Now that James Gunn and his creating team at DC Films has pulled back the curtain on this summer’s Superman, curious comic book fans focusing on upcoming 2025 releases likely are wondering when DC’s rivals over at Marvel Studios will unveil our first look at the highly anticipated The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Matt Shakman’s July release is the third of three planned Marvel 2025 movies, and the other two – February’s Captain America: Brave New World and May’s Thunderbolts* – already have dropped full trailers for us to peruse. It’s time for Marvel’s first family to show off the goods.
I understand why Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige might be holding back on revealing the Fantastic Four trailer. This is Marvel’s first stab at the Fantastic Four being in the MCU. Everything has to be just right with regards to the initial footage, because it’ll be scrutinized by constructive fans who’ve been burned by the previous on-screen iterations of this beloved team. With that in mind, I have three things that I need to see in the Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer that will set my mind at ease (so long as they look right), and then an educated guess as to when the trailer might arrive.
The team in action, specifically The Thing and The Human Torch
Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps has one thing in common with James Gunn’s Superman in that when the movie starts, the heroes already will have their powers. So audiences won’t have to sit through the familiar origin stories for the seventeenth time on screen. That means there’s no reason for the Fantastic Four trailer not to burst out of the gate with action shots of the team using their unique powers in battle – which will give us a good look, theoretically, at the visual effects that are being used to bring these characters to life.
Fantastic Four movies of the past have struggled with the challenge of visualizing the team’s powers. The Human Torch has looked pretty good in the various movies over the years, and looks solid when we got the most recent look at the hero – played once again by Chris Evans – in the hilarious Marvel sequel Deadpool and Wolverine. My guess is that whatever Shakman and his VFX artists have planned, it will help his Johnny Storm (played by Joseph Quinn) stand apart from previous versions.
My curiosity is piqued by the ever-loving Thing. Will he be a guy in a suit? Will he be entirely CGI, like Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk? Set photos for Eben Moss-Bachrach suggest a combination of the two, but making sure that Thing, Torchy, and all the Fantastic Four members look cool and realistic will be vital to the success of this movie, the team’s true First Steps into the MCU and beyond.
The team’s alternate universe
I think it’s really smart to set The Fantastic Four in an alternate universe that runs parallel to the MCU. Marvel Studios has done the legwork to establish the concept of the Multiverse, exploring it deeply in Loki, Deadpool, and the animated What If? Starting this story in an alternate New York City removes the obstacle of explaining where the FF have been this entire time. And it gives Matt Shakman the opportunity to build a truly original world, which I hope we get to see a lot of in the trailer.
Those who read Fantastic Four comics know that the intelligent team is at its strongest when science-fiction writers are driving the narrative, bringing readers and audiences to far off galaxies filled with wonder (and danger). We got a glimpse of the alternate world on the one-sheet released for this movie. Now we want further exploration. What does the Fantastic Four’s Manhattan look like? Will it really reflect the 1960s art deco design that has been hinted at during production? How does the Baxter Building fit in to the team’s plans, and will it really be the replacement for Stark Tower? We have so many questions for this alternate world. Like, do they have a guy named Pizza Poppa selling pizza balls? Now THAT would be a very cool Easter egg.
Galactus and the Silver Surfer
For all of the reasons listed above, I really want Galactus and the Silver Surfer to be a part of the first The Fantastic Four trailer. These are characters that we have seen in live-action before, but they weren’t really done true justice, and I’m eager to see how Marvel Studios handles their addition into the MCU.
I’m optimistic about Galactus, as Feige and Shakman included a brief shot of the planet devourer in the footage that they brought to San Diego Comic-Con in 2024. In the clip, we got to see Galactus looking into the window of a skyscraper… perhaps the Baxter Building. It was really too quick to tell. But it showed off the scope and scale of the villain, and I want to see a lot more of him in action.
Also, he was not a cloud. (Pause for laughter at this inside joke.)
There are rumors that we will see other classic Fantastic Four villains in the final movie, with many fans thinking that Paul Walter Hauser is going to be playing The Mole Man, which would be awesome. Several Marvel movies have entertained the idea of starting the movie with a lesser villain – like Batroc in Captain America: The Winter Soldier – so you can feature them without having to rely on them for a complete feature. But my guess is that Galactus will be at the heart of the story Shakman and company want to tell in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, so let’s see them in the trailer.
When might we see it?
There seem to be two obvious slots for The Fantastic Four trailer to drop, and they both are very soon.
My best guess is that Marvel Studios will release it close to the arrival of Captain America: Brave New World. Likely, it will come out the week of February 14, and then be attached to prints of Captain America so people can see it online first, then in the theaters. This marketing tact has always been used by studios to drive up opening weekend interest.
And the timing of my second guess makes me think we won’t have to wait that long for our first Fantastic Four footage.
That’s because the Super Bowl is Sunday, February 9. And the Super Bowl usually is reserved as a showcase for major movie trailers. I can easily see Marvel Studios putting a clip of the trailer on the air during the Super Bowl, then sending fans online to see the longer cut. Then, that cut gets attached to Captain America. And the First Steps campaign will be off and running.
That’s less than a month away! And I think that’s all feasible because Superman, which opens a few weeks before Fantastic Four, already showed its trailer, so it’s time for Marvel to catch up. Unless Fantastic Four pulls a Blade and moves its release date. But that would require a much longer feature, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen in the next few weeks.
