About

The Fantastic Four or The Fantastic 4 is an upcoming superhero film based on the comic book series of the same name by Marvel Comics. In February 2024, it was announced that The Fantastic Four is set to debut on July 25th, 2025, as a part of the MCU and will star actors Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn as the titular characters. The announcement in early 2024 prompted a notable amount of coverage in the media, as well as discourse and memes referencing it.

History

After Disney gained the rights to The Fantastic Four through the acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, the film was finally announced at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20th, 2019. Matt Shakman, who directed the Disney+ series WandaVision, will be directing the film, according to Forbes.^[1] The news was soon shared by Screenrant on Twitter / X,^[2] with the official @screenrant account live-tweeting about the Marvel panel, including the news of The Fantastic Four being confirmed at the very end. The July 20th tweet received 1,700 likes in roughly five years (seen below).

On February 14th, 2024, @MarvelStudios announced the release date for The Fantastic Four, July 25th, 2025, in a Twitter / X post, which received 19,000 likes and 5,600 reposts in less than a day (seen below, left).

At roughly the same time, the cast was officially announced when @MarvelStudios and the official Marvel Entertainment X^[3] account, @Marvel, posted a comic featuring drawings of the new cast alongside the announcement that the Fantastic Four will be played by Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn. The post (seen below, right) received about 41,000 likes and 21,000 reposts in under a day.

Reception

After the announcement of the movie's cast on February 14th, 2024, the movie trended on social media, with many expressing interest or concern in the casting. For instance, on February 14th, X^[4] user @InsertMontage, used a GIF from The Office to express appreciation for the announcements in a post that earned 150 likes in under a day (shown below). Others shared similar sentiments, likely due to the long hiatus between the film's initial confirmation and the 2024 announcement.

Some criticized the casting, particularly Joseph Quinn and Pedro Pascal. Quinn was a controversial choice due to one of his most notable roles being the character Eddie Munson from Stranger Things. Pascal was also somewhat controversial, partially because fans expected John Krasinski to play the role of Reed Richards, or Mr. Fantastic, instead due to his cameo as an alternate universe version of Richards in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

For instance, on February 14th, 2024, X^[6] user @hernandy_s criticized Quinn's slower response to the news on social media, earning over 7,000 likes and 360 retweets in 12 hours (seen below, left). At the same time, many, like X^[5] user @REDACTEDSpider, defended the cast, arguing that the audience is eager to form biases about the actors' previous roles. The February 14th post by @REDACTEDSpider received approximately 3,000 likes in less than 12 hours (seen below, right).

Search Interest

External References