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In the lead-up to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, director Matt Shakman‘s been more than vocal about his love of Marvel’s First Family. He’s even listed some of his influences, including Fantastic Four co-creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby — who introduced the cosmic menace of Galactus — and current Fantastic Four writer Ryan North. But there’s one creator whose work has permeated every inch of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and that’s Jonathan Hickman. In the foreword to Fantastic Four: Solve Everything by Hickman and a top-tier collection of artists including Dale Eaglesham, Shakman would go in-depth as to how much inspiration he took from this particular Fantastic Four story. “As we developed the script for the film, I returned again and again to this epic run — thrilled by brain-bending innovations like the Council of Reeds and riveted by heroic standoffs against the likes of Annihilus,” Shakman wrote. It isn’t just The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but large parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that owe a great debt to Hickman’s work.
How Do Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four Comics Influence ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’?
If there’s one way to describe Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four comics, it would be “epic”. Throughout Hickman’s runs, there are secret cities, an apocalypse in the Negative Zone, and Reed Richards laboring to “solve everything” before being contacted by a collection of his alternate universe selves. He also tapped into the family dynamics of the Fantastic Four, which resulted in some truly emotional moments. Once Reed learns that in order to truly solve everything, he’ll have to abandon his family, he doesn’t think twice before turning his back on the “Council of Reeds”. Likewise, Johnny Storm goes out in a literal blaze of glory to save his family, leading Spider-Man to comfort Franklin Richards over the death of his uncle. The biggest concept that Hickman introduced during his Fantastic Four run is the idea of the Future Foundation: a think tank of geniuses dedicated to solving the world’s problems. In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the Future Foundation is headed under Sue Storm and handles diplomatic matters in addition to scientific ones; this also calls back to Sue taking on a diplomatic role during Hickman’s run.
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Jonathan Hickman’s Work Influenced Marvel Films & TV Shows, Including ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ & ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’
In addition to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Jonathan Hickman’s work can be felt in other Marvel films and even television shows. A major example concerns Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which had the earth-shattering twist that S.H.I.E.L.D. was infiltrated by Hydra for years. The fallout would continue into Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., showing how Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his S.H.I.E.L.D. team deal with the revelation.This plot twist was first utilized in Secret Warriors; Hickman, Brian Michael Bendis (another writer who’s had a major influence on the MCU), and Stefano Caselli made the major reveal that Hydra was controlling S.H.I.E.L.D., forcing Nick Fury to utilize a team of superpowered operatives to combat the terrorist organization. That team included Daisy Johnson, aka Quake, who was portrayed by Chloe Bennet during Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s entire run.
Hickman will also have a major impact on the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, especially since the latter is hinted to be drawing from the 2015 miniseries he and Esad Ribic worked on. In the 2015 version of Secret Wars, the Marvel Universe is literally shattered by a dimensional “incursion”, only for Doctor Doom to reforge what’s left into his own personal kingdom. Joe and Anthony Russo have said that the 2015 Secret Wars is a major influence on Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and even hinted that the films will lead to a potential reboot for the MCU, which Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige also hinted at during a recent press conference. Many fans might think that Feige is the grand architect of Marvel Studios, but it could be argued that Hickman’s work is the blueprint he’s using. And with groundbreaking work on nearly all of Marvel’s major characters, it’s a blueprint Feige should continue to follow.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
- Runtime
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115 minutes
- Director
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Matt Shakman
- Writers
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Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson
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