The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Release Date: July 25, 2025
Director: Matt Shakman
Writers: Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, Eric Pearson, and Ian Springer
Cast:
• Pedro Pascal – Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards
• Vanessa Kirby – Invisible Woman/Sue Storm
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach – Thing/Ben Grimm
• Joseph Quinn – Human Torch/Johnny Storm
• Ralph Ineson – Galactus
• Julia Garner – Silver Surfer/Shalla-Bal
• John Malkovich
• Paul Walter Hauser
• Natasha Lyonne
The Fantastic Four have already had two cinematic endeavors this century. The most recent was directed by Josh Trank in 2015 and was a dismal affair. Despite Black Panther’s Michael B. Jordan standing in as the Human Torch, the film was a critical and commercial failure. Ten years prior, Tim Story helmed a Fantastic Four duology; a fun family friendly superhero series with Chris Evans portraying Johnny Storm not too long before suiting up as Captain America in the MCU. Evans had an outrageous cameo as Human Torch in Deadpool & Wolverine.
The most unique aspect about this Fantastic Four story is that it will take place in an alternate, retro-futuristic 1960’s setting. Whereas Hank Pym’s Ant-Man operated covertly in the 1970’s and 80’s main MCU timeline, explaining public obscurity in the Avenger’s world, the Fantastic Four are universally popular in their time. The simple clarification for the foursome’s existence within the MCU would be the multiverse. An intriguing element will be the narrative’s connectivity to the larger franchise – their spaceship already caught Earth-616’s attention in the Thunderbolts* post-credits’ stinger.
John Krasinki stunned fans when he played Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That variant of the character was also outside of the sacred timeline. In First Steps, pop culture icon Pedro Pascal will look to dominate yet another beloved universe. Ebon Moss-Bachrach has some experience in this genre after portraying Micro in Netflix’s The Punisher. And Joseph Quinn is no “stranger” to admired genre properties; he was fan-favorite Eddie Munson in Stranger Things. However, the cast member with perhaps the least invitations to Comic-Con is the finest actor of the quartet, Vanessa Kirby.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Release Date: June 26, 2026
Director: Craig Gillespie
Writer: Ana Nogueira
Cast:
• Milly Alcock – Supergirl/Kara Zor-El
• Matthias Schoenaerts – Krem
• David Krumholtz – Zor-El
• Emily Beecham – Alura In-Ze
• Jason Momoa – Lobo
James Gunn’s Superman is looking more and more like a launching pad for the DCU projects that will follow. After Nathan Fillion will portray Guy Gardner, other Green Lanterns will glow in the HBO Max series Lanterns. Superman heroes like Hawkgirl, Metamorpho, and Mister Terrific will certainly resurface in future content. But a primary focus after Superman will be the Supergirl spinoff, Woman of Tomorrow.
Unlike James Gunn’s Superman, which will now share a name with the revered Richard Donner classic (after dropping “Legacy” from its title), the Woman of Tomorrow subtitle will differentiate this undertaking from the 1984 movie, as well as the Arrowverse television series, which were both called Supergirl. "Woman of Tomorrow" is the name of a popular contemporary DC comics story.
House of the Dragon standout, Milly Alcock, will debut as Supergirl in James Gunn’s Superman, before starring in Woman of Tomorrow. Even better news is the hiring of director Craig Gillespie, who has a solid track record – something some of the DCEU filmmakers lacked. Gillespie’s filmography is well-rounded, however the most pertinent connection worth formulating for Woman of Tomorrow is his commendable work directing phenomenal female performances, such as Margot Robbie in I Tonya and Emma Stone in Cruella.