Breaking Down the Latest ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Trailer

It’s June 4, which means tickets for The Fantastic Four: First Steps are officially on sale! I don’t know about you all, but I cannot wait to see Marvel’s First Family tearing up the big screen. All signs point to this one being a banger, and we got another new look at the film today. Let’s break down some of the key moments from this 75-second sneak peek, and deconstruct what it might showcase for the new movie and, perhaps, the greater MCU!

Before diving into each frame, take a look at the new footage right here:

While a fair amount of this are from scenes we’ve seen before from previous clips and trailers, there’s at least a few new shots and a couple of big reveals we never got before.

The footage starts with Sue Storm overlooking a crib in the Fantastic Four’s nursery as Reed walks in. It’s very hard to see what’s hanging on the mobile above the baby’s crib, but one could easily assume it’s a model of their solar system (remember, this iteration of the Fantastic Four is from another universe entirely). Given the cosmic origins of these characters, Sue and Reed would likely honor their space-exploration backgrounds by introducing their child to their planet’s solar system early.

We then get a quick shot of Sue and Ben sitting together as Ben affectionately shows support and love for his buddy. I have heard that a lot of the movie will be focused on Sue and her ability to keep the family together. The closeness between Ben Grimm and Sue Storm as close buddies is not something that’s often highlighted in most films, so I’m glad this film is demonstrating some tender moments between The Thing and “Susie” as he affectionately calls her. The CG on The Thing is looking great at this point too!

“Family is about connecting to something bigger than yourself,” Sue narrates. I love how the next shot synced to “bigger than yourself” is one of Johnny! It’s in some ways hilarious, but also meaningful in the sense that as braggadocios and self centered as Johnny Storm can be, he ultimately understands what it’s like to prioritize family. We get a shot of him looking at a space suit, admiring, what’s likely, Reed’s handiwork. We get a very close up shot of the “4” symbol on the helmet, but notice how different it looks from the “4” symbol we’ve been seeing on most of the released looks, and even (*SPOILER ALERT*) the rocket from the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts. In fact, it looks a lot closer to the symbol John Krasinski’s version of Reed Richards had in Multiverse of Madness. Could there be a connection there to the way Reed designed the symbol? Perhaps as a tribute to the “spaghetti-fied” other Reed, implying they’ve met (Council of Reeds)? Or maybe it’s just a coincidence?

We get a few brief glimpses of shots we’ve seen before, such as Reed and Sue sharing a sweet, romantic kiss, Ben towing a ship, and Sue putting up a force field, before we get (what I consider to be) the money shot of this sneak peek: Our first official look at baby Franklin Richards:

Already decked out in “Fantastic Four blue,” it’s great that Marvel Studios, at this point, is aware everyone knows Franklin is going to be in this. Franklin Richards is, perhaps, one of the most powerful characters in all of Marvel Comics. He’s an Omega-level mutant with the power to alter reality completely. The fact that Franklin will be officially born at some point during the movie does make me wonder what the timeline of this film will be, and how long it covers in the lives of these characters. Clearly we know from previous trailers that the family finds out Sue is pregnant, meaning it’d be in the early stages of pregnancy when she announces it. And now we know Franklin does make an official appearance. Therefore the movie must cover a full nine-month period (unless the rules of biology are different in their universe?). So are we getting segmented moments from the origin story to their departure from this universe? If so, how old will Franklin be by the end of the film?

We then get a few shots of an apocalyptic event happening, and Johnny flaming on, which we’ve seen from previous trailers. We get a few new glimpses of the Fantasticar in action, which look great! The backgrounds and settings in which they take off are also revealed, giving us a better look at the skyline in this universe’s version of New York. I have always loved the retro-futuristic look of this film, and we see it a lot more in the architecture of the city.

We next get a few shots of the crew coming back or going to a mission. We get a shot of the Future Foundation logo on the back of Sue’s jacket. She’s clearly the only one not in a space suit. Is she staying behind due to the pregnancy? There is a shot of her looking at either a rocket or, possibly, a potential space station, as well as a look at some of the crazy robots building the out.

I half wonder if this is a “Noah’s Ark” situation, where, as the defenders of this universe, Reed and the team are building a space station for everyone to live in, as they evacuate their Earth in preparation for Galactus’ attack. As the sole heroes of Earth, and with Reed being the smartest man on the planet, it does seem to be a very logical assumption to conclude, given the chalkboard calculations and work he’s putting into everything.

We next get a brief glimpse at Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer; The Shalla-Bal version for all the whiners out complaining about how they “gender-swapped” the surfer (*YAWN* at your unoriginal toxic comments). The shot is awesome as she’s literally riding an explosion, which looks completely terrific! The effects for The Surfer are looking great!

We get a quick shot of Johnny and Sue being siblings, and a new shot of Johnny and Ben being best frienemies on a space shuttle. I have to call it now, much like Chris Evans was with the mid-’00s films, Joseph Quinn seems to be stealing the show with his amazing one-liners and incredible energy! Love this guy!

We then get a montage of clips we’ve seen before, followed by an awesome soundbite of Johnny asking Ben, “Is it Clobberin’ Time?” to which The Thing replies, “HELL YEAH!” As a life long fan, that just made me super happy hearing it!

We get a few more scenes we’ve seen in previous trailers before arriving at a final tag scene that we haven’t seen before, showcasing a funny interaction between Johnny and Reed, as well as the space suits we saw Johnny admiring earlier (with the new logo). “I take back every single bad thing I’ve been saying about you.”

Between this and the quip he had at Reed about being out of his depth about being a father in the full trailer, I just love how much Johnny busts Reed’s chops throughout this movie so far!