Family is front and centre of the latest trailer for Fantastic Four: The First Steps, featuring bonding moments sprinkled amid all the superhero action, alongside a first look at a certain someone.
The celebration of family is established in the opening scene of the clip, with Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm going, “Family — it’s about connecting to something bigger than yourself.” As baby Franklin Richards is officially revealed, she continues: “Whatever life throws at us, we’ll face it together. As a family,” and the attention turns to various displays of the group’s dynamics, including Johnny Storm (Joseph Quin, Stranger Things 4) giving The Thing a fist-bump, and the Human Torch’s quip about taking back “every single bad thing I’ve been saying about you” to Reed (Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us).
And speaking of The Thing, played by The Bear‘s Ebon Moss-Bachrach in the pic, the character finally gets time with his catchphrase from the comic books. Well, sort of — he responds with a “Oh yeah!” after Johnny yells, “Is it clobbering time?”.
It’s not all fluff, though, for two threatening forces are looming in the background: Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer, and the terrifying Galactus (Ralph Ineson, Harry Potter films), who has also been turned into a popcorn bucket (via a separate trailer).
Indeed, the greatest strength of Marvel’s first family is each other, especially since Franklin has yet to grow into the powerful reality warper with god-like abilites that he is in the comics. The mutant is expected to play a role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday film that will reunite this cast with the wider characters of the MCU, including Robert Downey Jr, who will play longtime Fantastic Four nemesis, Victor von Doom aka Dr Doom.
Fantastic Four: The First Steps marks the first live-action debut of Franklin and Shalla-Bal, the female version of the Silver Surfer portrayed by Garner. Matthew Wood, known for voicing General Grevious across various Star Wars projects, joins the cast as robot H.E.R.B.I.E, with Natasha Lyonne (Orange is the New Black), John Malkovich (In the Line of Fire), and Paul Walter-Hauser (Cobra Kai) also starring. Matt Shakman directed a screenplay written by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson.
The first film in Phase Six of the MCU is scheduled to release on 25 July.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
