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

Disney drew inspiration from Marvel’s original First Family when creating The Fantastic Four: First Steps, released earlier this year. Fans eagerly anticipated a faithful adaptation featuring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the iconic quartet.

Earlier attempts to bring the Fantastic Four to the screen had mixed success. The 2015 version took a dark, body horror approach, while the 2005 and 2007 films included comedic elements but failed to capture the original comics' grandeur by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Meanwhile, the low-budget 1994 Fantastic Four movie, produced by Roger Corman, never saw an official release.

Lessons from the 1994 Film

Surprisingly, the producers of First Steps found valuable guidance in that unreleased 1994 film. Producer Grant Curtis noted in a recent Marvel behind-the-scenes featurette:

“They did a lot of things right in that movie. 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.”

This unique, low-budget film stands as one of the most distinct artifacts in superhero movie history, influencing Marvel’s latest take on the Fantastic Four.

Summary

The 1994 Fantastic Four’s realistic character dynamics inspired Marvel's successful approach in the recent Disney adaptation.

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Den of Geek — 2025-11-06