Photo by Noah Washington/The Atlanta Voice
There is only one word to describe Marvel Studios’ latest superhero entry, “Fantastic Four: First Steps”: Fun. The film’s retro-futuristic charm was brought to Atlantic Station on Wednesday, July 23, as “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” held its Atlanta premiere ahead of its nationwide release.
The film, set against a vibrant 1960s-inspired backdrop, introduces Marvel’s First Family to theaters nationwide Friday. Pedro Pascal portrays Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic alongside Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing.
Director Matt Shakman, no stranger to period pieces, having directed episodes of AMC’s “Mad Men” and the Marvel series “WandaVision,” helmed the family-oriented action-adventure. The film follows the already in-universe established superhero team balancing their roles as heroes with family bonds while defending Earth from Galactus, a planet-devouring cosmic entity portrayed by Ralph Ineson. Julia Garner stars as Shalla-Bal, Galactus’ seemingly all-powerful herald.
Attendees of the Atlanta Station screening were given a Fantastic Four-inspired lunch pail, viewfinder, poster, and baseball cap.
The Fantastic Four first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1961, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. The team became known as Marvel’s “First Family” and helped launch the Marvel Universe, introducing concepts like cosmic threats and complex family dynamics that would define superhero storytelling for generations. The characters were among Marvel’s earliest successes, paving the way for Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Avengers.
The film marks the fourth attempt at bringing the Fantastic Four to the big screen, following Roger Corman’s unreleased 1994 version, Tim Story’s two films in 2005 and 2007, and Josh Trank’s critically panned 2015 reboot. After Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, Marvel Studios regained the film rights to the characters. This version distinguishes itself by skipping the team’s origin story and beginning four years after they gained their powers. The film draws heavy inspiration from the optimistic space-age aesthetic of the 1960s, when the original comics were created during the height of the Space Race.
Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles round out the supporting cast in the film produced by Kevin Feige and executive produced by Louis D’Esposito, Grant Curtis, and Tim Lewis. Jon Watts, fresh off directing the successful Spider-Man trilogy for the studio, was originally tapped to helm the project in December 2020. However, Watts stepped down in April 2022, citing burnout from superhero filmmaking after dealing with COVID-19 protocols during “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and choosing to take a break from the genre.
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is the opening film of Phase Six in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The characters will appear in the upcoming crossover films Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
The film opens nationwide on Friday, July 25.