It’s been an exciting time for Fantastic Four fans with this year’s official casting announcement for the upcoming Marvel Studios film starring Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm. The announcement came in the form of an art piece that hints at the 1960s timeline.
Yesterday, it was reported that Julia Garner will be portraying Shalla-Bal, a version of the Silver Surfer. Today, Marvel is hyping up fans once again by sharing an art of the Human Torch as he writes the number 4 in the sky. The text reads “Happy 4-4 Day!”
The official casting announcement on Valentine’s Day hinted that Marvel’s First Family could be in an alternate universe or from the past. With the art shared today, we see Human Torch flying over a futuristic-looking city. The signs seem to be pointing to The Fantastic Four movie being set in a different universe.
There’s a link in the caption, and if you were to click on it, it would lead to a 404 page, with a reference to Invisible Woman maybe hiding content from the page. If you look closely, there’s a QR code hidden on Herbie the Robot’s body. (Very clever!) The code leads to marvel.com/ff, which teases the Future Foundation and offers readers five free comic book issues.
Here are the free comic book issues:
- Fantastic Four (1961) #1
- Fantastic Four (1961) #48
- Fantastic Four (1961) #49
- Fantastic Four (1961) #50
- Fantastic Four: Life Story (2021) #1
The first issue of The Fantastic Four is the introduction of the family, which is fitting to reintroduce fans to the superhero team and prepare them for the upcoming film.
Issue #48 is the first appearance of the Silver Surfer and Galactus, with issues #49 and #50 continuing the story. This fits the reports of Julia Garner being cast as a version of Silver Surfer, and we hope to see Galactus in one form or another.
As for Fantastic Four: Life Story, it’s a retelling of the fabulous foursome’s origin story set during the Cold War and the Space Race and also features Galactus. (Seeing a trend here?)
Future Foundation
What about the Future Foundation on the landing page? It’s a superhero team created by Mr. Fantastic to bring a group of brilliant minds together to plan for a better future for mankind. They were involved in trying to save as many during the destruction of the Multiverse, and would later help re-create all the variant Earths that were ruined during Secret Wars.
The MCU is currently in the Multiverse Saga, and with Marvel teasing the Future Foundation, we may get a new superhero team.
About The Fantastic Four Movie
The Fantastic Four is being directed by Matt Shakman, who helmed WandaVision, from a screenplay by Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow).
The film stars Pedro Pascal (HBO’s The Last of Us) as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby (Napoleon) as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as Johnny Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Hulu’s The Bear, Disney+’s Andor) as Ben Grimm, with Julia Garner (Ozark, Inventing Anna) as Shalla-Bal.
The Fantastic Four will be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.
