Opening Week Expectation
Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps should open with about $100–110 million at home and $90–100 million abroad, for an estimated global opening of $190 million–$210 million. That puts it close but a little behind James Gunn’s Superman, which opened with $217 million worldwide in early July.
Even behind Superman, First Steps is beating out previous MCU Phase 6 titles in presales and early tracking, such as Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World. In preshow Thursday showings, it raked in $24.4 million, besting Superman’s preview numbers and the largest preview gross of 2025 to date. Early opening day reports indicate anywhere from $57 million to $57 million, boosting weekend projections to $120–125 million domestic.
International Breakdown
Foreign performance is predicted to be good, with opening markets such as India already totalling ₹5.1 crore (approximately $600,000) on opening day despite piracy concerns. Anecdotal day-one foreign box office totals have tallied up approximately $27 million in overseas returns. Those figures build on the prediction of international box office $90–100 million.
Context vs. the 2015 Flop
It’s a long way from the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot, which earned only $167.9 million globally and bombed critically, managing only a 9 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Even lowball estimates put the new one exceeding that figure in its first weekend alone. That says something about the shift in tone and reception.
Why It Matters
Marvel’s leadership views First Steps not only as a reboot but as a strategic move into Phase 6, with characters like Franklin Richards and more loyal, character-specific timbre. Director Matt Shakman leaned into a very ‘retro’ aesthetic that blended elements of 1960s kitsch, avoiding many origin story tropes for the space of family dynamics and general visual homages to Jack Kirby’s era.
Kevin Feige indicated that the group would be integral to future titles, particularly Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). First Steps sets the stage for those stories.
Fan Rivalry and Reception
The release has revived Marvel vs. DC fan competition, particularly with Superman still going strong. That movie has passed $400 million worldwide, and First Steps is set to open strong with good early word. Critics are being warm. Rotten Tomatoes indicates high approval, with compliments on the cast chemistry and the retro-futuristic presentation of the movie.
Word of mouth appears to be going Marvel’s way. Tracking numbers point to late spikes in the face of heavy buzz, with the potential for First Steps to cross $120 million domestically over its entire opening weekend.
Marvel required a victory, and so far, Fantastic Four: First Steps wins. It is rewriting expectations, churning out heavy figures off the jump, and creating genuine momentum for whatever’s next in Phase 6.
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