New ‘Fantastic Four’ Details Leaked: Shalla-Bal’s Role, Galactus’ Plan, and a Mysterious 5th Dimension

The first trailer for ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ dropped today, and fans are ecstatic. It introduces the alternate retro-futuristic reality that Marvel’s first family will originate from, giving us our first look at Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, Joseph Quinn as the Human Torch, and Vanessa Kirby showcasing her incredible powers as the Invisible Woman.

Pedro Pascal will be taking on the mantle of Reed Richards, with Ralph Ineson portraying Galactus – the big bad that the team will have to go up against.

The plot of the movie is so far under wraps but thanks to leaks and rumors we know that Galactus will target their reality due to something connected to young Franklin Richards and that the fight against the world-devouring villain will be very personal for the team.

By the end of the movie, we can expect the Fantastic Four will be forced to relocate to MCU’s reality – Earth-616.

Now Alex Perez, a notable industry insider shared some more details related to the plot of the movie.

Perez revealed that Shalla-Bal will be a villain in ‘First Steps’, but her character will have internal struggles, meaning she might not be purely evil. Galactus will also be an antagonist in the movie. However, Perez doesn’t believe Shalla-Bal will appear again in future MCU films after this one.

Alex Perez: She’ll be a conflicted antagonist. As is Galactus. But I don’t think we will be seeing her again after the film.

He also hinted that the movie will mention a concept called the “5th dimension,” which could play a key role in differentiating its universe from the main MCU (Earth-616). While he didn’t provide details, he suggested that this might be a reference to the work of Jack Kirby, the legendary Fantastic Four co-creator, known for his cosmic and multidimensional storytelling.

Alex Perez: There’s this thing they mention in the movie called the 5th dimension. I’ll let you guys ponder on that Kirby Easter egg for a few.

The fifth dimension however was already mentioned in the MCU in the context of ‘What If…?.’ The Fifth Dimension is a higher-level reality where the Watchers live. It includes the Observational Plane, where Uatu watches over different universes in the Multiverse.

Lastly, Perez revealed that the movie will include appearances from some classic Fantastic Four villains. However, he’s unsure if the Council of Reeds—a group of alternate versions of Reed Richards from different universes—will be in the film. What he does know is that Reed will be trying to make contact with other universes. (See our theory here.)

Regarding Galactus, Perez isn’t certain whether his origin will be explored in ‘The Fantastic Four’ or any future MCU films.

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