Fantastic Four: First Steps Easter Eggs: The 1994 Cast Cameo

You were probably too engaged in The Fantastic Four: First Steps plot and an incredible cameo likely flew right past you at Mach speed. In a touching tribute to a lost piece of Marvel history, the cast of the never-released 1994 Fantastic Four movie made a surprise appearance.

What’s Happening:

The 1994 cast appears early in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. During an opening montage of news clips and citizen testimonials praising the team, the camera briefly focuses on a group of four grateful, older citizens. These are the actors from the lost 1994 film.
The actors honored in this quick moment are Alex Hyde-White (Reed Richards), Rebecca Staab (Sue Storm), Jay Underwood (Johnny Storm), and Michael Bailey Smith (Ben Grimm).
Long before the 2005 Tim Story film, this cast suited up as Marvel’s First Family in a 1994 movie produced by Roger Corman’s New Horizons Pictures.
This easter egg is a deep cut for longtime Marvel fans who have been aware of the unreleased film, which has been a cult curiosity circulated via bootlegs for decades.

A Fantastic Flop: The Legend of the Unreleased 1994 Film

So why was a Fantastic Four movie made in 1994, and why have most people never heard of it? The story behind its production is as wild as any comic book plot.

Use It or Lose It: In the early 90s, German producer Bernd Eichinger and his company Constantin Film held the film rights to the Fantastic Four. However, the rights were set to expire and revert to Marvel by the end of 1992 if production on a film did not begin. To retain the valuable property, Eichinger decided to produce a low-budget version.
Enter Roger Corman: To get the film made quickly and cheaply (for a reported budget of only $1 million), Eichinger partnered with the legendary B-movie king, Roger Corman. The cast and crew were hired, and they passionately went to work, believing they were making a legitimate feature film that would launch their careers.
Shelved by Marvel: The cast and director even went on a promotional tour for the film, which was scheduled for a 1994 theatrical release. Suddenly, the film was pulled, and all promotional materials were recalled. The prevailing theory is that Marvel executive Avi Arad, not wanting a low-budget version of Marvel's flagship characters to tarnish the brand's image, paid Eichinger a few million dollars for the finished film and then ordered every print destroyed.
A Cult Legend is Born: Despite Arad's best efforts, a copy of the film survived and has since been passed around on VHS tapes and, later, online video sites. Its "cursed" status has made it a legendary piece of comic book movie history. The 2015 documentary Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four details the entire saga.

This small cameo in The Fantastic Four: First Steps isn't just a fun easter egg; it's a final, official acknowledgment from Marvel Studios, bringing the story of this long-lost film and its hopeful cast full circle.

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Four Surprise Faces Make a Cameo in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps"

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