Marvel has just announced a tie-in comic for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in a comic that is being touted as the first full-on collaboration between Marvel Studios and Marvel Comics, in a heretofore unprecedented display of synergy across mediums, potentially signaling a new era of cooperation between the two branches of the company.
As reported by Deadline, Fantastic Four: First Steps the comic, written by Matt Fraction, with art by Mark Buckingham, will formally introduce the characters into the MCU ahead of the film version of the team’s debut.
As noted by Deadline, the issue is being “designed to be an artefact [sic] from the world of the movie,” meaning it will be presented from an in-universe perspective, helping to immerse fans in this new corner of the MCU ahead of the official on-screen arrival.
Marvel Presents The MCU's Fantastic Four From An In-Universe POV In An Tie-In Comic
Fantastic Four: First Steps Tie-In Comic; Written By Matt Fraction; Art By Mark Buckingham; Main Cover By Phil Noto
Marvel's Fantastic Four: First Steps tie-in comic is an exciting announcement, not just because it will introduce fans to the world of the film weeks before the MCU movie's highly-anticipated release, but because of how it is going to do so. According to Deadline, this is "the first in world book from Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios," or in other words, more than just being penned from an in-universe perspective, the issue will be framed as a comic book that is actually available for purchase in the MCU.
Marvel Comics exists within its own fictional continuity, and now it will seemingly be canonized as part of the MCU continuity as well.
This is notable for several reasons. For one, it brings a level of self-reflexive storytelling that is already present in the Marvel Comics Universe to its on-screen counterpart; in other words, Marvel Comics exists within its own fictional continuity, and now it will seemingly be canonized as part of the MCU continuity as well. Further, this reflects a parodied by series such as Garth Ennis' The Boys.
Marvel's "First Steps" Tie-In Is The Next Step For The Relationship Between Its Comics And Movies
Fantastic Four: First Steps; Comic Available July 2, 2025 From Marvel Comics; Film In Theaters July 25 From Marvel Studios
So, there is a strong vein of narrative potential that the Fantastic Four: First Steps in-universe comic tie-in could be just starting to tap into for the MCU, while in the real world, it is a notable signal that Marvel Studios, the film and TV side of the company, intends to work more closely with Marvel Comics, the publishing side, than ever before. While there have been plenty of tie-in comics set in the MCU before, this suggests a further evolution of the crossover between the two mediums.
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Fans have already suspected this shift toward greater synergy was in progress, particularly pointing to the current TVA miniseries as evidence that the MCU and Marvel's comic book Multiverse are overlapping in more significant ways. The First Steps comic one-shot, as reported by Deadline, is all about "bringing those two worlds together" in a satisfying way, as stated by Marvel Editor C.B. Cebulski. With a novel premise, and a connection to the most hyped MCU project in years, the Fantastic Four movie tie-in comic has the potential to be a gamechanger.
Marvel's "First Steps" Comic Is A "Retelling" Of The Fantastic Four's First Superhero Battle
More Details Revealed About The Unique Tie-In "Artifact"
Following Deadline's reveal of the First Steps comic, Marvel released its own announcement with additional details about the story, one which mostly maintains kayfabe, or for those uninitiated into the lingo of professional wrestling, purports to be an in-universe document itself, reporting on the publication of an in-universe comic book. As the release reads:
The Future Foundation is proud to partner with Marvel Comics to produce the first-ever authorized retelling of the Fantastic Four's early adventures.
As Fantastic Four fans will know, the Future Foundation is an organization founded in the Marvel Universe by Mister Fantastic, which is now confirmed to appear in the MCU.
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Notably, by unveiling Fantastic Four: First Steps, the comic, Marvel has also clarified certain foundational details about the soon-to-be released movie, such as the fact that it takes place four years after the incident which gives the Four their superpowers. The Marvel announcement speaks effusively of the team's "incredible rise to global stardom," suggesting that their in-universe role as Marvel's most beloved superhero squad will carry over to the screen as well. The full synopsis for the issue reads:
Four years ago, the world was transformed as an amazing cosmic-powered quartet revealed themselves and their astonishing abilities to the public! Since that time, they have become world-famous as the Fantastic Four! Now, to celebrate that anniversary, Marvel Comics recounts their very first exploit that saved our city from near destruction!
For many fans, this has come as further confirmation that First Steps will be a unique take on an MCU film.
With the Avengers:Doomsday and Secret Wars duology of films, Marvel has set up a sprawling next chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe over-story, one that seems likely to be even more grandiose than the Infinity War saga. Fans are eager to find out how The Fantastic Four fit into that tapestry, and the additional details about First Steps seem to give readers reason to expect that they will be integrated seamlessly into the MCU, taking their much-deserved place at the center of the franchise.
"First Steps" Could Inaugurate A Whole New Era Of Comics Set In The MCU
Opening A Doorway To More In-Universe "Dramatizations"
Acclaimed author Matt Fraction takes the reins of the creative team with Fantastic Four: First Steps, and longtime Marvel readers will be thrilled to know his work, and indeed Fraction himself, are being made official canon in the MCU. Curiously, Fraction's comments on the issue, as quoted by Marvel, also teased something more that could come from this issue. Fraction stated:
What an honor to be asked to help celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Fantastic Four! It was a thrill to bring their first legendary adventure to the world of comic books for the first time! It's a story we all know by heart, but I think Magic Mark Buckingham and I have found a way to tell it as you've never heard or seen before — and who knows, this could be the start of something big!
Though it is still far too early to say, it is possible that what Fraction is teasing are more comics of this kind, "artifacts" of the MCU that "dramatize" the stories of the film continuity's heroes in between movies.
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It is certainly true that the bearing of contemporary Marvel Comics stories on the aesthetic and narrative direction of the MCU is not fully appreciated by film-only fans. Yet if Marvel wants to capture the imaginations of these audience , and potentially draw them into reading comics, nothing would be more effective than a line of comics set within the MCU, which would be fully canon alongside the films, and if it is successful, the Fantastic Four: First Steps tie-in could be the gateway to just such a thing.
Source: Deadline; Marvel.com
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
- July 25, 2025
- Director
- Matt Shakman
- Writers
- Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson, Stan Lee
- Producers
- Jamie Christopher, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Tim Lewis
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
Cast
Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic
Vanessa KirbySue Storm / The Invisible Woman
Johnny Storm / Human Torch
Ebon Moss-BachrachBen Grimm / The Thing
