Marvel Studios is reportedly in panic mode over the Fantastic Four: First Steps ending.
According to a post on X by user Will-Iam Smith, audiences didn’t respond well to the film’s ending during early test screenings. The post reads:
“Hearing the test screenings didn’t go over well because audiences didn’t vibe with the ending, so now they’re reshooting some scenes. I’m still hopeful it’ll be good, but it’s a little worrying — Marvel really needs this one to be a home run. #FantasticFour”
Hearing the test screenings didn’t go over well because audiences didn’t vibe with the ending, so now they’re reshooting some scenes. I’m still hopeful it’ll be good, but it’s a little worrying — Marvel really needs this one to be a home run. #FantasicFour https://t.co/ainU442PwI pic.twitter.com/h82oTi2juw
— Will-iam Smith (@bestever23) May 8, 2025
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While many dismissed it as speculation, That Park Place can now confirm through trusted sources close to the production that the report is accurate. Marvel is actively reshooting key scenes to change the Fantastic Four ending following disappointing feedback from test audiences.
The cast of Fantastic Four: First Steps – YouTube, Marvel Entertainment
With the theatrical release scheduled for July 25th, the studio has very little time left—and likely an enormous amount of VFX work still to complete.
Not Just Pickups — This Is a Rewrite
Reshoots this close to release are always suspect. But when those reshoots are focused on the third act, it signals something more severe than a minor correction. It suggests that the entire conclusion of the film wasn’t landing, and Marvel is rewriting the climax under pressure.
Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal on the set of ‘THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS’ for additional photography in Los Angeles.
(via: https://t.co/NXgppcgZaF) pic.twitter.com/HwPxbpvZCb
— Fantastic Four Updates (@F4Update) May 8, 2025
Reports from the Los Angeles set show Julia Garner’s Shalla-Bal—a gender-swapped version of the Silver Surfer—filming a beachside scene with no special effects markers. She appeared fully human, wearing a white dress with a cosmic pattern, suggesting a major recontextualization of her role. Speculation is now running rampant that the character’s arc has undergone changes, possibly shifting the resolution of her story.
Marvel’s Multiverse Misfires
This wouldn’t be the first time a major Marvel project has tried to fix itself in the eleventh hour. Captain America: Brave New World also underwent last-minute reshoots after weak test screenings, only to suffer from a jumbled narrative and poor visual effects. The result? One of Marvel’s worst-performing entries at the box office.
And now it looks like Fantastic Four: First Steps is following in those same footsteps.
The Thing and Herbie the Robot in Fantastic Four: First Steps – YouTube, Marvel Entertainment
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The movie is reportedly designed to explore the origins of Marvel’s First Family in a 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic alternate universe, introducing Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they fight to protect their world from the world devourer Galactus. But it appears the final moments of that battle—or possibly the resolution of their universe—fell flat with test audiences.
All Eyes on the Fantastic Four Ending
If Marvel was hoping Fantastic Four would revitalize the MCU, this is not the path to get there. An unstable script, last-minute rewrites, rushed CGI, and unresolved multiverse confusion only serve to exhaust audiences rather than win them back.
Silver Surfer from Fantastic Four First Steps (2025); Screenshot
The Fantastic Four ending could make or break Marvel’s entire slate moving forward. With Avengers: Doomsday already in development and expectations sky-high, this film was supposed to set the tone. Instead, it’s becoming another example of Marvel trying to build the plane while it’s flying.
Do you believe that Marvel is changing the Fantastic Four ending at the last minute? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
I was going to say this gives me BNW vibes. If the cost overruns bury this like it did that disaster, along with the negative reactions to Ironheart, Disney Marvel might as well just shut down. But we know they won’t because those in charge are absolute idiots who can’t see the writing on the wall.
I could care less about their litany of recent failures but I like the FF, but not… this. I hope it fails and fails miserably. Fails epically. marvel, feige, silver surfette, pedro, super-duper sue storm, iger, puss human torchette, all of them going down in licking flames.
Same here. I’ve always loved the Fantastic Four, and there was a time when I couldn’t wait to see them in the MCU. But Marvel has fallen so far down that this will be yet another FF film that I skip. I have absolutely no confidence that this will be any good.
Yessir.
Pedro Pascal attacking the beloved JK Rowling, and Trump supporters, means many of us boycott anything he is in. The Zegler effect could hit the box office more than Disney thinks.
Reshooting the ending is bad news for this movie, for several reasons.
1) No time or resources for standard “Pickup” shots. This means they can’t spend time polishing the movie. They’re too busy on major heart surgery.
2) The budget will go through the roof. Last minute reshoots will be horrifically expensive compared to shooting the first time around. Just the logistics are nightmarish!
3) Point 2 means, the movie will have to make probably hundreds of millions MORE cash to break even. (Note, a movie must make 2.5x the production costs.
4) This is a sign of poor writing. If they got the ending wrong, they probably got the whole thing wrong.
5) At such notice, they won’t be able to fix bugs caused by the altered ending. (See Point 1).
6) If they don’t get THIS ending right, then they’re screwed anyway, but with vastly inflated production costs.
7) All this will take resources away from other Disney projects. For example, there will be burn-out. And, after this movie is released, people will need a break to recover.
8) Morale. The reshoots will be terrible for morale, and staff will get the feeling they’re working all hours on what will be considered a turkey. When people are tired and demotivated, the quality of the work degrades.
Also staff who worked with passion on now-deleted scenes could be heartbroken.
9) Point 8 can lead to even more firefighting, as deadlines get missed.
10) If the movie is woke, then they have less time to tone down the wokery, to adjust for the culture shift.
All in all, this is shaping up to be a disaster. This movie will have to do amazingly well, just to break even.
[…] internet rumor from (no offense to the gentleman) an unknown source. But a couple of days ago, That Park Place published a piece saying they had confirmed this story with their sources “close to the production.” They say […]