The first trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps is here as we finally meet Marvel’s First Family. Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm take a big step for mankind in the retro-future-inspired setting. We see them blast off on their ill-fated mission in the trailer, as well as deal with the aftermath of the powers it gave them.
As well as giving us our first idea of what the tone of the Marvel Phase 6 movie will be like, we also got a first glimpse at Galactus and some neat nods and references to the world of the Fantastic Four and the wider MCU. Among the nods are some links to big details in the comics as well as some familiar locations. We break down all of the details below.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Easter eggs
1. Future Foundation
In a brief teaser trailer released ahead of the trailer, there was a namedrop of the Future Foundation, which Fantastic Four fans will know well. This debuted in the Fantastic Four comics back in 2010, and was founded in the wake of Johnny Storm’s death, and is both a superhero team and a school for super scientists. Featuring everyone from Spider-Man to Doctor Doom at different points, it’s one of the more influential superhero team-ups in Marvel history.
It’s not clear how it will feature in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie just yet though but it seems they’re behind the launch of the First Family’s rocket. This was teased on the official trailer launch YouTube channel description, which reads: “Broadcasting from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the Future Foundation invites you to count down to the launch of the official trailer for Marvel Studios‘ The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
2. Fantasticar
The iconic Fantasticar makes a very brief appearance in the trailer too, zooming through the streets of Manhattan. The beloved flying car first appeared in Stan Lee’s early Fantastic Four comics and was the team’s primary mode of transportation.
3. Baxter Building
At the beginning of the trailer, Storm and Richards walking a building introduced as the Baxter Building. Located in Manhattan in New York City, the office building was first introduced back in the third issue of Fantastic Four in the ’60s and its five upper floors house the Fantastic Four’s headquarters. It’s where the team have dinner together every week, Storm explains.
4. Galactus
The big fella has arrived! We have our first glimpse at what Galactus will look like in the MCU, and he’s huge. Ralph Ineson’s cosmic entity consumes planets to sustain himself, so it’s probably predictable that he was going to be pretty big, but in the final moments of the trailer, we see the full scale of the character. Although all we see is the back of his head, he looms over New York City. This will be his first introduction to the MCU, but the God-like figure has always been a Fantastic Four villain.
5. The Multiverse
In the trailer, Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards gets to show off his famed intellect – but his scrawlings on a chalkboard could be hiding something else entirely. If you look just over his left shoulder, you can see a diagram that appears to show a wormhole that takes its user from one place to an ‘exit’. Although it’s hard to make out, the words ‘Another universe?’ can be glimpsed under the drawing.
It’s still early days yet, but there are a couple of possibilities stemming from this detail: One, Reed might already be aware of the existence of the multiverse (Fantastic Four is set in the 1960s in a universe outside of the Sacred Timeline, so that matches up) or two, the impending threat of the world-eating Galactus has Reed searching for any way out of his universe – a cataclysmic worst-case scenario.
In either case, that should neatly answer how the Fantastic Four find themselves in the MCU before the next Avengers movies, which they’ve already been confirmed to appear in.
6. H.E.R.B.I.E.
Although we’ve known for some time that H.E.R.B.I.E. would be a part of the team, this is the first time we’ve seen him in live-action proper. He appears early on in the trailer cooking and preparing Sunday dinner with Ben Grimm. The robot is another nod to Fantastic Four history, and was first brought in with The New Fantastic Four in the late ’70s. He’s been a mainstay of the comics since and a loyal member of the team. His seasoning could use a little work though it seems…
7. The costumes
Right at the end of the trailer, we see the team suited and booted in pale blue costumes. Not only do they look very dapper, but we can see some big similarities to both the 1994 movie and the white necklines that we first started seeing around Issue 256 of the Fantastic Four comics. They look very classic here and perfectly fit the ’60s aesthetic of the Marvel movie.
8. Cooking up a storm
The first trailer for Fantastic Four: First Steps opens with Ben Grimm, in Thing form, cooking up a Storm in the kitchen ahead of one of the team’s family dinners. “Herbie, how’s that sauce coming?” he asks the perky robot, before it wheels over and suggests ‘it’s done’ in various beeps and boops. “Yeah, I’ll be the judge of that,” Grimm says, as he dips his orange pinky into the pan and has a taste.”Okay, okay,” he claps enthusiastically.
“Is this guy good or what? I’m gonna add a couple cloves of garlic, not because it’s not delicious, I just want to add a bit of zip.” Now, Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays The Thing, of course, so it’s hard to see him in such a setting and not see it as a nod to hugely popular comedy-drama The Bear, in which he plays restaurant manager Richie Jerimovich.
10. Red Ghost
If you missed the news that the legendary John Malkovich is starring in Fantastic Four, you may be surprised by his appearance in the trailer. In the brief glimpse, the actor is sporting long grey hair and a bushy bear, sitting in a dark room. Nothing is therefore given away but it is rumored that the star is playing one of the Fantastic Four’s oldest enemies in the new movie, a character called Ivan Kragoff aka Red Ghost.
First appearing in 1963’s Fantastic Four #13, created by duo Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, Kragoff is an evil genius who gained the powers of invisibility and intangibility (unable to be touched) after being exposed to powerful cosmic rays. And he wasn’t the only one, as Kragoff’s followers (a trio known as the Super-Apes) were also affected. Of course, we haven’t had any official confirmation yet Malkovich is portraying the Red Ghost but he does look quite sinister in the teaser trailer.
11. Kaplan’s
At one point if you look at the screen that The Thing is watching himself on in the store window, the sign reads ‘Kaplan’s’. Now this is clearly a little in-universe nod to screenwriter Jeff Kaplan, who pens the script with Ian Springer. While we didn’t spot the other scribe in the trailer, we bet he’s hiding a nod somewhere in the final movie. Keep your eyes peeled.
12. The Thing’s trench coat
In the same scene where he’s looking in the shop window, Ben Grimm is wearing a trench coat and a hat, which looks strikingly similar to versions we’ve seen of the character before on screen and in the comics. He often dons a hat and a trench coat in a bid to go undercover after his transformation into The Thing around New York City.
Fantastic Four arrives in theaters on July 25. While we wait, check out our guides to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way and our breakdown of how to watch the Marvel movies in order.