Fantastic Four: First Steps Learned an Important Lesson from the 1994 Roger Corman Movie

Part of the excitement surrounding the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps earlier this year was the expectation of seeing Marvel’s First Family done right. Versions of the Fantastic Four appeared on screen before Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach suited up as the quartet, but they never got it quite right. The 2015 movie took a relentlessly dark, body horror approach to the characters. The 2005 and 2007 movies had some comedic moments, but they couldn’t match the grandeur of the original comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. And the 1994 Roger Corman produced Fantastic Four never even got released.

Yet, for the producers of First Steps, it was that lost, low-budget flick that guided their million-dollar Disney movie. “They did a lot of things right in that movie,” said producer Grant Curtis in a new behind-the-scenes featurette released by Marvel. “One of the things I think they did extremely well was the character relationships. It holds up… Those were very real relationships that, when we did our homework and looked at the movie early on, we took note.”

The 1994 Fantastic Four is one of the most unique documents in superhero movie history. When German producer Bernd Eichinger realized his adaptation rights to the characters were set to expire, he enlisted B-movie legend Roger Corman scrounged $1 million budget to throw together a Fantastic Four movie so he could retain his rights. There was no intention to release it.

That plan was not shared with the film’s cast, who put real effort into portraying their characters. However, recalled Reed Richards actor Alex Hyde-White in the new behind-the-scenes video, the ramshackle nature of the production helped the cast discover their characters. “The fact that we were given these roles relatively easily, because [Eichinger and Constantin Films] were under the gun, forced us to trust ourselves or not,” he said. “Part of the reluctant superhero dynamic of the dysfunctional Fantastic Four are embodied in the way the four of us worked together,” he continued, referring to co-stars Rebecca Staab (Sue), Jay Underwood (Johnny), and Michael Bailey Smith (Ben).

That effort resonates even today. Before the release of First Steps, fans regularly ranked the 1994 film as the best of the Fantastic Four movies, precisely because of those interpersonal dynamics. Even when the effects look cheesy, the 1994 film has an energy and earnestness missing from the movies from the 2000s and 2015.

The creators of First Steps clearly agree, including director Matt Shakman. “Matt came into my office one day while we were prepping and said, ‘You know, it would be really great to honor them somehow,'” said Curtis. They did so by giving the cast cameos in the 2025 movie, having Staab and Hyde-White play newscasters reporting on the team, while Underwood and Smith appear as construction workers rescued by the Human Torch.

The latter scene ends with a moment that could feel a bit too cute. Before the Torch flies away, Underwood’s construction worker gives Johnny a salute. But the moment goes beyond just a wink of one Torch acknowledging another—it feels earned, all thanks to the lessons that the MCU actors learned from their 1994 predecessors.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now streaming on Disney+.