Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) may not be the leader of the Fantastic Four in First Steps

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is Marvel's next big movie, and it feels like it's going to be a big one. The Fantastic Four are a legendary superhero team making their first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There's a buzzy quartet of actors playing the main foursome: Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic; Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman; Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch; and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing. The movie is set in the 1960s, so it doesn't have any of the baggage a lot MCU films carry with them; you can go into this movie fresh.

The Fantastic Four are a superhero family who've been around since the 1960s. Reed and Sue are married, Johnny is Sue's sister and Ben is kind of an honorary member. Usually, Reed Richards is depicted as the leader of the group, and I imagine that will mostly be true of the new movie. But a lot has changed since the '60s; speaking to Collider, Vanessa Kirby remembered laughing with Pascal over an issue where Reed placates Sue's "complaining" by buying her a new dress. Kirby was careful to make sure that Sue had a “genuine feminine soulfulness" that didn't play into stereotypes.

It sounds like Kirby and Pascal got on famously on set. “I've never had a male actor as a counterpart who's been so utterly equal and supportive of the relationship, but also the female character opposite him," Kirby said. "I just feel so grateful every day to have an actor like Pedro who is so generous.” Pascal is just as enthusiastic, saying:

"I love being led in a way. What you may identify as generosity for me, it just isn't. I'm only inspired by… I guess just powerful women have been the thing that has gotten me through being alive. So, to have the opportunity to stand by one, to learn from one — just a partner, it's partnership; it’s male and female, but it's also just a kind of transcendent sort of partnership in the work and in the characters."

Franchise producer Grant Curtis suggests that Sue Storm may be "arguably the leader of the Fantastic Four [in the comics], because without Sue Storm, everything falls apart." That will be brought to the screen in the new movie. “We had the desire to date aesthetically, but in terms of character and treatment, who should be front and center, it's like, hey, let's tell the best story possible.”

I'm not sure how literally we're to take this talk about who leads who. I expect Sue and Reed to operate as a partnership. Mostly I'm hoping the movie turns out great, whatever exact character dynamics. With the Fantastic Four facing an enormous, planet-eating monster like Galactus (Ralph Ineson), my hopes are high. Curtis describes the film's villains as being "[t]he most epic of the most epic that you can imagine."

"[T]hat's the global stakes we're dealing with, the universal stakes we're dealing with. That's Galactus. When Galactus’s gaze comes across your planet, you're not in a good spot. I think that's as big of a scope and scale you could ever ask a villain to bring with him or her. And that is what Galactus brings... One of the beautiful things about working with Kevin Feige and with [director] Matt Shakman, they are totally in on sci-fi. I know that's not a shock, but just to see them talk about all things sci-fi and really embracing that look, and Galactus and one of the original bad guys of the Marvel Universe."

Amazon Prime members can buy tickets to early screenings of Superman

The Fantastic Four: First Steps comes out in theaters on Friday, July 25. Two weeks before that, on July 11, director James Gunn's new Superman movies hits theaters, making July 2025 the biggest month for superhero movies to come along in a while.

Will the Marvel and DC fandoms be at each other's throats? Pascal is hoping they can all get along; he posted the above image of Superman and Reed Richards enjoying a sunset together on his Instagram. If both movies are as good as they look, everyone will win here: studios will make money hand over fist and fans will have a great time at the movies.

By the way, starting today, Amazon Prime members in the US can buy tickets to see early access screenings of Superman in select theaters; they'll be happening on July 8 at 7:00 p.m. local time, a couple days before the official drop. Head to amazon.com/superman to find out more.

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h/t CNET