Everything We Know About Marvel’s Fantastic Four Movie

The status of Marvel’s upcoming Fantastic Four movie has undergone a lot of changes during its production. Marvel Studios confirmed an MCU Fantastic Four movie after years of anticipation and excitement about the former Fox characters joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For a long time, 20th Century Fox owned the film rights to the Fantastic Four, and the studio made multiple attempts to launch a full-fledged series based on the property: Tim Story’s Fantastic Four in 2005, which spawned the sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot in 2015. Since the 2019 Disney/20th Century Fox deal, the Fantastic Four rights have been back in Marvel Entertainment’s hands, with Marvel’s First Family due to make their MCU debut in 2025.

The MCU Fantastic Four release date is known, as is their place as the movie kick-starting Phase 6 of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, but there are plenty of other questions still to be answered. Foremost among these are who will be cast in the main roles and how the superhero team – consisting of Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing – can be incorporated into the MCU. John Krasinski debuted as a Mr. Fantastic variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but it’s not even been confirmed if Earth’s 838 and 616 have the same Reed Richards. Here’s all the MCU Fantastic Four news and information that’s known so far.

Marvel’s Fantastic Four Movie Release Date Info

The current MCU Fantastic Four release date is 2nd May 2025. An initial November 2024 date was revealed as part of Marvel Studios’ epic SDCC 2022 release slate. However, this was then pushed back to February 2025, possibly to make accommodations for Blade being delayed while a new director is found. The movie was then further delayed into May, and may be delayed further because of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, which have affected the production of various impending films.

It’s possible this initial delay is because Fantastic Four‘s story doesn’t make sense unless Blade is released first. The Multiverse Saga is building up to Avengers: Secret Wars, a definite end-point with multiple elements that need to fall into place across various movies. Since Fantastic Four is the last non-Avengers MCU movie prior to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, any delays to preceding MCU projects also likely mean delays to Fantastic Four.

Prior to this, COVID-related delays had seen the entire MCU slate of release dates in flux for a number of years. Kevin Feige’s comprehensive SDCC 2022 list of movie and TV projects all the way up to Phase 6 included Fantastic Four, which gave fans hope they could begin their countdown to seeing The Fantastic Four finally making their MCU debut. Sadly, a longer wait is necessary, and Fantastic Four is one of several movies that could see further delays depending on how quickly the strikes are resolved, and what conclusion they ultimately come to.

Marvel’s Fantastic Four Director & BTS Changes

At one point, the Ant-Man series director, Peyton Reed, had expressed interest in directing the MCU Fantastic Four movie. Later, Spider-Man: Homecoming trilogy director Jon Watts was set to helm the project, but he backed out, citing disinterest in making more superhero movies. Currently, Matt Shakman, who worked on WandaVision as well as sitcoms like It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, is attached to direct Fantastic Four.

Shakman is a solid choice to direct one of the most crucial installments of the Multiverse Saga. The director has proved through WandaVision and work on Game of Thrones that he can handle emotionally charged stories, while his sitcom stints on Ugly Betty and Everybody Hates Chris are solid comedy credentials. As movies like the overly-silly Thor: Love and Thunder or the confusing yet dark Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness showed, a winning MCU entry is one that can strike a tonal balance between comedy and tragedy. From this perspective, Fantastic Four is in safe hands with its new director.

It’s also worth noting that Fantastic Four‘s director is not the only integral crew role to have changed hands over the course of the MCU movie’s production, as Josh Friedman has come in to rewrite the script, taking over from Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. Friedman’s own recent movie credentials suggest he is a proficient pick to take on the MCU Fantastic Four script, as he was one of the writers who worked on Avatar: The Way Of The Water, which is sure to have honed his ability to write sci-fi in a way that can benefit the Marvel movie installment.

Marvel Hasn’t Cast The Fantastic Four Yet

The new MCU Fantastic Four movie cast hasn’t been decided yet, but it’s a safe bet that past performers won’t be seriously in the running: Ioan Gruffudd (Mister Fantastic), Jessica Alba (Invisible Woman), Chris Evans (Human Torch), Michael Chiklis (The Thing), Miles Teller (Mister Fantastic), Michael B. Jordan (Human Torch), Kate Mara (Invisible Woman), and Jamie Bell (The Thing), are all unlikely to appear as their former characters in the MCU Fantastic Four. However, Marvel has created one interesting Fantastic Four casting wrinkle for themselves that doesn’t have a definitive resolution yet.

Rumors have been prevalent about the series’ casting, however, with The Boy‘s lead and Superman voice actor Jack Quaid taking to social media to confirm that he isn’t playing Johnny Storm after a particularly potent rumor emerged regarding him and the role. This has only put a stop to one of several rumors, though, as many others still persist, including Vanessa Kirby and Margot Robbie being cast for Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn and Paul Mescal for Johnny Storm, Daveed Diggs and Jason Segal as Ben Grimm, and a whole host of prospective Reed Richards candidates.

However, none of these potential castings are set to be made concrete until real-world matters are handled first. Quaid’s post highlights why these rumors will remain as such by making sure to use his statement to also promote donations to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, as casting for the Fantastic Four movie will be paused until the strikes are resolved.

Reed Richards’ Doctor Strange 2 Appearance Was A Fakeout

In a deft stroke of fan-cast honoring, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness saw John Krasinski play Reed Richards on Earth-838, one of the parallel universes visited over the course of the film. While this was a powerful moment, however, it doesn’t mean John Krasinski’s Mr. Fantasic casting in Doctor Strange 2 is official for Earth-616 where the rest of the main timeline is set. In fact, Krasinski is reportedly not playing Reed Richards again for Marvel. Since the cast hasn’t been officially announced yet, there’s time for this to change, but it seems most likely that John Krasinski’s Reed Richards casting in Doctor Strange 2 was purely a fakeout.

Fantastic 4 Will Kick Off Phase 6 Of The MCU

The scope of Marvel’s slate is huge, extending all the way through 2026. This covers the rest of Phase 4, all of Phase 5, and even the beginning of Phase 6, which will eventually culminate in two Avengers movies that wrap up the Multiverse Saga. The Fantastic Four movie is set to release after Deadpool 3, making it the first official movie of the MCU’s Phase 6. This could still change over the next few years, but it means that the Fantastic Four will have a pivotal role to play in how the next sweeping era of MCU stories concludes.

The New Fantastic 4 Won’t Be Another Origin Story

Having established the origin of the Fantastic Four heroes in the previous two versions, Feige has stated that he wants to do something different off the back of a very well-known backstory, confirming: “A lot of people know this origin story. A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before?” Marvel took a similar approach to their iteration of Spider-Man, taking as given that audiences were fully familiar with how Peter Parker gained his powers, and it met with phenomenal success. It’s looking like there’ll be a similar approach when tackling the Fantastic Four movie, and, based on previous evidence, this is good news for Marvel’s First Family.