Fantastic Four: Release Date And Other Things We Know About The MCU Movie
When it comes to Marvel Cinematic Universe upcoming movies, there are truly so many amazing things happening. And, I’m sure as time goes on, more and more is going to come out about these new films and characters that we are all super excited for.
Which is pretty much the case for the latest reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise.
Attempted twice before, Fantastic Four hasn’t necessarily had a good track record when it comes to its movies, with both adaptations receiving less than stellar reviews. However, with Disney buying 20th Century Studios, and therefore all their licensing deals, they have the rights to the famous superhero team once again, which means that the Fantastic Four reboot for the MCU is coming. Just not soon.
For those who are wondering when we might be seeing the latest and greatest version of Fantastic Four, this is what we know so far about the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film.
What Is The Fantastic Four Release Date?
Fantastic Four has a release date of May 2, 2025.
At San Diego Comic-Con in 2022, it was confirmed that the latest Fantastic Four reboot was going to come out in November 2024. However, that release date was pushed back, along with several other Marvel properties. Then, in June 2023, the dates were pushed back even more, according to Deadline, so now we're at May 2025.
Don’t expect them to be in any 2024 release schedule.
Casting Is Still Unconfirmed
As of January 2024, casting for Fantastic Four is still not confirmed, but we are getting close.
Originally, fans believed we might hear about casting at the 2022 D23 Expo, but there was no announcement, and we still don’t have any confirmation of who will be in the movie.
The Direct shared that Kevin Feige was “active in the casting process” back in March 2023, but there hasn’t been any official casting just yet.
There have been rumors, and plenty of them – like one from July 2022 that Penn Badgley, known for roles in shows like You and Gossip Girl, could be cast as the next Reed Richards, or the rumor rumor that listed Paul Mescal as the possible casting for The Human Torch. As of right now, the rumored Fantastic Four lineup, according to ScreenRant in November 2023, include Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon-Moss-Bachrach.
This actually lines up a bit with the Deadline report from November 2023 that Pedro Pascal is the frontrunner to play Reed Richards, but still, nothing has been confirmed.
However, director Matt Shakman spoke to Collider and said that they have news on casting in October 2023; he just couldn’t share it yet because of the SAG-AFTRA strike:
There will be an announcement at some point! I know that the internet is very excited to find out, and I'm excited to share it. I just can't do it yet.
The SAG-AFTRA strike came to an end in November 2023 so for the love of God, please give me some update on who is going to star in this movie, please.
Fantastic Four Will Not Be An “Origin Story”
Fantastic Four is not going to be an origin story. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kevin Feige confirmed in an interview with the outlet in 2022 that the studio was taking the story in a different direction, and we wouldn’t be given an origin story like in many other superhero movies. Feige said:
A lot of people know this origin. A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they've never seen before? We've set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.
Honestly, thank God. I have seen too many origin stories in superhero movies and I am ready to just swing into the action with this film, so if they want to keep out the origin, please do it. I am so eager to see what comes next.
Matt Shakman also talked about the upcoming stories that could be told in the film in an interview with Inverse in November 2023, saying that the comics were a big inspiration for the film:
I’m not so much looking at the other movies. I'm looking at the comics themselves. I'm a huge comic book fan. I’ve been a big fan of the Fantastic Four since I was a kid. So going back to Kirby and Lee and Byrne and following all the way up to what's happening, certainly Hickman and Waid and Ryan North, what he's been doing. I'm trying to figure out who these characters are to me and how to bring them to life in the best possible way, and that's really where I've started and how we've approached it.
I’m so ready for this movie and the stories he is going to tell.
The Movie Will Be A Part Of Phase Six
The good news about having to wait that long for the Fantastic Four film to come out is that it’s going to be a part of Phase 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
For those who don’t know, Phase 5 began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and is going to end with Captain America: Brave New World.
However, with that, Fantastic Four is going to begin the last phase of what Kevin Feige has called “The Multiverse Saga.”
Matt Shakman Is Going To Direct
Announced at 2022's D23 Expo, via Marvel Studios' Twitter page, it was confirmed that Matt Shakman is set to direct the upcoming reboot of Fantastic Four, as we already know from the previous sections.
I’m sure that, at some point, Marvel fans have heard of Matt Shakman. While he’s directed episodes of shows such as the hilarious The Great, as well as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Fargo, and Game of Thrones, he is known for one big role in the MCU and that’s his work on the legendary Marvel TV show, WandaVision.
Shakman directed and produced the series that went on to score several nominations at the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards, and made the powerful Scarlet Witch even more beloved than she already was – which made her the best antagonist in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The director hasn’t done any other work on Marvel movies or shows in the past, so this will be his first time stepping into the director’s chair for a Marvel movie and I can’t wait to see what he does. Even if Jon Watts (who directed the MCU's Spider-Man trilogy) did leave the production, I feel that Fantastic Four is in good hands with Shakman.
The Script Was Written By Josh Friedman
The script was written by Josh Friedman, according to The Hollywood Reporter, in March 2023.
Originally, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer were the original writers for the project but were replaced by Friedman.
The screenwriter has worked on a variety of different movies and television shows, including War of the Worlds, Snowpiercer, Foundation and more, so I think the movie is in good hands. He even worked on the story for Avatar: The Way of Water, so it’ll be exciting to see what kind of tale he has for these heroes.
Filming Will Hopefully Begin At Some Point In 2024
I know this isn’t the news we necessarily wanted, since nothing is set in stone, but we can say we are at least expecting a 2024 production start date for Fantastic Four when it comes to filming.
Originally, we thought that filming would begin in January 2024 from a report in May 2023 from The Hollywood Reporter, but then it ended up getting pushed back.
Matt Shakman said in October 2023 to Collider that they were aiming to begin filming in Spring 2024. But now, in January 2024, with still no casting officially announced, the ComicBookMovie reported that Jeff Sneider said filming may not begin until Summer 2024 – so at this point, we at least hope filming will begin in 2024.
All this waiting for a new announcement on casting is driving me crazy – here’s hoping we get some new stuff very soon. I’ll just continue to watch all the latest and greatest Marvel movies until then.
