How The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be unlike any Marvel movie before after major shake-up in bid to save franchise

The Sun

a day ago

WITH Marvel movies, casting directors typically rely on Hollywood heavyweights to help create a blockbuster
Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Florence Pugh, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston . . . the list of stars to have donned superhero Spandex for the studio goes on.
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But in a shake-up, the leading roles in The Fantastic Four: First Steps are filled by actors who cut their teeth at major streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, or big online TV shows.
Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn and Julia Garner play the Four and their nemesis, Silver Surfer.
And while a superhero usually saves the world, this team is tasked with saving the franchise after its 2005 and 2015 Fantastic Four films flopped.
For them, telly wasn't a stopgap on the way to movie fame and fortune. Instead, it was their crowning moment.
And with the streaming supergroup on board, it looks like Marvel may finally be on to a winner.
Here, we look at the stars whose names will be on everyone's lips when the film hits our screens on July 25.
EBON MOSS-BACHARACH The Thing . . . also in The Bear on Disney+
AS The Thing – a former astronaut with superhuman powers and skin that has turned to orange rock – Ebon's role in the movie is quite literally set in stone.
The actor had been slowly but surely gaining traction on the indie scene, before fully earning cult TV status in 2015 with his portrayal of the insufferable Desi on Girls.
But it was Disney+ hit The Bear that elevated him to the big league when it debuted in 2022.
Since then, his character, Richie Jerimovich has become an icon on our TV screens, thanks to his transformation from hot-headed man child to a more refined, and all-round, likeable individual.
The 48-year-old has been lauded by fans, critics and studio execs, earning him two Emmy awards for Best Supporting Actor, and now the chance to flex his chops in a major movie blockbuster.
True, he's not got the same film credits as the other Marvel stars.
But the American actor has a massive streamer show behind him and the talent to match.
You could say he's just got that Thing.
PEDRO PASCAL Mister Fantastic . . . also in The Last Of Us on HBO/Sky Atlantic
AT the age of 50, Pedro – nicknamed 'the internet's boyfriend' due to his likeability – is the man du jour.
Fans love his cheeky winks to the camera and dashing good looks.
And as The Fantastic Four's Mister Fantastic, aka Reed ­Richards, the Chilean-American actor's stock is only set to rise.
Pedro's version of the character promises to erase all bad memories of previous incarnations (specifically Ioan Gruffudd in 2005 and Miles Teller in 2015 – both of which were panned).
So how did Pedro rise to be the internet's darling?
The actor has been on the scene for a while, with roles in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Good Wife and Homeland under his belt.
But he first garnered mainstream attention with his breakthrough 2014 role in HBO's Game Of Thrones, followed by his 2015 debut in Netflix hit Narcos.
Disney+ drama The Mandalorian followed, before he won a Screen Actors Guild Award, plus Emmy and Golden Globe nods, for HBO ­zombie show The Last Of Us.
It's a CV that oozes class.
VANESSA KIRBY Sue Storm . . . also in The Crown on Netflix
HAVING established herself as a theatre darling, British star Vanessa found worldwide fame with her scene-stealing performance as Princess Margaret in Netflix series The Crown.
She has since crossed the divide to movies, with roles in ­Mission: Impossible, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Pieces Of A Woman and Napoleon, but she's still probably most identifiable for being Netflix's biggest breakout star.
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Vanessa, 37, won a 2018 Best Supporting Actress Bafta for her royal role, helping the streamer on its journey to TV domination.
And the defining performance helped her nab the gig as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, who is Reed's wife.
She may be following in the footsteps of former Sues Jessica Alba and Kate Mara, but this time round Vanessa's superhero is new and exciting.
Firstly, she is pregnant, which Vanessa hails 'groundbreaking'.
And the actress has also inserted that nuanced, flawed nature that made her Princess Margaret so acclaimed.
No wonder she's TV royalty.
JOSEPH QUINN Johnny Storm . . . also in Stranger Things on Netflix
ANOTHER actor on the verge of being a household name, Joseph recently hit the headlines after being cast as George Harrison in Sam Mendes' upcoming four-part Beatles biopic.
But he had already risen to prominence thanks to his role as Eddie Munson in Netflix's smash Stranger Things.
He quickly became a fan favourite, earning himself a 2023 MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and a Saturn Award nomination the previous year.
Now, as Johnny Storm – otherwise known as The Human Torch and Sue Storm's brother – the Brit star's career is on fire.
Like Vanessa, Joseph, 31, has Netflix to thank for taking a punt on a relative unknown, casting him in a global hit and ­heralding a new era in Hollywood casting in the process.
He may be the least-known member of the Beatles biopic cast – with the remainder of the Fab Four being played by Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson and Barry Keoghan – but his ­Fantastic Four movie debut promises to transform his stardom status.
BADDIE 1
JULIA GARNER Silver Surfer . . . also in Ozark on Netflix
IT'S not just the fantastic foursome who are set to swoop in and save the day for the franchise.
The film's villain Shalla-Bal – aka the Silver Surfer – who, this time, in a surprising gender swap, is played by Julia Garner – also has a major part to play.
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The actress's breakthrough role came in 2017 as butt-kicking Ruth Langmore in Netflix's Ozark, earning her three Emmy Awards for
Outstanding Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe in 2023.
She then doubled down as ­ Netflix's TV darling with Inventing Anna – the highly acclaimed miniseries which earned her a string of big nominations for her role as real-life fraudster Anna Sorokin.
Still, it's a big deal to clinch the part of a villain in a ­Marvel movie.
And Julia has risen to the challenge, despite some backlash against the ­studio's decision to cast a woman in a part previously always played by men.
Speaking at the film's premiere last week, the 31-year-old said: 'I'm grateful to be at this dance, to be completely honest with you.'
She's earned the right to be there, too, as her TV credits and subsequent awards speak for themselves.
BADDIE 2
RALPH INESON Galactus . . . also in The Office on BBC
IT takes a strong man to play a gigantic cosmic being who consumes ­planets – but Ralph might be that guy.
The British actor and star of The Office plays the other main foe to The ­Fantastic Four, Galactus – sending the Silver Surfer to do his dirty work while he watches on from outer space.
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But, according to Ralph, Galactus isn't necessarily evil.
In fact, he says, he's just 'a big, planet-eating guy, simply doing what a big, planet-eating guy does'.
It's this tongue-in-cheek empathy with his nasty characters that has made the 55-year-old star so damn watchable.
From his role as the detestable Finchy in The Office to his appearance in the final three Harry Potter films as the sadistic dark wizard
Amycus Carrow, nobody does bad so good.
A TALEOF BOX OFFICE FLOPS
THE Fantastic Four first appeared in cartoon form in 1961 to compete with the growing popularity of superhero teams such as DC Comics' Justice Society of America.
Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee – tired of formulaic, perfect characters – wanted to create a group of flawed humans with superpowers.
And his dysfunctional crusaders gained a cult following.
They made their animated telly debut in 1967, with the fourth and final version launching on Cartoon Network in 2006.
But it is the later incarnations that linger in people's minds – for all the wrong reasons.
The first film, which was released in 2005, may have topped the box office but the reviews weren't good.
Rotten Tomatoes gave it just 27 per cent, with critics branding it 'mediocre', adding it was 'marred by goofy attempts at wit, sub-par acting and bland storytelling'.
Still, the film's core four – Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans – did return for a sequel in 2007, which was hailed a 'mild improvement' on the original.
In 2015, 20th Century Fox tried again with a $120million reboot starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell and Michael B. Jordan.
But it was a box office bomb, costing the studio $100million in losses and receiving just a nine per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It also had the dubious honour of winning three gongs at the Golden Raspberry Awards, which recognise the very worst in the entertainment industry.
A planned sequel was quickly shelved and it took another ten years for the franchise to be revived.
However, over the years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has thrived, releasing 36 films, often with crossovers, and expanding into series on Disney+.
After acquiring the rights to Fantastic Four in 2019, Marvel set about rebooting the franchise. Game Of Thrones director Matt Shakman was brought in, with the studio keen to recapture the comic's Sixties-era magic.
The new film has a more retro-futuristic feel, like the original comic books.
It heralds the next phase of Marvel's plans for world domination – named Phase Six – which ends in 2027 with Avengers: Secret Wars.
Unless a superhero saves us all before then . . .