According to a recent profile for Entertainment Weekly, The Fantastic Four (Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach) live in a utopian Marvel universe where Reed Richards’ (Pascal) genius has solved all of the world’s problems. The first half of The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer is appropriately idyllic, with citizens falling over themselves to thank their brave heroes. Then the Silver Surfer arrives to kill the vibe with a dire warning: “Your planet is now marked for death.”
This is the first we’ve seen of Julia Garner’s female Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal, described as the “enigmatic Herald” to Ralph Ineson’s “ravenous space god” Galactus. (We also get a very small glimpse at the very big Galactus, mainly his colossal feet causing rampant destruction in the city streets.) According to the previously released synopsis, balancing “their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond” as they face Galactus will be the team’s “most daunting challenge yet. … And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.”
What’s so personal about this particular mission? Well, it may be that Sue (Kirby) is pregnant—and she looks fairly far along by the time the Silver Surfer shows up. She is noticeably not pregnant by the time she’s throwing up force fields to protect a ruined-looking city block. Obviously these clips are being shown out of order, but it’s enough of a tease to make you wonder, is Baby Richards safe and sound back in that cute-looking crib? Or has something more sinister occurred?
The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer is also the first true look at the team in action, and it’s enough to whet fans’ appetites for the July 25 release. The previous teaser gave us a taste of The Thing (Moss-Bachrach), Human Torch (Quinn), and Invisible Woman, and now we get a bit of elasticity from Mr. Fantastic, who has time to pun despite the circumstances: “It’s my fault. I stretched the bounds of space, and they heard,” he says ruefully in the trailer. Get it? Stretched? So far, the world of the new Fantastic Four is looking pretty exciting—and just think, we haven’t even seen any of Paul Walter Hauser or Natasha Lyonne yet. Hopefully, the movie can live up to the ever-increasing hype.
