- Marvel has announced a comic-book tie-in for The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- The prequel story reveals how long Marvel's First Family has had their superpowers for
- A new Lego leak has also revealed a first full look at the movie's villain, Galactus
Marvel has announced a comic-book prequel to The Fantastic Four: First Steps – and it reveals some crucial lore about the iconic quartet ahead of their Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut.
Per Marvel.com, the literary tie-in will be released on July 2, i.e., just three weeks before The Fantastic Four's next big-screen adaptation takes flight in theaters globally.
The comic book, which has been penned by Matt Fraction and drawn by Mark Buckingham, also represents a first for the comic giant. Indeed, this marks the first time that Marvel Studios and Marvel Comics have collaborated on any literary tie-in for an MCU project.
First Steps' comic precursor features a callback to Marvel's First Family's debut on the page, too. Its Phil Noto-designed cover art is a near-identical replica of the group's first-ever comic – The Fantastic Four #1, which was released in November 1961 – that shows the iconic quartet battling Giganto.
That isn't the most interesting tidbit hidden within this one-shot comic's pages, though. The prequel story reconfirms that First Steps won't be an origins story, as it reveals that the superteam will have been operating as heroes in their universe for four years by the time the Marvel Phase 6 film begins.
For those who might not realize it, the comic book also doubles down on the fact that First Steps won't be set in the MCU. Some fans already knew this following the unveiling of a Fantastic Four poster in February 2024 and Marvel teasing some key story details about the flick last April. In June of last year, Marvel President Kevin Feige confirmed that First Steps would be a period piece, too, with the movie being set on a parallel dimension's Earth in the 1960s.
A Galactus-sized leak or a mini spoiler?
Potentially big spoilers follow for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
That wasn't the only news concerning The Fantastic Four over the weekend (April 26-27).
On Saturday, one eagle-eyed fan snapped two images of a First Steps Lego set that revealed the first full look at the MCU movie's villain Galactus, who'll be voiced by The Office UK star Ralph Ineson.
76316 Randomly appears on the shelves in Tbilisi, Sakartvelo (credit: gionoir) from r/Legoleak
The photographs were uploaded to the Lego Leak Reddit page by lunaym_moscor, who credits a Georgia-based fan known online as gionoir with taking them.
The official box art shows the titular group battling the cosmic entity on the streets of New York City, and suggests Marvel has retained Galactus' iconic look from the comics. It seems that potentially disgruntled Marvel fans won't have anything to complain about when it comes to Galactus' design in Marvel's cinematic juggernaut, then.
As I wrote earlier, this is the first proper look we've received, albeit in Lego form, of Galactus. The Fantastic Four: First Steps' first teaser and First Steps' official trailer have only teased what the planet-devouring extraterrestrial will look like.
However, with one of 2025's most anticipated new movies only months away from being released, leaks like this are inevitable as physical stores start to stock their shelves with toys ahead of the film's release.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released worldwide on Friday, July 25. While we wait, read about everything we know so far in my dedicated hub on The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
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