Film guide · 2025
The parts that are hard to follow from the film alone, explained with a story summary, a character map and key terms.
It's set on Earth-828, not the main MCU Earth (Earth-616).
You don't need to know other MCU films.
The world looks like the future as imagined in the 1960s.
They're a team, but above all a family.
A mid-credits scene sets up what's next, and there's another at the end.
Who's who in The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025). The family is at the top, the visitors from space below.
Because of copyright, we can't use stills, posters or any other images of the characters as they appear in the film. All face photos are freely licensed photos of the actors themselves (non-human characters are original illustrations made for this site; people without a photo are shown with initials).
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Reed RichardsCenter ・ Pedro PascalMister Fantastic
Sue StormCenter ・ Vanessa KirbyInvisible Woman
Johnny StormMain ・ Joseph QuinnHuman Torch
Ben GrimmMain ・ Ebon Moss-BachrachThe Thing
Silver Surfer (Shalla-Bal)Main ・ Julia GarnerHerald of GalactusFace photos are freely licensed photos of the actors from Wikimedia Commons, cropped to a square and resized. Non-human characters are original illustrations made for this site, and people without a photo are shown with a placeholder (initials).
Sue and Reed learn they're having a baby.
A silver herald appears to announce Earth's doom.
In space, Galactus makes the family an offer.
The family devises a plan to protect both their baby and the planet.
Galactus comes to Earth.
Contains spoilers about the ending.
The unborn child already carries tremendous cosmic power. Galactus wants to pass on his endless hunger to him.
Shalla-Bal agreed to become his herald in exchange for sparing her own world.
It takes place in a separate universe, but the mid-credits scene is widely seen as setting up Avengers: Doomsday.
Cars, gadgets and TVs all look like a 1960s vision of the future.
There's a children's TV show about the family.
Johnny works to decode mysterious signals from space.
Mid-credits: while Sue reads to Franklin, a masked figure, apparently Doctor Doom, approaches him.