Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps will be dropping its first trailer soon, as evidenced by a new “launch countdown” site that has a countdown clock leading to the debut of the first trailer for the movie, which will happen on Tuesday, February 4th. As the world waits to see what the first footage from Fantastic Four: First Steps looks like, there is a lot of discussion bubbling about what this film – more so than any Marvel Cinematic Universe movie before it – has to do to overcome the past. The fact is that this will be the third version of a Fantastic Four movie franchise that audiences have gotten since 2005, and the previous two were far from being loved by fans.
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Below is a list of major bullet point items that Marvel Studios needs to check off to ensure that this Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer is a success. Hopefully when the trailer drops, this will become a list of all the things Marvel Studios got right…
The Setting
Fantastic Four: First Steps will be set in an alternate version of the 1960s-era MCU. That story choice frees First Steps from many of the usual burdens that come with telling stories within an interconnected franchise universe; however, it’s also a massive risk, if fans don’t buy into the new reality the film is introducing.
Director Matt Shakman managed to sell Marvel fans on multiple throwback eras of the MCU, aping every decade of sitcom television to create the various episodes of WandaVision. That said, Fantastic Four: First Steps won’t just be a retro-era story, it will be a story set in a very different version of Earth (think The Jetsons), which will need to be introduced and thoroughly explained to viewers. So far, promo and production materials for Fantastic Four: First Steps have teased some very promising-looking production designs, from the sets to the costumes, to the deep level of lore that already seems to be in place.
If nothing else, this first trailer needs to get established MCU fans thrilled about this new adventure, and casual viewers thrilled about journeying to a strange new world.
The Stars
Fantastic Four: First Steps stars the ensemble cast of Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us) as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible) as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as Johnny Storm / Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear) as Ben Grimm / Thing. Mainstream viewers are likely somewhat familiar with at least one of these actors from one of their previous roles, but that doesn’t mean that any of them are proven as big box office draws.
The first trailer for First Steps needs to sell people on the actual Fantastic Four, as their collective chemistry and banter will be the real thing that gives this fantastical concept (no pun) a beating heart.
How It Connects to the MCU
Yes, Fantastic Four: First Steps will be introducing viewers to an entirely different reality of the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, where the Fantastic Four become the major heroes of their world. That’s going to be a novel adventure for MCU fans to go on, but that doesn’t mean moviegoers don’t want any clear connective threads to the larger franchise storyline.
Obviously that’s a tricky tightrope for Fantastic Four: First Steps to walk: the film’s role in the larger Marvel Multiverse Saga may not be revealed until the end of the movie – if not some post-credits scene. That makes it even trickier (but no less necessary) for this first Fantastic Four trailer to let viewers know this is a pivotal film in the MCU.
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BONUS: The Powers
Marvel never gives away the total package when it comes to revealing a superhero’s full costume and power set in a first trailer. So it’s fair to expect that Fantastic Four: First Steps won’t give away what the F4 squad looks like fully powered. But if we can get a tease of at least some of what Shakman and Marvel Studios have accomplished with the VFX, that would be icing on the cake.
Fantastic Four: First Steps will debut its first trailer on Tuesday, February 4th. The film is set to hit theaters on July 25th.
