Watch the Cast of the Unreleased 'Fantastic Four' Movie Take Their Place in Marvel History

The stars of Roger Corman's never-released 1994 film reflect on what might have been as part of their cameos in Fantastic Four: First Steps. Although the Corman-produced Fantastic Four became a Hollywood punch line, it was also a heartfelt effort by the cast and crew to bring the Marvel Comics-inspired project to life.

Marvel paid tribute to this early version by featuring the original cast in cameos for this year’s Fantastic Four: First Steps. In a new featurette, the actors recall their work on the Corman film.

Memories from the Original Cast

Jay Underwood, who portrayed Johnny Storm, understood the pressure producer Bert Eichinger faced. He said,

“He was going to lose the rights unless he went into production by a certain date. So he goes to Roger Corman and says, ‘Can you make this movie and make it right now and make it cheap?’ … We put together this million-dollar movie, which for Corman was actually probably a very big budget at the time. But certainly not a budget that you need for a movie like the Fantastic Four.”

MCU Producer's Perspective

Grant Curtis, MCU producer on First Steps, praised the original production:

“[Corman] did a lot of things right in that movie … One of the things I think they did extremely well was the character relationships. And not every special effect on any movie holds up over time. But those were very real relationships that, when we did our homework and we looked at the movie early on, we took note [of].”

The homage reinforces the significance of this early yet unreleased effort in the larger Marvel legacy.

Author's summary: The original cast of Roger Corman’s unreleased 1994 Fantastic Four reflect on their unique project, honored in Marvel’s recent tribute First Steps.

Gizmodo — 2025-11-07