Editing The Fantastic Four: First Steps (section)

===Pre-production===
[[Josh Friedman]] was hired to rewrite the script at the end of March 2023. Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter felt Friedman's hiring indicated a possible tonal shift for the film, since Friedman had written many science fiction projects while previous writers Kaplan and Springer were known more for comedy. Sneider reported that Shakman wanted to heavily feature cosmic elements from the 1960s, including the characters Galactus — who was set to be the main antagonist — and Silver Surfer, and said Friedman was hired to bring the film closer to Feige and Shakman's vision. Marvel was still open to working with Kaplan and Springer in the future. In April 2023, Sneider reported that Marvel Studios had offered [[Adam Driver]] the role of Reed Richards. The next month, filming was set to begin in January 2024 in London. Also in May, Sneider reported that [[Emma Stone]] was the studio's top choice for the role of Sue Storm, but the actress declined the offer after they refused to pay her the $15–20 million she wanted for the role. Driver also passed on the film after the studio did not want to pay his high salary, and after he struggled to connect with an early draft of the script, but Sneider believed that he could re-consider after Friedman submitted a new draft following the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.

In June, the film's release was pushed back to May 2, 2025. Prior to the start of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike in July, Marvel Studios held screen tests for the role of Richards with several actors, including [[Christopher Abbott]] and [[Jamie Dornan]], which "did not go very well" according to Sneider. The studio wanted a high-profile actor and offered the role to [[Jake Gyllenhaal]], who portrayed Mysterio in the MCU film ''[[Spider-Man: Far From Home]]'' (2019), but they did not want to pay the salary he asked for as Feige wanted to contain the studio's talent spending. They were also considering non-white actors for Richards and [[Pedro Pascal]] became interested, though he would not engage in conversations during the strike. In August, [[Ebon Moss-Bachrach]] was offered the role of the Thing, after playing Micro in the first season of the Marvel Television series ''The Punisher'' (2017). Marvel Studios was committed to casting a Jewish actor as the Thing, who is depicted as Jewish in the comics but was not portrayed by Jewish actors in the previous Fantastic Four films; Moss-Bachrach is Jewish. [[David Krumholtz]] met with Shakman about the role after campaigning for it online, but was unsuccessful. He began campaigning to portray the villain Mole Man instead. Additionally, Sneider reported that Marvel Studios was looking at [[Vanessa Kirby]] for Sue Storm, who was expected to be the film's lead character, and [[Joseph Quinn]] for Johnny Storm. [[Nicholas Galitzine]] was also rumored to be portraying Johnny Storm and had conversations about the role, but was not cast. Marvel approached [[Matt Smith]] for Richards, but that was not expected to work out and they were instead looking for "a bona fide movie star". A Latino actor was expected to be hired as Galactus.

Shakman confirmed in October 2023 that they planned to start filming in early 2024 at Pinewood Studios in London, and said the cast would be announced once the SAG-AFTRA strike ended. He said during the strikes, they were still able to work on the film's production design and early tests of the visual effects for translating the team's abilities from comic art to the screen. [[Alexandra Byrne]] was serving as costume designer after working on several other MCU films. Later that month, Shakman revealed that [[Cameron Squires]] was co-writing the screenplay with Friedman. Both had worked with Shakman on the ''Star Trek'' film, and Squires was a writer on ''WandaVision''. Shakman had discussed the film with comic book writer Matt Fraction, and said his work on the television series ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present) helped inform his approach to the film with its playfulness, collaboration, and improvisation. Following the conclusion of the actors' strike in November, Pascal entered talks to portray Richards and was negotiating his schedule for the film around his other commitments. Marvel Studios was expected to make offers for the other leading roles soon after, having waited because they deemed it essential to find the actor for Richards first. /Film reported that Pascal had signed on and that an announcement would be made shortly. [[Javier Bardem]] was being eyed to portray Galactus after [[Antonio Banderas]] had previously been linked to the role, though Bardem had a potential scheduling conflict with the film ''[[F1]]'' (2025). Sneider reported that Moss-Bachrach had been cast as the Thing and the studio was looking to cast a woman as Silver Surfer, who is usually the male character Norrin Radd in the comics.

By early January 2024, Sneider believed filming would begin in mid-March or April, but he reported shortly after that filming would not begin until later in 2024, between July and September, and this delay had caused Pascal to leave his commitment to the film ''[[Weapons]]'' (2026). Sneider questioned if ''Fantastic Four'' could still make its May 2025 release date if filming was not starting until mid-to-late 2024. At the end of January, filming was revealed to be beginning in August 2024. Early the following month, SAG-AFTRA listed Pascal as being cast in the film and set to begin production shortly. On February 14, Marvel Studios released a Valentine's Day-themed announcement that confirmed Pascal's casting as Reed Richards alongside Kirby as Sue Storm, Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Moss-Bachrach as the Thing. The film was officially titled ''The Fantastic Four'' and its release date was delayed to July 25, 2025, swapping places with the MCU film ''[[Thunderbolts*]]'' (2025). The announcement's promotional art included the December 13, 1963, issue of Life magazine with Lyndon B. Johnson on the cover and used a new logo style with "a certain throwback tone and sense of aesthetics", indicating that the film is set during the 1960s (around the time the Fantastic Four debuted in Marvel Comics). Adding to this speculation, Pascal referenced 1960s songs from the Beatles when sharing the promotional art on his social media. The art included the comic book character H.E.R.B.I.E., a robot companion to the team.

Feige said family dynamics was key to the film and "90 percent of the work was done" by confirming the main cast. He also confirmed that the film would be a 1960s period piece, but indicated that it would be set in an alternate universe within the multiverse. Shakman called it a "retro-future '60s" aesthetic, describing it as "part what you know from the '60s, but part what you've never seen". Industrial designer and concept artist [[Syd Mead]] served as an inspiration for the film, along with the optimism of the Space Race and ideas of future space travelers that people had in the 1960s when the comics were being written. Shakman stated, "I really wanted to take all of that great stuff from Apollo 11 and just imagine that instead of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, it was the Storms and Ben Grimm and Reed Richards heading off into space." He reaffirmed that the film would begin after the Fantastic Four have gained their superhero abilities, avoiding a re-telling of their origin story and allowing the film to have its own story which Shakman was excited for.

Sneider reported that Bardem was Marvel Studios' top choice for Galactus, that the studio had begun meeting with actors for Silver Surfer, and that Doctor Doom would be cast during filming. He added that the release date could be delayed again to the November 2025 date reserved for the MCU film ''[[Blade (upcoming film)|Blade]]'', with that film potentially moving to 2026, to avoid competition with [[DC Studios]]' ''[[Superman (2025)|Superman]]'' and an untitled ''[[Jurassic Park (series)|Jurassic World]]'' film that were also scheduled for July 2025. He felt Disney was unlikely to release four MCU films in 2025 while the company was prioritizing quality over quantity for the MCU, and ''The Fantastic Four'' was further along in production than ''Blade''. Shortly after, [[Eric Pearson]] was revealed to have been "quietly hired" to polish the script. He previously worked on Marvel Studios' ''[[Thor: Ragnarok]]'' (2017) and ''[[Black Widow (film)|Black Widow]]'' (2021), and had a reputation for "taking projects over the finish line". [[Julia Garner]] was cast as Shalla-Bal / Silver Surfer in April 2024. In the comics, Shalla-Bal is the love interest of original Silver Surfer Norrin Radd and eventually becomes a Silver Surfer herself. Justin Kroll of Deadline Hollywood reported that the role of Galactus was open at that time, with no actors holding an offer or being in talks for the character. [[Paul Walter Hauser]], [[John Malkovich]], [[Ralph Ineson]] and [[Natasha Lyonne]] joined the cast the following month, with Ineson cast as Galactus. Ineson previously appeared as a Ravager pilot in the MCU film ''[[Guardians of the Galaxy]]'' (2014). Hauser had worked with Shakman on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' and met with him to discuss joining ''The Fantastic Four''. He was initially reluctant to join because of the poor reception to previous ''Fantastic Four'' films, but was won over by the script and the film's other cast and crew. Sneider reported that Mole Man would appear at the beginning of the film and he believed Hauser was cast in that role. ''WandaVision'' writer Peter Cameron had contributed to the script by then.

By late June, filming was set to begin at the end of July. At San Diego Comic-Con that month, the film was retitled ''The Fantastic Four: First Steps'' and [[Robert Downey Jr.]] was announced to be portraying Doctor Doom in the films ''[[Avengers: Doomsday]]'' (2026) and ''[[Avengers: Secret Wars]]'' (2027). Sneider reported that Downey, who previously portrayed [[Iron Man (character)|Tony Stark / Iron Man]] in the MCU, would be introduced as Doom in a post-credits scene at the end of ''First Steps''. Shakman said he had known about Downey's casting for a while before the Comic-Con announcement. The subtitle was added as a reference to the film's ideas of optimism and space exploration. A few days of pre-filming occurred before the convention, including footage of an astronaut preparation area, a dating game titled ''Let's Make a Match'', and a children's science show hosted by Reed Richards.