Big news arrived earlier today on the upcoming Marvel movies front. The Fantastic Four finally unveiled its main cast of Pedro Pascal as Mister Fantastic, Vanesa Kirby as Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing and Joseph Quinn as The Human Torch. Additionally though, the reboot centered on Marvel’s First Family has been moved to July 2025, the same month that the upcoming DC movie Superman: Legacy arrives. So naturally Marvel and DC fans have all the new takes on this eventful month.
Thanks to The Fantastic Four exchanging release dates with Thunderbolts, the former is now coming out on July 25, 2025 rather than May 2 of the same year. Now with Superman: Legacy dropping on July 11, it’s not like this will be an epic clash akin to that time when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War were supposed to open the same weekend in 2016. These movies will have some breathing room from each other, but nevertheless, various Marvel and DC fans are now prepared for this showdown of sorts, including @NicholasPas5:
Superman Legacy vs Fantastic 4 in July 2025 pic.twitter.com/7GbLf4DxPkFebruary 14, 2024
Picking a clip show of WWE heavyweights Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as commentary on The Fantastic Four and Superman: Legacy opening within a few weeks of each other is spot-on. Meanwhile, @YRANACKCALB opted to choose a gif envisioning how Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige might have looked after deciding to move The Fantastic Four to July.
Kevin Feige after changing F4 release date the same month as Superman Legacy pic.twitter.com/zFrEYO3RYQFebruary 14, 2024
To go a step further, content creator John Rocha has heard that apparently Kevin Feige and James Gunn, the DC Studios co-head who’s also writing and directing Superman: Legacy, have a contentious relationship, and thinks there might have been a personal motive behind this release date shift:
But, ya know, keep telling me that Gunn and Feige don’t have issues with each other. 😏Lotta behind the scenes stories of Gunn hating Feige for taking any credit for the GOTG films. I see this as Feige gleefully fucking with him. It’s real big brother/little brother shit. https://t.co/I5q8btjhjfFebruary 14, 2024
Whatever the internal reasoning behind The Fantastic Four swap places with Thunderbolts is, fans now have both a Marvel movie and DC movie to look forward to in July 2025. But which one will emerge the critical and/or commercial victor? @UsUnitedJustice used a gif from The Amazing Spider-Man to tout their belief that Fantastic Four will come out on top?
Fantastic 4 to Superman Legacy at the box office https://t.co/pYAo65uCkd pic.twitter.com/MPoxrfWbT7February 14, 2024
On the other hand, in the opinion of @Smv_of_Heroes, Superman: Legacy’s cast includes two characters that make seeing The Fantastic Four unnecessary.
Superman Legacy already has Mister Fantastic and the Thing so you don’t really even need to watch Fantastic 4 pic.twitter.com/CgkUz7ySUyFebruary 14, 2024
That feels like a stretch, but hey, to each their own. Finally, to widen our July 2025 gaze a little bit, comic book illustrator Kevin Maguire pointed out that the new Jurassic World movie is set to open on July 2. So that’s three major blockbusters slated for the same month, and unfortunately, there are only so many IMAX screens to go around.
July 3rd 2025-Jurassic World 4July 11th 2025- Superman: LegacyJuly 25th 2025- The Fantastic Four.They better start building more IMAX theaters. https://t.co/PUCELfFSkLFebruary 14, 2024
Keep in mind that just because The Fantastic Four, Superman: Legacy and Jurassic World 4 are all set to come out in July 2025 now doesn’t mean it will stay that way. The theatrical calendar is continuously changing, and in the case of those two upcoming superhero movies, I won’t be surprised in the slightest if one of them is either shifted to earlier or later in the year. I’d be remiss, however, if I didn’t point out that July 11, 2025 is also the birthday of Jams Gunn’s late father, so he surely has a personal investment in keeping that date.
Naturally we’ll continue keeping you apprised on what’s going on with both The Fantastic Four and Superman: Legacy as more news comes in. For now though, use your Disney+ subscription to view nearly all the MCU’s movies and TV shows, or break out your Max subscription to view plenty of DC’s past big and small screen content.