#INTERVIEW: THE CAST & CREATORS OF MARVEL’S “THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS”

Marvel‘s First Family have long been overdue for their big moment and Marvel‘s THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS soon will re-introduce audiences to Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) in a way never seen before!

Directed by Matt Shakman, this long-awaited Blockbuster sees the Family in a retro-futuristic 1960s-inspired world. They must balance their families privately, with their public personas as heroes, as they must defend the universe from the imminent threat of Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and Silver Surfer (Julia Garner).

We are delighted to sit in on the global press conference with the Creators and Cast of Marvel‘s THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS with:

Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman)
Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing)
Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch)
Julia Garner (Silver Surfer)
Ralph Ineson (Galactus)
Matt Shakman (Director)

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige tells us about the time being right bringing Marvel’s First Family to the big screen in a new way.

Feige: I’m incredibly excited. Now is time to do it because we finally got the rights to it. And the other reason is that we’ve assembled an incredible Cast. It’s very exciting that people are now seeing the Movie. We and Matt have been working very hard for years to bring Marvel’s First Family to life in a way that we felt would fit within the world we created, even though the Film very much stands alone and apart. Even though everyone in this Film is very tired, having already shot half of their next appearance in Avengers: Doomsday.

Shakman talks about what went behind this Film’s very unique timeline.

Shakman: I’m a huge Fantastic Four fan and have been since I was a kid, so it was a huge honour getting to bring these characters to the MCU. We knew they were such public figures and leading lights of their age and era, that we would’ve heard about them by now, so we had to put them in a different era, a different universe, different earth. This meant we had chance to build a different retro-future 1960s. The same energy and effort we put into Wandavision to build all these sitcom realities, we put into this retro-future world here that is a combination of Jack Kirby and Stanley Kubrick‘s 2001.

Vanessa Kirby talks about bringing Sue Storm to the screen in this latest iteration of her.

Kirby: I mean, it’s already there in the Comics over the decades, it always seemed to me kinda revolutionary to have a mother at the center of this family, but absolutely part of the team and never left on her own. When I met Matt and Kevin for the first time and we started talking about Sue, they were so passionate about her. It was so exciting to me the idea of this pregnant superhero, a working mother. Even during shooting, it was surreal, really, because of this pregnancy bump. I was so included in everything. Matt and Kevin were such huge champions of having her be in it and as complex, fierce, loving and warm – all the things they think ‘feminine’ is. It was very daunting and a great honour to play her. I’m just one of many who have gotten to know her over years.

Pedro Pascal talks about navigating Reed Richards‘ grief, new fatherhood and how Shankman (and his daughter) helped.

Pascal: My favourite thing about it is actually that this person who is so brilliant and so comfortable with figuring out the most complex science equations to create solutions for everything, or to continue understanding how the world and beyond functions. But without really knowing how to understand the much more complex equation of relationships, family and love and growing in a relationship as a friend, partner, and then of course, as a father. He handles it by ‘babyproofing’ the world rather than just being present for the experience. This is definitely something Matt guided me through – the emotional arc and details, as I’m not a father and can only imagine what it is. Matt’s daughter got me the part. She sold me some Lemonade and that was it. Look it up!

Conversations with Matt about Reed were my entry point into the character.

Joseph Quinn talks about becoming Johnny Storm.

Quinn: There’s something quite aspirational about this Johnny and they way he uses space. He’s a bit of searcher, looking for answers. All of these four characters are sentenced to this idea of responsibility and superpower and having this public-facing life. He’s looking for answers outside of it. There was something inherently in the Script – someone that was fully grounded and not two-dimensional. I was just very fortunate. It was a delight diving-in and having a laugh.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach reflects upon his experience working with this brilliant Ensemble.

Moss–Bachrach: There is a limit to how much you can build, but we were incredibly-blessed. Matt was wise to put us four together. They say you can know in first ten seconds and we all hit if off in the beginning and through the five-to-six months of making this Movie. This was not a ‘trauma-bonder’, but it’s like you’re pushing a boat over a mountain. We spent many days and hours together, all pleasurable. I’m grateful to still be hanging out with family.

I’ve never done Performance-Capture work and that attracted me to the Movie. I wanted to explore this method of acting and to get to play this incredible, strong, heavy character. I had some anxiety and nerves as it was a dim departure, but melted away in a couple days. It was really freeing.

Ralph Ineson discusses the gargantuan task of becoming Galactus.

Ineson: It happened over few months. Every few weeks I got to stand in front of a three-way mirror and look at the character. It was art and engineering, a 350 lb huge, muscular thing. It was wearable design, incredible.

Shakman: Ralph has one of most amazing voices in the world, but he lowered it an octave for this. The first time he debuted on the mic, it took my breath away.

Ineson: It takes a lot of breath to get your voice that way, and to get a growl. It takes a lot of working out to do that. I’m quite pleased with it.

Julia Garner tells us about how there were a lot of firsts for her starring as Silver Surfer.

Garner: My first day on-set, they were welcoming, warm and comforting. It was the craziest first day on a job I’ve ever had. I was 30 feet in the air, there was a construction crane, it was at night, I had an earpiece and was hearing directions. Matt and Vanessa were there and it was wild, but I had so much fun!

Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” opens in theatres July 25, 2025.