Film guide
- Science fiction
- Action
- Adventure
- Creators
- Matt Shakman
- Stars
- Pedro Pascal · Vanessa Kirby · Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Images: Marvel Studios
Where to watch The Fantastic Four: First Steps
The Fantastic Four: First Steps streams on Disney+ in the US, included with a subscription. Marvel Studios released it in theaters on July 25, 2025; it runs 114 minutes, is rated PG-13, and needs no other MCU film watched first.
Streaming options in the United States, updated Sep 15, 2026. More from disneyplus.com. Service logos are trademarks of their owners.
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A separate universe, which is exactly why it needs no catching up
This one is not set in the MCU you have been following. First Steps takes place on Earth-828, an alternate universe inside the Marvel multiverse, and that decision solves the problem every Fantastic Four reboot has had: it never has to explain where these four were during the last seventeen years of Marvel films. Matt Shakman directed it from a four-writer screenplay credited to Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, and it opens in 1964 with the team already famous, already a family, and already four years past the accident.
So the prerequisite list is empty. Nothing before this film is required, and at 114 minutes it is one of the shortest things Marvel Studios has released – a genuinely low-cost way back into the franchise for anyone who fell off. The retro-futurist 1960s setting does a lot of that work: no phones, no callbacks, no cameos to decode, and a villain in Ralph Ineson’s Galactus who needs no prior film to be frightening. Julia Garner plays the Silver Surfer as Shalla-Bal rather than Norrin Radd, a swap from the comics that we put in context in our ranking of Galactus’s heralds.
The one thing worth knowing is what it points at. The mid-credits scene leads directly into Avengers: Doomsday, which is the practical reason to watch this before that rather than after – we covered the Doomsday trailer’s debut in our report on it. And if the cosmic end of Marvel is new to you, our Silver Surfer power breakdown is a reasonable primer on what a herald actually is.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast 10
Pedro PascalReed Richards / Mister Fantastic
Vanessa KirbySue Storm / Invisible Woman
Ebon Moss-BachrachBen Grimm / The Thing
Joseph QuinnJohnny Storm / Human Torch
Julia GarnerShalla-Bal / Silver Surfer- Sarah NilesLynne Nichols
Mark GatissTed Gilbert
Natasha LyonneRachel Rozman
Paul Walter HauserHarvey Elder / Mole Man
Ralph InesonGalactus
- Director
- Matt Shakman
- Screenplay
- Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer
- Music
- Michael Giacchino
- Studios
- Marvel Studios
Photos via Wikimedia Commons. Pedro Pascal: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0; Vanessa Kirby: Jay Dixit, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ebon Moss-Bachrach: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0; Joseph Quinn: France RC – Roster Con, CC BY-SA 4.0; Julia Garner: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 3.0; Mark Gatiss: zeropuntosedici (Sara Zizza), CC BY-SA 2.0; Natasha Lyonne: Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0; Paul Walter Hauser: LosCriticologo, CC BY 3.0; Ralph Ineson: Jamgoodman, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I watch The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
The Fantastic Four: First Steps streams on Disney+ in the US with a subscription.
When did The Fantastic Four: First Steps come out?
July 25, 2025 in US theaters. It is now on Disney+.
What should I watch before The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
Nothing. It is set on Earth-828, a separate universe from the rest of the MCU, and introduces its own cast, world and villain from scratch.
What comes after The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
Avengers: Doomsday. The mid-credits scene sets it up directly, which is why this is the one 2025 Marvel film worth catching before that one.
How long is The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
114 minutes, rated PG-13 – among the shortest Marvel Studios films.
