Fantastic Four Ticket Announcement Trailer Focuses on Family and the Thing
Marvel is making one last push to sell The Fantastic Four: First Steps to fans amid some bad reports from test screenings. Tickets for the next MCU movie are on sale now, and Marvel announced the start of business for First Steps with a new trailer emphasizing the family aspect of the team. The Fantastic Four: First Steps will bring Marvel’s first superhero team into the MCU through an alternate universe in which the Four exist in an ultramodern version of the 1960s. First Steps finds the team’s family expanding as they are forced to take on Galactus, a cosmic being who consumes worlds and has his sights set on Earth. Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach play the Fantastic Four – Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm/the Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/the Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/the Thing, respectively – with Ralph Ineson as Galactus and Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer, plus John Malkovich, Paul Walter Hauser, and Natasha Lyonne in undisclosed roles. Directed by Matt Shakman, who helmed every episode of WandaVision, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will arrive in theaters on July 25, 2025. You can see the Fantastic Four ticket announcement trailer below:
This trailer seems to be designed to counter some of the recent test screening leaks and criticisms, which makes me think they’re probably more accurate than some would have you believe. For example, one of the major causes of consternation was the story that Sue Storm would be the lead of the movie, with the other three members of the Four relegated to supporting roles, with the Thing specifically being mentioned as getting lost in the shuffle. If this is true, it’s a big mistake; why would you sideline the most popular character? But look who’s front and center in the thumbnail for the ticket announcement: Mrs. Grimm’s Blue-Eyed Boy. It’s like they’re trying to assure everyone – erroneously or otherwise – that the Thing will be a big part of the film. (It also didn’t escape my notice that they downplayed the female Silver Surfer this time.) And whatever the size of his role may be, I do love that shot; again, they’re invoking the classic Stan Lee and Jack Kirby run with the Thing flying the Fantasticar. Despite all my worries, I love the look of this film, and if nothing else, we’ll at least see a take on Kirby’s New York. There’s also an emphasis on family, with Sue talking about the importance of togetherness, Reed assuring the world that a united Fantastic Four will protect them, and some suggestions of in-the-field teamwork. I like this, and I hope there’s enough of it to tip the movie’s scales to the right side.
However, my worries about The Fantastic Four: First Steps persist. If this ticket announcement really is a response to the test screening leaks, then it smacks of damage control, which means the leaks were almost certainly true, and that’s bad news. I don’t want to see Reed, Johnny, and Ben sidelined so girl power can save the world again. I also think they’re jumping ahead in the Four’s history too fast, with Galactus already a threat and Franklin Richards born; these are elements of their lore that should be built to rather than used in their first movie (in this continuity). I imagine they’re moving quickly with Franklin Richards because he’ll be important in Avengers: Secret Wars, and that makes it feel like the Fantastic Four were shoved into the MCU to accommodate that film, much like their arch-nemesis, Doctor Doom. The Thing continues to give me the wrong vibe, and his tone of voice and the things he says worry me that they didn’t get his character right. He’s a little too friendly and positive, not the gruff loudmouth whose anger masks his insecurity like he’s supposed to be. Johnny giving Reed a hard time is more in line with how the dynamics are supposed to be, although his jab at Reed feels a little forced instead of a quick, funny joke But we’ll see; regardless of my bad feelings, I hope The Fantastic Four: First Steps defies expectations and turns out to be a fun and heartfelt movie that does justice to its heroes, just like I hope Superman is a modern classic befitting its legendary namesake. But I won’t feel secure in those hopes until I see the movies.
Let us know what you think of the ticket announcement for The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the comments!
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