Michael Giacchino is one of Marvel’s regular composers, having composed the music for the three Sony-Marvel Spider-Man films, the original Doctor Strange and even to direct the Disney Plus special Werewolf at nightIt is therefore no surprise that Marel is preparing for the coming Fantastic Four: First StepsBut it could be an even better match than any previous project.
Giacchino was on hand at the 2024 D23 Expo to debut, not with footage, but sound from its wide release in 2025. Filming has only just begun on the tentpole, which features Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing), but with a load of test footage in the works (previously shown at 2024 San Diego Comic-Con) the composer has clearly been doing his prep work for when the film is ready to be fully loaded with music. You can hear the lengthy original theme below:
The combination of composer and material makes perfect sense. On top of his Marvel work, Giacchino has a number of cues that fit perfectly with Marvel’s retrofuture approach to the alternate 60s set Fantastic Four. While the composer can certainly be dark and brooding for The Batman or break our hearts in just five minutes like he did in Upwardsare Fantastic Four The score is reminiscent of two films he made with director Brad Bird: the animated superhero film The Incredibles (probably the best Fantastic Four adaptation to date?) and the retrofuture reality-jumping adventure film Morninglandthat absolutely no one remembers. But the score was great!
The Fantastic Four: First Steps score is idealistic and bright, but knowing that Galactus is out there, we expect Giacchino to take the musical palette to more terrifying cosmic places. And he has. Time to give “Roar!” the only piece of music of Clover fieldlisten first Fantastic Four: First Steps opens on July 25, 2025.