Updated: TIME and Other Magazines Releases Faux Cover Stories for "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" In Partnership with Marvel Studios
With the new Marvel Studios movie finally hitting theaters next week, the marketing campaign for The Fantastic Four: First Steps is truly hitting its zenith. Today TIME Magazine released a faux in-universe cover story interviewing the four members of the famous Marvel superhero team, plus images of them posing for the news magazine’s cover.
What’s happening:
- TIME Magazine has released a faux cover story featuring the cast and characters of The Fantastic Four: First Steps in participation with Marvel Studios, as promotion for the new film.
- The feature includes an in-universe interview with the team of superheroes and four covers that shift between Johnny Storm / The Human Torch (as played by Joseph Quinn in the movie), Ben Grimm / The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Sue Storm / Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), and Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal). You can read the full article and see the morphing covers at TIME’s official website.
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released into theaters everywhere on Friday, July 25th.
UPDATE: Additional fake Fantastic Four covers for Esquire (featuring Pedro Pascal / Reed Richards once again) and Good Housekeeping (featuring H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot) have been released via Marvel Studios’ social media feeds.
UPDATE #2 (7/16): Now Men’s Health magazine is getting in on the Fantastic Four action by featuring Ben Grimm / The Thing on a fake cover, telling readers to “lift heavy stuff":
What they're saying:
- Reed Richards (via TIME): “I suppose ‘fateful’ is an appropriate word to describe the experience. We were forever changed by the unfathomable effects of the cosmic radiation we encountered. Some of us more than others…"
- Sue Storm: “The radiation affected each of us differently, so we’ve each had to deal with the fallout, pun intended, in our own ways."
- Ben Grimm: “It’s been one heckuva adjustment for me, that’s for sure. Some days I don’t even recognize my own mug in the mirror. I think, Can that heap of rocks really be me? But then I realize I’ve been given an amazing gift that I can use to help people. Makes me feel a bit better, I guess."
- Johnny Storm: “[Our friendship] can be a bit rocky…Sorry, bad choice of words. But look, he and I are like brothers, and brothers are gonna have their fights here and there. But even when we come to blows, we always make up. I’d never want to hurt the guy. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I could totally take him if I really wanted to. But I love him, so I choose not to."
More Fantastic News:
- Marvel Comics has recapped the 64-year history of The Fantastic Four in a new 90-minute video.’
- You can get a free Fantastic Four t-shirt by participating in San Diego Comic-Con’s annual blood drive.
- A new clip from First Steps introduces viewers to Franklin Richards in his first live-action appearance.
