The new "Fantastic Four" is now in theaters and earning stellar reviews. Here's when the Marvel hit will likely stream on Disney+ and digital, so you can watch it at home.

Pedro Pascal is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, but he is not the new leader of the Avengers. At least that’s what the actor says… for now.

First Steps director Matt Shakman was discreet when questioned about Robert Downey Jr.’s role in the post-credits scene, choosing not to reveal any details and leaving the discussion to fans.

At the core of First Steps are Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm. Each slips easily into their role like a customized astronaut suit, but special praise has to go to Kirby and Moss-Bacharach for giving the ensemble its real heart.

First Steps director Matt Shakman addresses a big Sue Storm moment in the movie's final act and reveals original plans for Franklin Richards' Marvel Cinematic Universe's introduction.

There are slight spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps in this article. From the moment a new, modified Marvel logo rolls on screen in front of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, you know that you’re in for a very different movie from the typical MCU movies we’ve been seeing lately.

“He goes from being the nerdy scientist who’s locked away in the lab, to the husband and the father who’d do anything to protect his family, to the guy who’s leading the Avengers. I realized that the version we were building had to have all of those elements.”

In the vast and ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, few characters have left as profound an emotional mark as Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch. From her introduction in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ to her full transformation into the multiverse-shaking Scarlet Witch in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’,

Speaking of connections… During one of my recent fits of insomnia, I discovered a strange factoid that connects The Fantastic Four: First Steps with Saved by the Bell, at least an early version of the popular high school-centric sitcom many of us grew up watching. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since, and I have to talk it out.

During the end credits of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, there is also another tribute, simply reading "For Inez Shakman". Inez Shakman is the mother of director Matt Shakman. She sadly passed away on April 3, 2025 at the age of 80.