Marvel’s first family is making their grand return to our cinema screens.
It should be mentioned that The Fantastic Four: First Steps avoids the origin story that has been covered multiple times in previous films, similarly to 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, which jumps straight into the action.
Our leading man, Reed Richards, is portrayed by Pedro Pascal alongside Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm.
Grammy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino is responsible for delivering an impeccable masterpiece of a score. You may be familiar with Giacchino’s work on previous projects such as The Incredibles (2004), Up (2009), Jurassic World (2015) and Doctor Strange (2016). Giacchino is no stranger to crafting an immersive out-of-this-world experience through music.
The ’60s-inspired style of the film feels warm and comforting. This is credited to renowned cinematographer Jess Hall, whose work we’re familiar with from WandaVision.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Marvel film without some drama. Enter the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) and Galactus (Ralph Ineson), the latest additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s villains.
Supanova had the privilege of speaking with Garner and Ineson to find out more about what it takes to make a film of this scale.
To kick things off, we asked what was something unexpected that they both had to do to prepare for this film.
Ineson took a quick moment to reflect before answering: “The preparation was a lot of fittings, for this amazing costume that they built for me. We got to a point where they got all the armour on, everyone was looking around, various producers and lots of people looking at it.
“I could hear some whispering and there were people behind me and I was trying to figure out what was going on… and I realised I didn’t have a big enough [butt] for the character. They had to build me an extra butt pack to give Galactus a [butt] because my own personal one was too flat.”
As for Garner: “Not so much unexpected, but the thing that was different was with mo-cap (motion-capture). I’ve never had that experience before; it was a whole new experience for me. It’s one of those things where you really need to have trust with the people that you’re working with, and we were very lucky that [director Matt Shakman] is brilliant, he had such a real vision, and he’s such a fan of the Fantastic Four, so he really knew what people want.
“A lot of it is also done in post, so you kind of have to prepare – like OVER prepare – for anything and also be open to changes because it’s going to be done in post anyway.”
That brought up the question of how much of the film was practical. Ineson was quick to respond: “Well, for me, the film was about two-thirds practical and one-third motion capture. So, for two-thirds of the time I was in the big suit being brightly lit so they could blow that image up and it would stay in focus… great for cameramen and great for editors, but hard for the actor. Because, it’s like wearing a huge rubber suit in a sauna and you’re NOT allowed to sweat.
“I had a whole pit crew around me to try to keep my body temperature down with aircon units and fans and people taking off pieces of the armour in between takes. I felt like a Formula One car in the end!”
Whilst the titular team of four were in Sydney during a press event, Quinn revealed that there were a lot of practical props on set, and that the director didn’t want to hide behind CGI. This was confirmed by Ineson’s statement. The more practical a set is, and how hands-on actors are, can deliver an authentic performance and the quality of film that fans adore.
What some fans may notice, is that this is not Ineson’s first role in the MCU. From Ravager to Galactus, Ineson shared his growth: “Well, it’s quite a promotion in the MCU. I was Yondu’s pilot in the original Guardians of the Galaxy, which, I think, was a bit of a game-changing movie for the MCU, so I was very proud to be involved in that.
“This time around it’s a completely different deal for me, and also you have the challenges of playing that particular character – Galactus. That was kind of unique.”
What all of this goes to show is that you don’t need superpowers to achieve something that changes lives. All you need is passion and the right people around you. Our heroes may visit outer space in the film, but all the magic was created by a team right here on Earth.
‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ is in cinemas now!
