THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Had a Cameo From the Cast of Unreleased ’90s FF Movie

You might have heard that the actors who originally played the Fantastic Four in live-action made an appearance at The Fantastic Four: First Steps premiere on the blue carpet. But you may have been confused when none of these actors were Chris Evans, Jessica Alba, or Michael Chiklis. (The original Reed Richards, Ioan Gruffudd, did attend). You see, those were actors who played the FF in the 2005 Fantastic Four, from director Tim Story. But a decade prior, in 1994, a whole different set of actors played the team in a movie. Only to have their film never come out, shelved indefinitely. And those actors cameoed in First Steps, although it’s a “blink and you miss it” moment.

The cast of the 1994 unreleased 'FANTASTIC FOUR' movie all attended the #FantasticFour blue carpet event pic.twitter.com/z7fs8ql725

— ScreenTime (@screentime) July 22, 2025

The actors who truly played Marvel’s First Family for the first time on film were Alex Hyde-White (Reed Richards), Rebecca Staab (Sue Storm), Jay Underwood (Johnny Storm), and Michael Bailey Smith (Ben Grimm). Marvel Studios and director Matt Shakman invited them to the Hollywood premiere of First Steps. Thus, giving them a proper moment in the spotlight at last. Because their movie, sadly, never had a true premiere. The story of why the 1994 Fantastic Four movie never came out is truly a wild “only in Hollywood” tale.

Marvel

The 1994 Fantastic Four movie became a famous bootleg tape for years, traded at conventions by fans, and eventually posted online. It was a very low-budget production, produced by B-movie guru Roger Corman for a mere one million dollars. A trailer even saw release in 1993. The movie was never intended to hit theaters, and only had one known screening. All of this was a way for producer Bernd Eichinger to keep the Fantastic Four license for another decade. Sadly, no one ever informed the actors of that, so all their hard work was for nothing. Now, the original live-action FF finally got their moment to appear in front of millions of Marvel fans, as they cameo as New York City residents for a brief moment in Marvel Studios’s film.

Marvel/Twentieth Century Studios

Many believe this whole debacle was when the “curse” of the Fantastic Four on film began. Although the 2005 Fantastic Four film was actually quite profitable (many fans forget it became a box office hit), it received terrible reviews. It paled in comparison to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, or the Fox X-Men franchise when it came to success. The 2015 reboot from Josh Trank was a true mega flop. But judging from the early reviews, it seems the fourth time’s the charm for Marvel’s First Family. We should have all known it would take four times to get it right.

The 1994 Fantastic Four movie is indeed pretty terrible, when all said and done. Although it does have a certain low-budget charm. Marvel never officially released it, so every version that’s out there since the ’90s is a fuzzy, low-quality version. Now that all this time has passed, it would be fun for Marvel Studios to give the film a proper release. Even if it’s just as a glorified special feature on the eventual The Fantastic Four: First Steps Blu-ray release. Alex Hyde-White, Rebecca Staab, Jay Underwood, and Michael Bailey Smith deserve that much at least.

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