process without him needing to be on set, similar to Raimi. At
San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) the next month, Feige announced that the film would be released on November 8, 2024, as the first film in
Phase Six of the MCU. Filming was set to begin in 2023.
Matt Shakman was in early talks to direct by late August. He and
Michael Matthews were considered the finalists in a search that also considered
Reid Carolin.
Deadline Hollywood said Shakman was the person to beat given his familiarity with Feige after directing the Marvel Studios miniseries
WandaVision (2021). Shakman's
pitch to Marvel Studios involved telling a family-centric story of the Fantastic Four, with Reed and Sue becoming parents after they were well-known superheroes; executives were convinced Shakman was the best choice after he showed a picture of him holding his newly born daughter in a meeting while negotiating. Shakman subsequently exited a
planned Star Trek film due to the schedule for
Fantastic Four, choosing to work on the latter because he did not want to pass up the opportunity and was excited by its focus on family, optimism, and technology. Feige confirmed that Shakman would direct at Disney's
D23 convention in September. Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer were writing the script with Feige for some time before Shakman's hiring. The four were set to align their visions for the film while Feige and Shakman began casting. In October, the release date was pushed back to February 14, 2025.
Pre-production Casting start and search during the 2023 labor strikes was hired to direct the film by September 2022.|alt=Picture of director Matt Shakman in 2023 Casting for the
Fantastic Four began by February 2023, with a focus on casting the role of
Sue Storm / Invisible Woman first. Shakman said the casting process was the biggest challenge because they wanted to find actors who could convey the team's family dynamics. Feige said the group would be a big pillar in the MCU moving forward, and the studio had "set a very high bar for ourselves" in wanting to live up to the group's long history in the comics going back to 1961.
Josh Friedman was hired to rewrite the script at the end of March. Borys Kit of
The Hollywood Reporter believed Friedman's hiring indicated a possible tonal shift, because he had written many science fiction projects while Kaplan and Springer were known more for comedy. Journalist
Jeff Sneider reported that Friedman was hired to bring the film closer to Feige and Shakman's vision to heavily feature cosmic elements from the 1960s comic books, including the characters
Galactus and
Silver Surfer. Shakman noted that previous Fantastic Four adaptations combined an
origin story for the team with Doctor Doom, a character who "takes up a lot of air", as the villain. By avoiding a re-telling of the origin story—the film begins four years after the team gains their powers—and using Galactus as the antagonist, he felt they were bringing a fresh perspective to the film. Feige said the decision to avoid re-telling the origin story was similar to how the MCU introduced
Peter Parker / Spider-Man without retelling his well-known origin story. Another difference is the introduction of Reed and Sue's son Franklin, who was not included in previous film adaptations. Sneider reported that
Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom could have a small role such as an appearance in a
post-credits scene, and Marvel Studios wanted a major star to play the character. By the start of the
2023 Writers Guild of America strike in May, filming was planned to begin in January 2024 in London. Sneider reported that Marvel Studios wanted
Adam Driver and
Emma Stone to portray Reed and Sue, but they both declined offers in part because the studio did not want to pay the high salaries they asked for; Sneider said Feige wanted to contain the studio's talent spending. In June, the release date was pushed back to May 2, 2025. Before the start of the
2023 SAG-AFTRA strike in July, Marvel Studios held
screen tests for Reed with several actors, including
Christopher Abbott and
Jamie Dornan, which Sneider said "did go very well". The studio offered the role to
Jake Gyllenhaal, who portrayed
Quentin Beck / Mysterio in the MCU film
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), but he also asked for a salary that Marvel did not want to pay. They were considering non-white actors for Reed and
Pedro Pascal became interested, though he would not engage in conversations during the strike. In August,
Ebon Moss-Bachrach was offered the role of
Ben Grimm / The Thing, after playing
David Lieberman / Micro in the
first season of the MCU television series
The Punisher (2017). Marvel Studios was committed to casting a Jewish actor like Moss-Bachrach as the Thing, who is depicted as Jewish in the comics but was not portrayed by Jewish actors in the previous
Fantastic Four films.
David Krumholtz met with Shakman about the role after campaigning for it online, but was unsuccessful. He began campaigning to portray the villain
Harvey Elder / Mole Man instead. Sneider reported that Marvel Studios was looking at
Vanessa Kirby and
Joseph Quinn to portray Sue and her brother
Johnny Storm / Human Torch.
Nicholas Galitzine was also rumored to be portraying Johnny and had conversations about the role. Marvel approached
Matt Smith about portraying Reed, but that was not expected to work out, and they were instead looking for "a
bona fide movie star".
Tom Ellis was also asked to audition for the role. A Latino actor was expected to be hired as Galactus. In October 2023, Shakman said they planned to start filming in early 2024 at
Pinewood Studios in England, and the cast would be announced once the SAG-AFTRA strike ended. During the strikes, the crew worked on production design and early tests of the visual effects for the team's abilities.
Kasra Farahani returned as production designer from the Marvel Studios series
Loki (2021–2023) and
Alexandra Byrne returned as costume designer from several MCU films. The team's costumes are pale blue with white necklines, similar to designs introduced in the comics with
Fantastic Four vol. 1 #256 (1983) and those worn in
Roger Corman's
unreleased Fantastic Four film (1994). The filmmakers chose to embrace
Jack Kirby's line design from the comics, and worked with the production designer to get more Kirby designs into shots and backgrounds, such as in Galactus's helmet.
Post-labor strikes and cast announcement Following the conclusion of the actors' strike in November 2023, Pascal entered talks to portray Reed and was negotiating his schedule around other commitments. Marvel Studios was expected to make offers for the other lead roles soon after, having deemed it essential to find the actor for Reed first. According to Shakman, Reed was the most difficult role to cast. Moss-Bachrach was the first actor officially cast in the film. Quinn sought advice on the film from Pascal during the production of their film
Gladiator II (2024), not knowing that Pascal was in talks to play Reed. Pascal had not planned to take on such a role and said the film changed his plans "in a very sudden way".
Javier Bardem was being eyed to portray Galactus after
Antonio Banderas was linked to the character, though Bardem had a potential scheduling conflict with the film
F1 (2025). Sneider reported that the studio was looking to cast a woman as Silver Surfer, who is usually the male character Norrin Radd. In January 2024, Sneider reported that filming had been delayed to a start between July and September, causing Pascal to exit his role in the film
Weapons (2025). On February 14, 2024, Marvel Studios released a
Valentine's Day–themed announcement that confirmed the casting of Pascal as Reed, Kirby as Sue, Quinn as Johnny, and Moss-Bachrach as the Thing. The film, officially titled
The Fantastic Four, was delayed to July 25, 2025, swapping places with the MCU film
Thunderbolts*. Feige said "90 percent of the work was done" by confirming the main cast. The announcement's promotional art included the December 13, 1963, issue of
Life magazine with
Lyndon B. Johnson on the cover, indicating a 1960s setting, and Pascal referenced 1960s songs from
the Beatles when sharing the promotional art on
social media. The announcement also revealed the inclusion of the comic book character
H.E.R.B.I.E., a robot companion to the Fantastic Four. Feige later confirmed that the film would be a 1960s
period piece, but indicated that it would be set in an alternate universe from the main MCU within the
multiverse; it is set on
Earth-828. Setting the story in an alternate universe was "very freeing" and one of the film's earliest ideas. The decision came about due to Shakman acknowledging that the source material's comic books were created by Jack Kirby and
Stan Lee in the 1960s back when people dreamed about the stars and the unknown, wanting to put them "closer to their point of origin", and because Shakman did not want a
plot hole in regards to where the titular team may have been when
Thanos attacked and
killed most of the heroes in
Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Shakman called it a "
retro-future '60s" aesthetic, "part what you know from the '60s, but part what you've never seen". He looked to the optimism of the
Space Race and ideas of future space travelers that people had in the 1960s when the comics were first written. Shakman stated, "I really wanted to take all of that great stuff from
Apollo 11 and just imagine that instead of
Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin, it was the Storms and Ben Grimm and Reed Richards heading off into space". He studied all of the Fantastic Four comics, from their original creation up to present day, and took particular inspiration from
Jonathan Hickman's 2009–2011 run for how to approach the main characters. The film includes the
Future Foundation philanthropic organization from Hickman's run. Shakman was also inspired by
Stanley Kubrick's film
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and the works of industrial designer and artist
Syd Mead. He said his work on the television series ''
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present) helped inform his approach to the film's playfulness, collaboration, and improvisation. Also in February 2024, Sneider reported that Bardem was the studio's top choice for Galactus; they had begun meeting with actors for Silver Surfer; and Doctor Doom would be cast during filming.
Eric Pearson, who had a reputation for "taking projects over the finish line" for Marvel Studios, had been "quietly hired" to polish the script. In April,
Julia Garner was cast as
Shalla-Bal / Silver Surfer. In the comics, Shalla-Bal is the love interest of Norrin Radd and she becomes the Silver Surfer herself in the 1999–2000
Earth-X limited series by
Jim Krueger and
John Paul Leon. Justin Kroll of
Deadline Hollywood reported that no actors held an offer or were in talks for Galactus at that time.
WandaVision writer Peter Cameron had contributed to the script by the following month. Several actors joined the cast in May, including
Paul Walter Hauser who was cast as
Harvey Elder / Mole Man reportedly for a sequence at the beginning of the film. Hauser worked with Shakman on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
and met with him to discuss joining The Fantastic Four
. He was initially reluctant due to the poor reception of the previous Fantastic Four
films, but was won over by the script, cast, and crew. John Malkovich was cast as Ivan Kragoff / Red Ghost, after declining offers for previous Marvel films because he felt the proposed pay was not equal to the work involved. He chose to accept a role in this film to work with Shakman again after the film Cut Bank (2014). Ralph Ineson was cast as Galactus, after appearing as a Ravager pilot in the MCU film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014); Sneider posited that Marvel chose Ineson for his voice acting proficiency, not wanting for another A-list actor after failing to pull Bardem due to the scheduling difficulties. Natasha Lyonne also joined the cast, after voicing the original MCU character Byrdie the Duck in the third season of the Marvel Studios animated series What If...?'' (2024). Three weeks of rehearsals were held with the actors to work through the script with Shakman and Friedman to help define their relationships to one another and how they would exist in their 1960s retro-futuristic setting. Discussing these rehearsals, Pascal explained that it allowed the actors to approach the script "dramaturgically as you would a play" while Moss-Bachrach, who believed the script was not completed yet, said it allowed them to share research and consult with astronauts and scientists. At the end of June 2024, Feige said filming would begin at the end of July. A few days of pre-filming occurred before SDCC in late July, capturing footage of an astronaut preparation area, the Thing as a contestant on a
dating game show titled ''Let's Make a Match'', and a children's science show hosted by Reed titled
Fantastic Science with Mister Fantastic. At the convention, the film's new title was announced to be
The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The subtitle references the film's ideas of optimism and space exploration, but Shakman said it also has additional meanings. This led to speculation about what those meanings could be. Also at SDCC, the main cast were revealed to be reprising their roles in the MCU
crossover films
Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and
Avengers: Secret Wars (2027), and
Robert Downey Jr. was announced to be portraying Doctor Doom in those two films. Feige wanted Downey to return to the MCU, after he portrayed
Tony Stark / Iron Man in the franchise from 2008 to 2019, and had discussed the actor taking on the role of Doom around a year before the SDCC announcement. Sneider reported that Doom would be introduced in a post-credits scene at the end of
First Steps ahead of Downey's appearances in the
Avengers films. Shakman said he knew about Downey's casting for a while before the announcement, but he later said Doctor Doom was "not a part of [his] film, and therefore not a part of [his] purview". Feige later added that the events of
First Steps would lead directly into the story of
Doomsday.
Filming Principal photography began on July 30, 2024, at Pinewood Studios in
Buckinghamshire, England, under the
working title Blue Moon. The film was shot for
IMAX, with
Jess Hall returning from
WandaVision as cinematographer. Filming was originally reported to be starting in 2023, and then early 2024, before the strikes. Shakman wanted the film to look as if it were made by Kubrick in 1965, including with its camera lens choices and general "approach to filmmaking".
Second unit director of photography Tim Wooster used his father's
16 mm film camera for some sequences. Practical sets and props were employed where possible. The team's
Baxter Building penthouse was a two-story contiguous set inspired by "cozy"
mid-century modern California homes. Reed's lab, inspired by
2001: A Space Odyssey, is divided into three sections: a red room for research and inventions, a yellow room with blackboards for thinking, and a blue room with communications equipment for monitoring. A fictionalized version of New York's
Yancy Street was built based on how the city's Jewish areas looked during the childhood of Fantastic Four co-creator Jack Kirby, including
kosher grocery stores and a
synagogue. Pinewood's entire
backlot was used for the film's
Times Square set. Practical props included a
scale model of the Fantastic Four's spaceship, the
Excelsior, to create a
miniature effect; H.E.R.B.I.E., realized through a combination of a wooden puppet, a remote-controlled
animatronic that had a functioning head and arms, and visual effects; and two models of the team's
Fantasticar, one that allowed for interior filming with the actors and another that was "stripped down" for use in effects shots. Farahani said the Fantasticar was based on "mid-'60s American concept cars that were actually referencing European cars". Its accent features, such as its turbine intakes and interface controls, have a 1950s "retrofuture" look.
Location shooting occurred at
Durdle Door in
Dorset, England, in mid-October. Lyonne finished filming her scenes later that month. In mid-November,
Sarah Niles was revealed to have been cast. Filming took place from November 19–22 at the
Palace of Congresses in
Oviedo, Spain, for scenes set at the
headquarters of the United Nations. Filming also took place in the
Middleton mine in
Derbyshire Dales, England, and
wrapped at the end of November.
Post-production Nona Khodai and Tim Roche edited the film. In April 2025,
Mark Gatiss was revealed to be appearing as
Ted Gilbert, the talk show host of
The Ted Gilbert Show. A month later, sound designer
Matthew Wood was revealed to be the voice of H.E.R.B.I.E. Additional photography occurred by then, including to add a sequence where Shalla-Bal's backstory is shown. Shakman said the character's role had evolved throughout the writing process, and he came to feel during post-production that her backstory—in which she chooses to give herself to Galactus to save her planet and family—was reflective of the film's themes and the Fantastic Four's choices. Shakman decided that the backstory should be seen by the audience. The film's final screenwriting credits were determined through arbitration with the
Writers Guild of America, with the screenplay attributed to Friedman, Pearson, Kaplan, and Springer from a story by Pearson, Kaplan, Springer, and Kat Wood. Pearson's work on the film included moving the birth of Reed and Sue's son,
Franklin Richards, from the beginning of the film to during the team's space escape from Galactus in the middle of the film, along with moving the final fight against Galactus from space to Earth to highlight Galactus' scale. He also worked on Johnny researching and unlocking Shalla-Bal's language, with his drafts having more "flirtatious" moments between the two than what was in the final film. In July 2025, Shakman revealed that Malkovich's role as Red Ghost had been cut from the film and said this was a "heartbreaking" decision to make. Shakman explained that Red Ghost was originally planned to be introduced in a sequence at the beginning of the film that chronicles the Fantastic Four's early years as superheroes; this would have included a battle against Red Ghost and his
Super-Apes. After this, Red Ghost would have returned in the
climax for a scene that initially depicted him destroying Reed's teleportation bridges, although Red Ghost was replaced by Shalla-Bal in that scene for the final cut of the film because Shakman felt "it just made more sense to have [Shalla-Bal] come back. It stayed more on story with the antagonist we knew, and were spending the most time with." Shakman praised Malkovich's performance in the role, but said his scenes were some of many that were cut to help balance the introduction of the Fantastic Four as a group and individually, their world, and the various other villains in the film. Although Malkovich was cut, the film retains a brief cameo appearance by a
cartoon version of Red Ghost in the post-credits scene as part of an in-universe animated series titled
The Fantastic Four: Power Hour, which also features the villains
Diablo,
Dragon Man,
Mad Thinker,
Puppet Master, and
Wizard. Additional characters appearing in the film include the Super-Apes orangutan member
Peotor and the ginormous
Subterranean creature
Giganto. Leading up to the film's release, several actors' roles were revealed, including infant actor Ada Scott as Franklin Richards, Hauser as Mole Man, Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Lyonne as Rachel Rozman. The stars of the unreleased 1994 film
The Fantastic Four–
Alex Hyde-White,
Rebecca Staab,
Jay Underwood, and
Michael Bailey Smith–were also revealed to be appearing, making cameo appearances throughout the film. The film's
mid-credits scene introduces Downey as Doctor Doom and was filmed by
Doomsday directors
Anthony and Joe Russo during
the production of that film. Shakman said the Russos visited the sets for
First Steps during its production and watched scenes from the film, as they wanted to familiarize themselves with the Fantastic Four and the other characters "so they could treat them well, do right by them" in
Doomsday. The film ends with a quote from Jack Kirby, and the reveal that the universe designation of 828 was based on his birthday: August 28, 1917. The film is dedicated to producer Jamie Christopher, who died during
pre-production, and Shakman's mother Inez.
Scott Stokdyk was the visual effects supervisor, with visual effects provided by
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM),
Framestore,
Sony Pictures Imageworks,
Digital Domain,
Rise FX, and
Wētā FX. There were 2,015 visual effect shots in the final cut of the film, of which Framestore worked on 417 and Digital Domain on 400. ILM worked on the scenes featuring Galactus; Framestore worked on scenes such as the destruction of planet LHS-275 by Galactus's worldship and the Silver Surfer chase sequence, the latter featuring a
neutron star that was based on the films
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and
Interstellar (2014); Imageworks worked on the scenes featuring the Silver Surfer; Digital Domain worked on the scenes featuring H.E.R.B.I.E. and Franklin; and the others collaborated on the remaining scenes in the film. Much of the New York City shots had buildings built after the 1960s replaced with retro-futuristic buildings. The practical Galactus suit that Ineson wore was scanned, with ILM increasing the resolution of the model for close-up shots. Additionally, ILM, Framestore, and Digital Domain worked on different scenes featuring the Thing, with Digital Domain also creating nine different life-sized Thing costumes. == Music ==