Marvel Studios has revealed the first costumes for the titular team of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and they break a 30-year-old rule from previous live-action adaptations of the upcoming MCU team. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is one of Marvel’s most highly-anticipated projects, as audiences have been waiting for decades for a faithful version of Marvel’s First Family to be seen in live-action. The first updates concerning First Steps suggest the team will finally be done justice, and the design of the Fantastic Four’s MCU costumes supports this idea.

The Fantastic Four were confirmed to be joining the MCU shortly after Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox was finalized in 2019, but it wasn’t until Valentine’s Day this year when the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps was confirmed. Since then, Marvel Studios’ presentations at SDCC and D23 and leaked set photos have uncovered more information about the Fantastic Four’s exciting reboot, which is scheduled to release in July 2025. This included providing a first look at the team’s new MCU costumes, which are very different from previous live-action interpretations.

The Fantastic Four Have Blue & White Costumes In The MCU’s First Steps

Marvel Studios Has Only Revealed Johnny Storm’s Costume, The Others Are Yet To Be Seen

A short video from the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps shown at D23 revealed Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm in a blue-and-white costume, sporting the Fantastic Four logo proudly on his chest. This gave viewers their first look at the team’s official MCU superhero suits, bearing resemblance to the blue-and-white costumes first introduced to Marvel Comics in the 1980s by John Byrne. This marks a divergence from previous versions of the Fantastic Four’s costumes, which were primarily blue-and-black, more similar to the team’s original Marvel Comics suits.

The first official live-action adaptation of Marvel’s First Family was released in 2005, with Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer, showing Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis in blue-and-black superhero suits. While 2015’s Fantastic Four reboot butchered the team’s classic suits completely, John Krasinski’s costume in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Chris Evans’ new suit in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine also used blue-and-black designs. However, the Fantastic Four’s blue-and-white suits were seen once before, three decades ago.

The Fantastic Four’s Blue & White Costumes Have Only Been Seen In 1994’s Unreleased The Fantastic Four Movie

1994’s The Fantastic Four Marked The Team’s First Ever Live-Action Adaptation

Back in the 1980s, German producer Bernd Eichinger’s company, Constantin Film, purchased the film rights to the Fantastic Four, and, in an effort to retain the option, set to work on producing a low-budget movie focused on the team in the early ’90s. Under the supervision of B-movie specialist Roger Corman and music video director Oley Sassone, 1994’s The Fantastic Four was developed with a budget of only $1 million, but ultimately only exhibited once. Despite going unreleased, The Fantastic Four saw the titular team battle Doctor Doom in blue-and-white superhero suits.

1994’s The Fantastic Four starred Alex Hyde-White as Reed Richards’ Mister Fantastic, Rebecca Staab as Sue Storm’s Invisible Woman, Jay Underwood as Johnny Storm’s Human Torch, Michael Bailey Smith as Ben Grimm, Carl Ciarfalio as the Thing and Joseph Culp as Doctor Doom.

Interestingly, the low-budget suits used in 1994’s The Fantastic Four were far more comic-accurate than the costume that Joseph Quinn sports as Johnny Storm in the footage from The Fantastic Four: First Steps. However, both of these designs have been inspired by the same era of Marvel Comics, as the team sported blue-and-white costumes between 1981 and 1996’s Fantastic Four #416. The fact that Marvel Studios has brought back the blue-and-white costumes, rather than sticking with the usual black accents, speaks volumes about the new direction for the Fantastic Four.

Why Blue & White Costumes Are The Best Choice For The MCU’s Fantastic Four

Blue & White Costumes Separate The MCU’s Fantastic Four From Previous Incarnations

Marvel Studios’ revival of the Fantastic Four’s blue-and-white costumes in First Steps is clearly an attempt to separate this newly-revamped version of the team from previous incarnations. These versions of the suits have never officially been seen in live-action, except for in 1994’s unreleased The Fantastic Four, so featuring them as the team’s first costumes in the MCU is a bold move that proves this iteration of Marvel’s First Family will be different from anything that came before. Gone are the dark days of the Fantastic Four under 20th Century Fox’s supervision.

The new blue-and-white costumes hint that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will take the team in a more lighthearted direction than previous versions. The Fantastic Four should be a joyful and entertaining team to show on-screen, but some past line-ups, specifically 2015’s version, comprising Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell, were far too dark. Marvel Studios’ new Fantastic Four suits lean into the optimism and hope of the reboot’s 1960s setting, so it’ll be great to finally see them in action next year.