Summary
The title ofThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsmay have been sneakily changed. The rumored title change comes from an actor reportedly playing the First Family’s robot assistant H.E.R.B.I.E.
TheFantastic FourMCU reboot was announced in 2019 shortly after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, finally bringing the film rights to Marvel’s First Family back home. After several years of development, the film wasofficially titledThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsat San Diego Comic-Con 2024, bringing to mind the moon landing and possibly the inclusion of Franklin Richards, the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. Not everyone was a fan of the official title, with some preferring the simpleThe Fantastic Fourname. Now, another title change may be in the works.
ActorJack Parker’s LinkedIn account lists the film asThe Fantastic Four: First Contact. While Parker’s character is listed as “TBC” (presumably meaning ‘to be confirmed’),The Cosmic Circusreports that Parker is playing H.E.R.B.I.E. According to the outlet, H.E.R.B.I.E. will be a practical puppet on theFantastic Fourset that interacts with the main cast, similar toStar Warsdroids like R2-D2. While Parker will reportedly operate the puppet, the outlet doesn’t know if he will voice the character or if a new actor will be cast to provide vocals (similar to how Sean Gunn played Rocket Raccoon on theGuardians of the Galaxy sets while Bradley Cooper voiced the character).
It could be assumed that Parker is mistaken aboutThe Fantastic Fourtitle. However, the actor reportedly listed H.E.R.B.I.E as his character on LinkedIn before removing the role from his profile (viaFiction Horizon), but he kept theFirst Contacttitle. Fans speculate that if he had time to remove “H.E.R.B.I.E.” and replace it with “Character TBC,” he would have changed the title back toFantastic Four: First Stepsif the new name wasn’t correct. Of course, Marvel Studios has yet to announce any title change and the film is still listed asThe Fantastic Four: First Stepson all official channels.
D23 Brazil is nearly here, and fans expect news aboutDisney and Marvel Studios' upcoming MCU slate. If there is a title change forThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, it may be announced at this event. But again, fans should take this information with a grain of salt.
Because pastThe Fantastic Fourfeature film adaptations haven’t been well-received, fans expect Marvel Studios to deliver a film worthy of the First Family. The first footage shown at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 was applauded, andFantastic Four: First Stepreportedly features Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doomin a post-credits scene, paving the way forAvengers: Doomsday. So, there are many reasons to be excited to be The Fantastic Four’s MCU debut, regardless of what the new movie is titled.
The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis scheduled to be released in theaters on June 19, 2025.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the first MCU movie to feature Marvel’s First Family in the same live-action universe as the Avengers. It introduces the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm, and precedes Phase 6’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.
