The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel Studios' Phase 6 opener, is performing significantly better on streaming than its $522 million theatrical gross suggested. The film leads Disney+ home-entertainment charts following its September 2025 streaming debut, prompting reassessment of its place in the broader MCU.
Director Matt Shakman's Marvel Studios film opened to $117 million domestically in July 2025 — a strong but front-loaded start. The film ultimately closed its theatrical run at $521.9 million worldwide, falling short of the $700-800 million range industry analysts had projected. Disney's investor reports characterized it as below-expectations but profitable.
The September Disney+ release is now reshaping the conversation. Industry watchers tracking streaming charts report the film has spent multiple weeks as the top streaming title on Disney+, with audience demographic data suggesting strong family-and-younger-viewer engagement that theatrical attendance under-served. Rotten Tomatoes critic and audience scores remain strong (86% critics, 87% audience) despite the muted theatrical reception.
Pedro Pascal anchors the cast as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic, with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing. Julia Garner co-stars as the Silver Surfer, and the film features a retro-futuristic alternate-1960s aesthetic that critics widely praised as the strongest visual direction of any Phase 5 or Phase 6 MCU entry to date.
The film functions as the Fantastic Four's MCU introduction ahead of their integration into Avengers: Doomsday (December 2026). The Pascal-Kirby-Quinn-Moss-Bachrach Fantastic Four are confirmed to appear in both Doomsday and the saga-concluding Avengers: Secret Wars (December 2027). Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom — the saga's primary antagonist — is reportedly the connective tissue between First Steps and Doomsday.
The streaming success continues a broader Phase 4-5 pattern: MCU films have increasingly underperformed in theaters compared to MCU peak years (2017-2019) but maintained or grown their audience on Disney+. Eternals (2021), Shang-Chi (2021), and Black Widow (2021) all followed similar patterns. The streaming-redemption arc is now reshaping Marvel Studios' theatrical-release calculus for upcoming Phase 6 entries.
For the complete Phase 6 schedule, see our MCU Phase 6 Roadmap. For the full MCU release-order guide, including where Fantastic Four: First Steps falls in the franchise's chronology, see our complete list.