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After years of speculation, Marvel Studios finally confirmed Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/ Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Susan “Sue” Storm/ Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/ Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/ The Thing are cast for Matt Shakman’s upcoming The Fantastic Four. Instead of a big reveal at Hall H during San Diego Comic-Con or through reports in the trades (well mostly), they dropped a fascinating piece of key artwork that could give hints about the movie and what to expect.
The Swinging Sixties
The overall vibe and aesthetic harken back to the 1960s when the F4 was created and debuted in Marvel Comics. The group’s costumes also look more in line with their classic comic book outfits than almost any other take on the Four. And beyond just the general look there are some specific clues, like the Marvel Studios Logo emulating the classic Cinerama logo.
The specific issue of Life Magazine that Ben is reading was published in Dec 1963 as pointed out by Twitter/X user @iamfires. Thus, it seems pretty safe to say the movie will take place in the 1960s, at least partially.
Now whether or not the Fantastic Four are from Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Earth 616 is a trickier question to answer. They could be retconned like Captain Marvel was in the ’90s. Yet, the Four are usually much public and well-known figures, so having them exist in 616’s history is hard to square away with continuity albeit not impossible. There is any number of comic-booky things they can do to explain the Four being around in the 60s but not remembered. Maybe a villain erased everyone’s memory, but this is the Multiverse Saga, so the Four could perhaps be from another Earth and then ended up in 616 or maybe they don’t crossover at all until Secret Wars.
A Fantastic Family
Now, the image has a big Valentine’s Day banner because the news dropped on Valentine’s Day, but it could also hint that there’s going to be more focus on Reed and Sue’s relationship than prior adaptations have given.
The image also confirms one other character in the film: H.E.R.B.I.E!
H.E.R.B.I.E (or Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronic) is a robotic companion created by Reed to help search for Galactus. H.E.R.B.I.E had a brief appearance in Tim Story’s 2005 Fantastic Four adaptation, but will likely have a meatier role here.
A Couple of Other Tidbits
A few other things of note: a portrait of Benjamin “Ben” Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) in Astronaut gear pre-transformation indicates Marvel Studios plans to keep the Four’s traditional origin of getting powers from cosmic rays while on an expedition in space rather than making any sort of big changes.
As mentioned above, H.E.R.B.I.E was created to help track Galactus, so perhaps Galactus is the villain of the movie. This would line up with rumors that have been going around for a while. Moreover, if Galactus is in the movie, he’ll need a herald. The obvious pick for a herald would be the Silver Surfer, but there are quite a few from the comics to pick from like Terrax or The Firelord.
Overall, it’s still too early to say anything super definitive about the movie but at least we can finally start to form some more concrete theories about it. What theories do you have? Let us know in the comments. And don’t miss The Fantastic Four when it hits theaters on July 25th, 2025!
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This article was edited by John Tangalin.