In 2024, CinemaBlend was invited to London to visit the set of Matt Shakman’s anticipated The Fantastic Four: First Steps. And when embarking on that journey, I truly didn’t know what to expect. Marvel Studios has done a decent job of keeping the details of the movie under wraps, though we’ve been able to determine that it will take place in an alternate universe that is not Earth-616 (the timeline of the main MCU). It was not going to build on the Reed Richards that we met in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (sorry, John Krasinski).
And it would have absolutely no connection to either of the pre-existing Fantastic Four franchises that existed over at 20th Century Fox. This would be a brand new take on Marvel’s First Family. But what would it look like? The trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps gave fans some indication, showing off The Baxter Building, the digital effects being used to create Ben Grimm (Eben Moss-Bacharach), but practical takes on The Fantasti-Car and HERBIE the robot.
These elements helped to make the film seem more real. And after visiting the sets, and touring some of the locations that they built for this movie, I can tell you that the promise of a “massive” Fantastic Four adventure is real. Marvel knows that this movie needs to succeed on an unprecedented level to help lure fans back into the MCU. But they also think the Fantastic Four is an under-explored galaxy that is ripe for original storytelling.
How original? So original that when the movie’s co-producer Grant Curtis spoke about the approach to these classic characters, he kind of came up with his own term, which he felt fit the family to a tee. Curtis told CinemaBlend:
It's a very interesting word when you go back and you look at the history of the Fantastic Four. I think I used it earlier when they described themselves as Imagin-auts. Their world, their universe, their galaxy was massive. And I think to do them justice, you have to look at that Imagin-auts word, and just see where that can play out on a grander scale than what we've seen in the past. Because I think that is how you do the Fantastic Four justice, is when you take away the boundaries and you just look at what their world, their universe, their galaxy was in the narrative. Looking at it from that lens that Matt Shakman led the charge on really helped us figure out that there kind of are no boundaries. That really helps set that tone.
Anyone who has read the Fantastic Four comics over the years knows that their adventures often took them to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, and away from Earth as often as they were on it. Previous Fantastic Four movies may have explored the concept of The Negative Zone, but not to any extent that would satisfy the most curious FF fans.
The excuse has been made that those movies were made outside of the creative parameters of the MCU. But now, Marvel Studios owns the rights to the characters. And so we’re all looking at The Fantastic Four: First Steps as the team’s first true steps into the Marvel Universe, and Grant Curtis emphasized that Kevin Feige’s not throwing away his shot.
Curtis told CinemaBlend on the Fantastic Four set:
Kevin [Feige] more than anyone … really wanted to continue to do those characters justice and, as we talked earlier, put them on the Mount Rushmore of the MCU that they've never been on. It goes back to what I just said. The only way you can do that is to take off any handcuffs. … That's also kind of what we all do for a living, is try to tell the biggest, coolest narrative possible on a fiscally responsible scale. And we've been able to do that.
I can back this up. While visiting the London sets of The Fantastic Four, we actually got to tour physical, constructed sets of: The 1960s Times Square, with storefronts for all sorts of cool shops, restaurants, movie theaters, and more; the family’s residence inside the Baxter Building, which included the living room, kitchen, bedrooms, and more; Reed Richards’ massive laboratory, which was broken up into three distinct segments and showcased several hints and clues as to the family’s previous battles and adversaries; and also Yancy Street, the infamous neighborhood of surly New Yorker Ben Grimm.
We learned on set that day that Yancy Street is the same street build used by Deadpool and Wolverine in this unforgettable Deadpool Corps sequence, just dressed differently:
Standing on these locations, and having them be tangible spots that were created for the purpose of this film, help immerse you in this unique environment that’s being designed specifically for The Fantastic Four. As a lifelong comic book fanatic, I can’t tell you how important it actually was for me to stand on Yancy Street, and in the Fantastic Four’s living room in The Baxter Building. It’s going to help build the world of this alternate universe.
Which is what Grant Curtis referred back to when I asked him, as part of the Fantastic Four: First Steps set visit, what the biggest takeaway from the shoot has been. And Curtis explained
The value of planting your flag, and then feeding everything into that. Because as we talked earlier, Matt Shakman the ‘60s optimism, Kubrick and Kirby, and just embracing those aesthetics, all of a sudden – everything doesn't fall in naturally around it, but all of a sudden, those pieces come together more easily. If that's proper English, I don't know. But it truly is having a director who says, ‘This is what I want to do,’ and think, ‘Oh man, that really makes sense.’ And having that echo what Stan (Lee) and Jack (Kirby) were doing 60 years ago, which is also mirroring what Kevin Feige was wanting to see. That's been the most interesting, for lack of a better term, for me.
Will it all work? We are going to find out soon enough. Marvel is putting a lot of eggs into the basket of the upcoming MCU movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and we assume this will establish the path that is going to lead fans directly to the return of Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Doomsday.
Look for The Fantastic Four in a theater near you on July 25, with tickets now available for presale.
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