Marvel's 'The Fantastic Four' release date, cast, plot rumors and more

Marvel Studios' Fantastic Four logo, as revealed at Comic-Con
(Image credit: Marvel Via Twitter)

Marvel's upcoming "The Fantastic Four" movie faces a task none of its predecessors have succeeded with — getting the Richards family right on the big screen. This is the MCU's first take on the family, so maybe it has a chance. 

Details are finally coming in about the movie. We now know that the rumors of Pedro Pascal's casting were accurate, and there are now potential plot details that seem likely to be true. We even have a release date, though it's already moved around since the movie was announced back in 2019.

So will this movie be better than the other Fantastic Four movies that preceded it? Well, Disney's track record with Marvel movies is much stronger than any other studio's. Here's everything we know so far, including the release date, cast, plot rumors and more.

'The Fantastic Four' release date

Currently, Disney has slated "The Fantastic Four for July 25, 2025. It had most recently been slated for May 2, 2025, but Marvel swapped it with "Thunderbolts" when it announced the official casting of the Fantastic Four in the MCU.

The movie has reportedly been rewritten twice, so there's a chance this date moves again before it makes it to the big screen. But for now, we're hopeful this July 2025 date holds.

Oh, and Marvel got sneaky and changed the name of the movie when they changed the release date. The previous working title for the movie was "Fantastic Four" but Marvel has now officially dubbed it "The Fantastic Four."

'The Fantastic Four' cast officially announced

Rumors about this movie's cast are rumors no more. Marvel made things official with the MCU's first family on Valentine's Day 2024, announcing the movie's main cast via Instagram.

As heavily rumored, and even leaked, Pedro Pascal of "The Last of Us" will indeed be starring as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic. He'll be joined by Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, aka The Thing and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch. 

All four had been heavily rumored to be attached to this Marvel project, but it's a huge relief for fans to finally see it announced.

However, there's still one character in the announcement who has yet to be cast. The Instagram post features the robot H.E.R.B.I.E. and there's no word yet on who will voice this fifth member of the Fantastic Four.

Moss-Bachrach has given us an update on one thing to expect though — or rather, what we can expect from his portrayal of the Thing. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live (h/t Variety), Moss-Bachrach confirmed that he won't be wearing a suit like Michael Chiklis did in the 2005 movie "Fantastic Four." Instead, he'll be using motion capture technology to portray the golem-like figure.

But that wasn't all he revealed. Apparently, at least he has been cast for his role in this upcoming Marvel since last summer. It's pretty remarkable that Marvel was able to keep this under wraps for as long as they did.

Aside from the officially announced cast, we do have a casting rumor with some substance. According to Marvel insider Can We Get Some Toast, Franklin Richards will be cast in the film, which will reportedly start filming in August (h/t Austin Medeiros). It's still unclear who will play the son of Reed and Sue Richards, so stay tuned for more casting announcements.

'The Fantastic Four' plot rumors

While there's nothing official about this movie's plot, there have been rumors since August 2023 about when this movie would take place. 

According to these rumors, this Fantastic Four movie would take place during the 1960s. The family of superheroes would then eventually make it into the present day, possibly in a similar fashion to how Captain America (h/t Comic Book Movie). 

Marvel's Instagram announcement does hint at this rumored plot given its retro 1960s vibe. Sure, it could be a coincidence, but I think we all know there must be a reason Marvel made that artistic choice.

For his part, Moss-Bachrach wouldn't confirm or deny the rumors of a 1960s story for this movie. All that Kimmel could get out of him in their interview was "That image does seem to be ’60s themed." Having watched the interview though, I'm inclined to believe that if the rumor was wrong he'd have denied things a little more strongly.

References to the Fantastic Four in the MCU so far

We're starting to see references to Marvel's first family in the MCU. For starters, a Kang the Conqueror (who also goes by the name Nathaniel Richards) variant named He Who Remains appeared in the Loki season 1 finale. Kang's long been a thorn in the Fantastic Four's side in the comics.

In that same episode, there may have been another reference to the Richards family, at least as one fan saw it. A close look at an outer-space scene may have revealed the Richards family's spaceship.

And of course, we saw John Krasinski as Mr. Fantastic in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" but that was a separate Earth and likely won't have further bearing on the MCU.

Malcolm McMillan
Senior Streaming Writer

Malcolm McMillan is a senior writer for Tom's Guide, covering all the latest in streaming TV shows and movies. That means news, analysis, recommendations, reviews and more for just about anything you can watch, including sports! If it can be seen on a screen, he can write about it. Previously, Malcolm had been a staff writer for Tom's Guide for over a year, with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI), A/V tech and VR headsets.


Before writing for Tom's Guide, Malcolm worked as a fantasy football analyst writing for several sites and also had a brief stint working for Microsoft selling laptops, Xbox products and even the ill-fated Windows phone. He is passionate about video games and sports, though both cause him to yell at the TV frequently. He proudly sports many tattoos, including an Arsenal tattoo, in honor of the team that causes him to yell at the TV the most.

  • mahabul86
    I would love to see:

    Timothée Chalamet - Mr. Fantastic
    Saoirse Ronan/Sophie Turner - Sue Storm / MAY BE: Emilia Jones(probably too young as she is elder than Johnny Storm)
    Tye Sheridan/ Harry Styles - Human Torch
    O'Shea Jackson Jr. - The Thing
    LaKeith Stanfield - Doctor Doom
    Reply