Kevin Feige Sets Even Higher Expectations for ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’

Even before The Fantastic Four: First Steps became the final full Marvel Studios movie until December 2026, it was already an incredibly big deal. These are some of Marvel’s most popular and recognizable characters. A team that Hollywood has been toying with in various ways for two decades and had been untouchable to Marvel for much of that—until now. In a new interview, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige set the bar even higher by comparing this film to previous, less-than-successful iterations.

“I think that there are no four characters that are more important for the history of Marvel,” Feige said to Empire. “When Disney bought Fox, it was really an unexpected dream come true. It came at the perfect time to help us launch into a new era. They are Marvel’s First Family, and I really wanted to do them justice.”

Which, of course, implies the previous films didn’t do the characters justice. Feige actually produced two of those films, 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and offered a hint as to what those films didn’t do and what this new one does.

“There was still a bit of fear of being silly,” Feige said. But now, after decades of superhero movies, First Steps can finally go to places those movies never dared.

“In another time, some might consider the notion of somebody with a big, angular helmet walking through a city goofy,” he continued, speaking of the film’s villain, Galactus. “I consider it awesome.”

As do we. But the Fantastic Four kind of have to be more than awesome. It’s a property that’s on another level. A group on the top tier of Marvel. Bringing them into the MCU is on par with Spider-Man finally being introduced in Captain America: Civil War or Deadpool and Wolverine joining forces last year in Deadpool & Wolverine. Will this film be as popular and impactful as those? The team’s tease at the end of Thunderbolts has already hinted it may. And, thankfully, we won’t have to wait much longer to find out.

Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach star as Marvel’s first family in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which opens July 25.

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