Superheroes, dinosaurs and nostalgia took the world of Hollywood by storm this summer, with the likes of Superman, Jurassic World Rebirth, Freakier Friday, and I Know What You Did Last Summer all thrilling audiences around the world. Of course, Marvel Studios got in the fun - twice in fact, with the critically-acclaimed Thunderbolts* arriving in May and the larger-than-life The Fantastic Four: First Steps making its presence felt as one of July's big releases.
The film, led by the heroic quartet of Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm / Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Ben Grimm / The Thing, proved to be a fan-favorite of the summer season, earning itself around $500 million at the box office.
There's still time to see it in movie theaters before it completes its theatrical run, but fans have noticed that July's other two big blockbuster movies (Superman and Jurassic World Rebirth) have already made their digital debut - leaving everyone to wonder when Fantastic Four will be available to watch at home on VOD services?
The Fantastic Four: First Steps' digital streaming release is expected to be before the end of September
We should expect to see Marvel's First Family's big adventure released digitally between mid and late September. Marvel hasn't pinned down an exact day as of yet, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have a two-month wait between their theatrical and digital releases. Moreover, a new report claims that the film will be made available to purchase or rent on digital platforms on September 27. That would also line up with the release timeframe of previous releases. Even looking at the franchise's most recent digital release, Thunderbolts* was released to buy / rent on digital services on July 1, exactly two months after its theatrical release date, so F4's rumored Sept. 27 date would match that (as it would see the movie come out on VOD platforms two months and two days after its arrival in theaters).
So, no, it doesn't look like The Fantastic Four will be joining Superman and Jurassic World Rebirth in nabbing early digital releases. Both films arrived on VOD services (such as Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV) just over a month after their respective releases in cinemas, which is quite frankly shocking considering that both were still making a lot of money at the box office. But hey, it allows the films to dominate the downloads charts too!
Naturally, fans were hoping that First Steps might join its fellow July blockbusters in doing so, but that won't be the case it seems. Marvel often holds its theatrical titles for around two months before releasing them digitally and, with The Fantastic Four suffering from a sharp second-week box office drop, it's probably wise that the studio attempts to make up for that by ensuring that all MCU fans continue to see it while it is still in theaters.
Speaking of the movie's box office gross, it has performed well for Marvel all in all, posting stronger numbers than the vast majority of the franchise's recent films. Even with the slightly sharp second-week drop, it's still expected to complete its box office run just north of $500 million worldwide, making it the most successful Marvel movie of the year (and one of the strongest-performing of the past few years). It's also the highest-grossing Fantastic Four movie of all time, so this one really has been a winner all around.
Taking all of that into account, it would make total sense that Marvel would prefer to place a focus on getting the film over the $500 million mark (it's currently sitting at $490 million) and then allowing it to push a bit further before the end of its theatrical run - especially if the studio is planning on making that sequel happen. And with that in mind, that end-of-September digital release is looking extremely likely right now.
After its made available to purchase and rent on digital services, its streaming debut will come this Autumn when it arrives on Disney Plus.
Needless to say, fans are ready to catch up with Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben in the not-too-distant future.