Marvel's new The Fantastic Four stars have been unveiled, with Vanessa Kirby playing the only female in the troop, Sue Storm, and past actor Jessica Alba has some heartfelt advice for her.
"I think just have fun. The fans are so amazing," Alba told Collider. "It was probably one of the best times of my life, going around the world and meeting all of the people that just love The Fantastic Four and love these comic books and can relate to these stories. That, to me, and to be able to meet so many different people that you can touch and bring joy to them, I would say that's first and foremost for anyone who gets the honor of playing one of these awesome characters. So I’d tell her to just have fun and soak in the moments."
Alba notably played Storm AKA The Invisible Woman in the 2005 movie Fantastic Four and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and even voiced the hero in a later video game. Aside from Alba, the first flick starred Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards AKA Mr Fantatsic, Chris Evans as Jonny Storm AKA the Human Torch, and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm AKA The Thing.
Evans recently reprised his role as Jonny Storm in the recent MCU smash hit Deadpool and Wolverine, where he approaches the Merc and his clawed friend in The Void. At first, we expect Evans to be playing his better-known Marvel character Captain America, but as he shouts "Flame-on!" we realize in a massive twist he is actually playing Storm.
Now almost 20 years later, the upcoming reboot, officially titled The Fantastic Four: The First Steps, we get a brand new first family with Kirby as Storm alongside Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, and Joseph Quinn as Jonny Storm. Although this is Kirby’s first Marvel movie, she is best known for starring in major pictures such as Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible - Fallout and Dead Reckoning and TV show The Crown.
Although no official plotline has been released, we do know that the movie, directed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman, will be set in the ‘60s and will not be an origin story.
The cast also includes Ralph Ineson as Galactus, Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer, Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne, and John Malkovich. Who knows, with Evans showing up in Deadpool 3, maybe Alba will pull a Multiverse of Madness and appear in the upcoming Phase 6 movie. As we know, anything can happen with Marvel timelines these days.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps releases in theaters on July 25, 2025. Fantastic Four 2005 is available to stream on Disney Plus. For more, check out our guide on how to watch Marvel movies in order, or keep up to date with upcoming MCU movies and TV shows heading your way in 2024 and beyond.
