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The Marvel Age of Heroes is about to begin! Yes, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has existed since 2008, and yes, the Fantastic Four have made three big screen appearances already. But Fantastic Four: First Steps feels like something special, a proper movie version of the team that launched Marvel Comics when Jack Kirby and Stan Lee introduced them in 1961.The first trailer for Fantastic Four: First Steps only further builds that anticipation, a teaser filled with big reveals and tantalizing omissions, ready for adventurers to explore. Watch it below if you havent already.There are tons of things to dig into in this trailer, from callbacks to classic Marvel lore to hints at more Fantastic Four characters than we expected. Weve broken down the trailer and found quite a few clues about the MCUs new take on Marvels First Family. Of course, let us know in the comments if we missed anything!Pedro Pascal as Reed RichardsThe trailer begins with Sue and Reed Richards leading an interviewer into the teams home, talking about the importance of the family dinners every Sunday night. The mid-Atlantic accent Pedro Pascal adopted for the character isnt quite as pronounced here as it was in a sizzle reel from last year, but he still has the paternal affect of an authority figure in the 1960s. He speaks with the confidence of the smartest man in the world, a man who would give himself the codename Mr. Fantastic.However, Pascal lets that tone soften when Reed is behind closed doors with Sue. The crisis of faith shown in the trailer reveals a key aspect of Reeds personality. Despite the fame and adoration he and his family enjoy, Reed cannot shake the guilt of his mistake, a miscalculation in their initial trip to the stars that bombarded the family with cosmic rays and transformed them forever. As if there was any doubt, Pascal demonstrates that he can play both the confidence and vulnerability that makes Reed so compelling.That said, the trailer does not include a shot of Reed using his stretchy powers, which does raise some concern. Stretch powers always look great on the page, but never look good on screen. Maybe Marvels nailed it and theyre waiting until the next trailer to show it off. Or maybe theyre still overworking VFX artists to get it to an acceptable level. Because the Fantastic Four are an optimistic franchise, well go with the former.Vanessa Kirby as Sue StormThere would be no Fantastic Four without a Kirby, so its good to see Vanessa Kirby get so much attention in the trailer. Readers and even some creators (coughStanLeecough) have treated Sue as little more than just the girl of the team, but First Steps clearly has a bigger role in mind for her.When Sue tells Reed, I am always right here, shes not just reminding the viewers that shes also a part of the team, nor is she just taking the role of supportive wife. Shes establishing herself as the true center and even leader of the team. Sue understands the strong personalities of her teammates and understands how to use them.Pair that with the invisible forcefields that she can create, which do get some play in the trailer, and its clear that Invisible Woman will be a standout of the movie.Joseph Quinn as Johnny StormJohnny Storm has always seemed like the odd man out on the Fantastic Four, a teenage kid who somehow got to hitch a ride on a rocket with his big sister and her boyfriend. In many of the Stan and Jack comics that inspire First Steps, Johnny would deal with his status by acting out, playing pranks on Ben, drag racing in his hot rods, or sulking in his room.That last part often gets forgotten in Fantastic Four adaptations (remember Chris Evans as Johnny Storm doing extreme snowboarding with Maria Menounos in the 2005 movie?), so some viewers might be surprised by Joseph Quinns sullen and awkward take in the trailer. However, the trailer also gives Johnny a big moment of flying into the sky, which suggests that hell find his place on the team, maybe even enough to shout Flame On! and make a giant flaming four in the sky.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The ThingOf course, the biggest question leading into the trailer concerned the ever-lovin, blue-eyed Thing, easily the most popular member of the team. The Things orange-rocky exterior has always been a challenge for comic book pencilers (fun fact: Kirby initially intended the skin to be scales), and even more so for VFX artists working on adaptations. Leaked set photos showed that Ebon Moss-Bachrach wore a physical suit for the Thing, but its clearly been enhanced by CG. The result is a comics-accurate look, complete with a thick brow and a stocky stature that cant even be hidden by a classy fedora and trench coat.However, the most important aspect of the Things look are always his eyes, which never let us forget the sorrowful man behind the orange rock skin. The shot of Ben staring off at the distance with grim resignation after seeing a picture of his former self proves that First Steps understands the importance of the Things eyes, blazing blue reservoirs of sadness. The brief insert shot of people in a long alleyway suggests that hes back on Yancey Street, the site of his Brooklyn home.However, purists might take some issue with the Things voice. Kirby based Ben Grimm on himself, which has led most adaptations to give him a thick Brooklyn accent, made a bit more growling when in Thing form. Moss-Bachrach uses his normal accent and voice for the character, but as anyone who has seen The Bear can attest, he knows how to bring plenty of gruffness, no cosmic rays required.First Look at the MCU Fantastic Four SuitsThe Fantastic Four have had a wide range of looks over the years, some iconic and some less so. Weve known for a while that First Steps would go with a new take on the traditional blue and white duds, opting for a more woolen look that recalls something an astronaut would wear.The trailer gives us our first look at the costumes in motion, and they look pretty great. They recall superhero costumes, as one would expect for a team of Marvel Comics characters. However, the astronaut trappings underscore an essential point about the Fantastic Four: they are explorers and scientists first, superheroes second. They dont go out on patrol to find threats to the city, nor do they solve problems by punching people in the face. Well the Thing will clobber an enemy when needed, but hes just as likely to carry something heavy as part of a larger plan.Fantastic Four as Family, Celebrities, and the Future FoundationFrom the very beginning, Stan Lee imagined the Marvel Universe as the world outside your window, where superheroes fly across the skies of New York, not just in fictional Metropolis or Gotham. While that realistic approach meant that some superheroes would be feared and hated (see: the X-Men), it also meant that some would be celebrities.That celebrity aspect is all over the First Steps trailer, from the interview Reeds hosting at the start of the trailer to the kids wearing Thing Halloween costumes. That celebrity status also plays into an element prominent in the hour-long lead-up to the trailer, which featured images of classic NASA space missions, as presented by the Future Foundation. In the comics, the Future Foundation is a think-tank that Reed established to train the next generation of scientists. In First Steps, the Foundation seems to be a public initiative to better society through inventions and education, a heroic goal in its own right.But the most important quality of the Fantastic Four is the one most prominent in the trailer. The Fantastic Four are a family, who care deeply for one another outside of their roles as superheroes or celebrities. That bond holds them together and allows them to be honest with one another, leading to lots of pranks and gripes between Johnny and Ben and the loving connection between Sue and Reed.Marvel-1No aspect of the trailer better captures the retrofuturism of the movie like the Marvel-1, the rocket ship that carries the quartet into space. The sleek looking rocket, complete with multiple boosters, comes straight from the comics, another reminder that First Steps isnt afraid to bring the page to the screen.Apropos of its name, the Marvel-1 launched not only the FF but the entire Marvel Age of comics, blazing the path that Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the Avengers followed. Sure, all of those characters have had movies, but its clear that the MCU has lost some of its luster. The Marvel-1 is ready to lead them back to glory.H.E.R.B.I.E.According to urban myth, Marvel created H.E.R.B.I.E. in the 1970s to replace the Human Torch in a Fantastic Four cartoon because they feared kids would set themselves on fire trying to emulate Johnny. Although H.E.R.B.I.E. does replace Johnny in the series, its because the Human Torch had a solo project in development and the cartoon couldnt use him (you didnt think rights restrictions started with the MCU did you?).Since his somewhat unheralded beginning, H.E.R.B.I.E. has become a regular part of the Fantastic Four family, and a perfect inclusion for the film. Unlike the sleek versions in most cartoons and comics, the H.E.R.B.I.E. of First Steps embraces an analog aesthetic, complete with reel to reel gears for eyes. Even better, H.E.R.B.I.E. and Ben seem to have a natural rapport, which might add a fun angle when the Thing and the Torch start their signature prank wars.That said, H.E.R.B.I.E. doesnt speak in the trailer, which suggests that they still havent cast his voice actor (keep holding out hope for Griffin Newman, Blankies).GalactusFirst of all, lets just celebrate the fact that Galactus is not an amorphous cloud, as he was 2007s Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer. Yes, the comics established that Galactus has no one true form and that he looks like whatever the viewer imagines. But still, all of us want to imagine the wonderful Kirby design, complete with a giant purple helmet.The helmet is really all we see of Galactus in the trailer, as the world-devourer nears the statue of liberty. But, man, does it look glorious, missing only Kirby crackles to come straight from the page.Still, it would be nice to get a bit of Ralph Inesons craggly voice saying, I hunger! With a voice like that, Galactus could look like anything and wed still love it, even if he was a giant cloud again. Okay, maybe not, but we still cant wait to hear Inesons voice come from the amazing purple Galactus we see in the trailer.Baxter BuildingBefore there was the Avengers Tower or even Stark Tower, there was the Baxter Building, a massive monument to innovation at the center of New York City. We get a couple shots of the Baxter Building in the New York skyline, and a few shots of the teams living space within. A shot of a giant chalkboard extending for Reed to write out equations perfectly melds the Space Age with the 60s setting, and reminds us that the Baxter Building exists primarily for scientific work.All of that said, we dont see the lobby area of the Baxter Building, which means we still dont know who will play Willie Lumpkin, the FFs reliable letter-carrier.Is John Malkovich Playing Ivan Kragoff, the Red Ghost?We know that Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and John Malkovich have all been cast in mystery roles, but only the last one appears in the trailer. We see one shot of a haggard Malkovich staring in awe at something in the sky.Early rumors had suggested that the movie would feature a montage of the FF defeating classic villains. Thats led people to assume that Hauser would play the Mole Man, Lyonne would play blind sculptor Alicia Masters, and Malkovich would be her malevolent father, the Puppet Master.However, that long hair Malkovich sports points to another, much weirder classic villain: the Red Ghost. Russian scientist Ivan Kragoff dedicated his life to winning the space race for Mother Russia. When that failed, he developed an army of super-apes to attack America, starting with the Fantastic Four.Not only does Malkovich look a lot like Kragoff in that shot (and he did an interesting Russian accent in Rounders), but the Red Ghost would pay homage to the Cold War politics of the 60s comics that inspired First Steps, while also bringing the space race aspect to the forefront.Is That a Fantastic-Car Prototype?!A sleek blue roadster gets prominent placement in the trailer, which is a bit surprising. Yes, the Fantastic Four do have a vehicle called the Fantastic-Car, but any comic fan will tell you that it resembles a flying bathtub more than it does anything youd see on a luxury car lot. So what the heck is that thing?Johnny was quite the grease monkey in the Lee and Kirby comics, a quality not always prominent in later stories. Given the movies emphasis on Stan and Jacks work, the car could just be one of Johnnys hot rods and nothing more. But Reed takes inspiration from everywhere, so that could be the first steps toward a proper Fantastic-Car.Where Is Julia Garners Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal?Perhaps the only revoltin development in the trailer is the lack of Julia Garner as the the Silver Surfer. Given that the shift from Norrin Radd, the male hero who usually becomes the Silver Surfer, to his girlfriend Shalla-Bal is the biggest change from the comics, people are anxious to see how the movie will handle her.Of course, any comic book nerd who recognizes the name Shalla-Bal also knows that the Silver Surfer is present in the trailer, even if we dont see her. The shot of fire in the New York sky comes directly from 1966s Fantastic Four #48, the first part of the Galactus Trilogy. So even if we cant see how the movie will portray the Surfer (spoiler: shell probably look like Julia Garner, but silver), we at least know that the Herald of Galactus brings bad tidings, as always. Photo Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for DisneyWhere Is Doctor Doom?Even more than the Silver Surfer, the biggest absence in the movie is the lack of the teams greatest enemy, Doctor Doom. Both the 2005 and 2015 movie tied Dooms origin in with the rest of the FF, even putting him on the Marvel-1 that transformed the quartet. Given that Doom will be played by Robert Downey Jr., it seems strange to exclude him from the trailer.The simplest answer to the question of Dooms absence is just that hes not cast in this movie. Downey Jr. isnt slated to make his debut as Doom until the appropriately-titled Avengers: Doomsday. Instead, First Steps will let some other baddies take the stage, and the FF have plenty to choose from.Still, none of us will be shocked if the post-credit scene features a certainly metallic visage swearing eternal vengeance against his rival RIIIIIICHARDS!Fantastic Four: First Steps releases July 25, 2025.
