Kevin Feige Says Fantastic Four Will Be a Fresh Start for the MCU Without Any Catch-Up Needed

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become a bit of a maze. Every new movie or series seems to expect viewers to know a lot about previous stories.

With each release, it feels like there’s more backstory and more hidden references that only longtime fans will understand. New fans often feel lost.

Marvel tried to fix this problem before, but it didn’t work out as planned. Echo was supposed to be simple and focused just on its characters. You weren’t supposed to need any extra knowledge to follow the story.

But when the show came out, it became clear that people who hadn’t seen Netflix’s Daredevil or the Hawkeye series were missing out on key parts of Echo’s story, especially her connection to Kingpin.

Deadpool & Wolverine was also promised as a movie that anyone could watch without “homework.” But that wasn’t really true either. Most of the jokes and references were tied to old Fox X-Men films and even the earlier Fantastic Four movies.

That left many casual viewers confused, not understanding why certain scenes were supposed to be funny. According to some reports, this confusion was even part of why the film got mixed reviews from critics.

Now, Marvel boss Kevin Feige says the upcoming Fantastic Four movie will finally be different. Feige promised that this movie will be a true fresh start.

Feige explained, “It’s a no-homework-required, go see the movie. It’s literally not connected to anything that was made before. It kicks off Phase Six.”

This time, fans are more hopeful that Marvel might stick to that promise. Fantastic Four: First Steps is not linked to the Avengers, the blip, or any of the multiverse stories that have taken over the MCU in recent years. According to Feige, it was important to keep this movie in its own world without all the usual Marvel connections.

He also said, “There were a lot of left turns and surprises that happened over the last seven or eight years. A positive one was to finally have those characters back and the X-Men.”

Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman. The film features Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as the new Fantastic Four team. Other cast members include Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson. Ineson will play Galactus, the massive cosmic villain threatening their world.

Unlike past versions of the Fantastic Four, this film won’t tell their origin story. Instead, it jumps straight into the action, with the team living in a retro-futuristic world inspired by the 1960s. The heroes will have to face Galactus and protect their planet from being destroyed.

Marvel has been trying to get this film made ever since Disney bought Fox back in 2019. At first, Jon Watts was supposed to direct, but he left the project, and Matt Shakman was brought in to replace him. The script went through several rewrites with writers like Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson helping to shape the story. Filming took place in England and Spain from July to November 2024.

Fantastic Four: First Steps will have its world premiere on July 21, 2025, in Los Angeles. It will release everywhere in the US on July 25, 2025. Marvel has already confirmed that a sequel is on the way.

If Kevin Feige’s promise holds true this time, fans can look forward to a movie that doesn’t expect them to know everything about the MCU. You can just show up, watch, and enjoy.

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