The Fantastic Four: First Steps is Marvel’s third and final MCU movie hitting theaters next year. Set to premiere on July 25th, the highly-anticipated Fantastic Four reboot has yet to finish principal production, with shooting currently underway in Spain.
While we know the main cast members, including the First Family and the villains, we also expect a few surprises from the movie. Everything Marvel has shown so far indicates this Fantastic Four team hails from a different reality. Marvel teased it all with clips and posters, so it’s not exactly a big spoiler.
This particular Fantastic Four family will eventually engage with the Avengers in the main reality. It might happen as soon as Doomsday, and we should expect these Fantastic Four to appear in Secret Wars.
This is where I remind you of a rumor saying that Robert Downey Jr. might appear as Doctor Doom in some capacity in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. This isn’t a spoiler either, considering that Doctor Doom is a key Fantastic Four antagonist and the main villain of the Multiverse Saga now that Kang is out of the picture.
Like Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the Infinity Saga, Doctor Doom needs some screen time before he attacks the Avengers. What better way to make that happen than a movie where we expect some sort of Doctor Doom cameo?
It turns out there’s going to be a mysterious actor in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and we have a leaked video from the set that shows Marvel hiding this particular cast member.
This is where I tell you that big spoilers might follow below.
It was only a few days ago that Marvel released the synopsis for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. That’s how Marvel also confirmed some of The Fantastic Four cast rumors by identifying the actors playing the film’s villains, Galactus and The Silver Surfer. Here’s that synopsis again:
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
Marvel couldn’t have kept the villains’ identities secret for too long. They will have to appear in trailers and marketing promos before the movie comes out. Fans will expect some sort of clarification about the upcoming battle and potential teasers about the ties to the MCU’s Avengers.
By revealing the villains, Marvel can also hope to keep other The Fantastic Four: First Steps cameos secret. This is where I show you the following video, shared on X by someone close to Marvel’s set in Spain.
A crew member uses a jacket to hide the identity of a mysterious actor. We have no idea who the man under the coat is or why Marvel would want to hide it.
The poster says it might be Pedro Pascal, whose identity Marvel is trying to conceal. That makes little sense, as other photos and videos from The Fantastic Four: First Steps set in Spain have leaked showing Pascal.
Check out these set photos from Spain that show the actor in what’s probably his character’s superhero attire:
Others think it might be Robert Downey Jr. under that improvised cloak, which would make sense. Again, Doctor Doom is expected to show up in some sort of way in The Fantastic Four. But a credit scene would probably make more sense, though it’s all speculation.
People reacting to the clip shared on X also suggested that it might be Chris Evans, the mysterious cast member of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Remember that Evans played Johnny Storm in one of the Fox Fantastic Four versions.
The actor returned to that role for Deadpool & Wolverine, where Johnny had a few amazing scenes, including an amazing monologue. The latter got him killed in the Void, and Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) isn’t to blame for it.
Whoever that mysterious actor might be, we don’t have more information about him at this point. Marvel hiding his identity means it should be a big surprise. Hopefully, some of the Fantastic Four surprises will remain secret, at least until the film’s official premiere.