THE FANTASTIC FOUR: Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Reveals What The “Focus” Of

The Fantastic Four begins shooting in the UK later this month, though whether we’ll eventually get to see Marvel’s First Family in set photos remains to be seen.

Still, the door is open to the cast showing up for Comic-Con this weekend, even if it’s far too early for any footage. Marvel Studios is bound to do something to hype the reboot up in Hall H, anyway, and Kevin Feige just shared some new comments about the project with CinemaBlend.

“Matt Shakman is very, very good at utilizing visual effects,” he started. “The most important thing for us…the stretching’s gotta look cool, the rocky exterior of The Thing has got to look cool, the flames have got to look cool. [But] it’s all about the characters. It’s all about the family. It’s all about [those] dynamics.”

“So the minute we got that cast that we’ve announced signed up, 90 percent of the work was done,” Feige added. “That is what the focus is of the movie.”

Tim Story’s Fantastic Four movies from the mid-2000s weren’t great, but something they did get right was that family dynamic (whether it was Reed and Sue’s love for each other or Johnny’s constant pranks on Ben). The fact Marvel Studios is also focusing on that is very good news. 

In another recent interview, the executive confirmed that The Fantastic Four takes place in an alternate-reality 1960s and hinted at the team’s importance to the wider MCU.

“Yes, yes, very much so. It is a period,” he revealed. “There were a lot of smart people, who noticed that that cityscape didn’t look exactly like the New York that we know, or that existed in the ’60s in our world. Those are smart observations, I’ll say.”

“I’m extremely excited by it because I think [the Fantastic Four] are mainstays, are legendary pillars of the Marvel Universe that we’ve never gotten to play with or explore in a significant way outside of Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness and a few fun teases before, in the way that we’re doing it in that film,” Feige added. “So I’m extremely excited for that.”

Marvel Studios has announced that Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing) will lead The Fantastic Four cast. Julia Garner has also joined the reboot as Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer.

Recent additions to the cast include Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, and Natasha Lyonne in mystery roles, along with Ralph Ineson as the villainous Galactus.

Director Matt Shakman worked with both Avatar: The Way of Water co-writer Josh Friedman and WandaVision‘s Cam Squires on The Fantastic Four‘s screenplay, with Eric Pearson (Black Widow) recently coming on board for a final polish.

The movie is set to be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.