FIRST STEPS Concept Art Reveals First Look At Alternate Suit Designs For The Team

Marvel Studios and filmmaker Matt Shakman have made no secret of the fact that The Fantastic Four: First Steps is heavily inspired by the work of legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby. 

In an early montage, we see Marvel’s First Family wearing classic versions of the suits they donned in Fantastic Four #1 to battle Mole Man, while their current costumes also don’t shy away from that retrofuturistic 1960s-inspired vibe. 

Ryan Meinerding, Character Designer, Creative Director, and Marvel Studios Head of Visual Development, has now shared a first look at some early suit designs for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. At first glance, they’re quite similar, but upon closer inspection, we’re sure you’ll notice how much they differ from what made it into theaters this summer. 

“Early [Fantastic Four] suit designs,” the artist shared on Instagram. “This was one of the first images where we were trying to get a retro sci-fi movie feel in the suits. I also tried to get some Kirby shapes into the tech in the background, directly based on [a] page he drew where the Thing was lifting a heavy piece of tech in Reed’s lab.”

While many fans will appreciate the black boots and belts, the way the white is incorporated differently on Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny gives them a less uniform appearance. We still don’t know why Mister Fantastic was the only one with a blue collar in the movie, so here’s hoping the upcoming “Art of” book sheds some light on that. 

You can take a closer look at these alternate costume designs for The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the post below. 

Meinerding has also posted an early take on the team’s space suits, along with keyframes depicting the moment the Fantastic Four come face-to-(giant)-face with Galactus for the first time aboard his Worldship. 

Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.

Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.

Also appearing are Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert. John Malkovich was set to play Red Ghost, but was cut due to time constraints.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer.

The movie is now playing in theaters.