Details of the much-anticipated reboot of Marvel Studio’s Fantastic Four are finally seeing the light of day. President Kevin Feige confirmed that the movie will embrace a 1960s setting in an alternate universe, with filming set to commence at the end of July.
“The day after Comic-Con [International: San Diego] is the first day of filming on Fantastic Four,” Feige stated during the debut episode of Marvel’s new podcast series, The Official Marvel Podcast.
He also commended the keen observations made by fans who speculated the new setting even before the official announcement towards the back half of the podcast. Theories of the reboot’s setting first came from a poster sporting a retro design in the announcement of The Fantastic Four cast, where fans had spotted discrepancies in the depicted cityscape as compared to 1960s New York.
“Absolutely, it’s set in the ’60s,” Feige affirmed. “There were a lot of smart people, who noticed that that cityscape didn’t look exactly like the New York that we know, or that existed in the ’60s in our world. Those are smart observations, I’ll say.” Feige applauded.
This upcoming film will be the first time The Fantastic Four officially enters the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), though the characters have been previously portrayed in films produced by 20th Century Fox, including the 2005 version Fantastic Four and its sequels. The MCU introduction comes after a brief appearance by an alternate version of Mister Fantastic, portrayed by John Krasinski (A Quiet Place, Jack Ryan), in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
In the podcast, Feige expressed his enthusiasm about integrating these iconic characters into the MCU. “I’m extremely excited by it because I think those characters are mainstays, are legendary pillars of the Marvel Universe that we’ve never gotten to play with or explore in a significant way outside of Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness and a few fun teases before, in the way that we’re doing it in that film. So I’m extremely excited for that.”
Directed by Matt Shakman (Cut Bank, WandaVision), the upcoming reboot features Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us) portraying Reed Richards or Mister Fantastic, and Vanessa Kirby (The Crown, Pieces of a Woman) bring to life Sue Storm or The Invisible Woman. Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, Catherine the Great) will be taking up the mantle of Johnny Storm or The Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, Andor) has been tapped for the role of Ben Grimm or The Thing.
Additionally, Julia Garner (The Assistant, The Royal Hotel) will appear as The Silver Surfer and Ralph Ineson (Chernobyl, The Green Knight) as Galactus. John Malkovich (Death of a Salesman), Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll), and Paul Walter Hauser (Cruella) will also be featured in the film, albeit in yet undisclosed roles.
More of Kevin Feige’s interview can be heard on the The Official Marvel Podcast, available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and other platforms.
Fantastic Four is slated to hit theaters on 25 July 2025.
Kaylyn is usually geeking out over gacha games or the latest updates in a manga, and can talk all day about them. She’s also an avid collector, and really needs more space to store her game merchandise, utaite CDs and manga books.
Trinity Sun
Natalie
