New Details for 'Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps - The Art of the Movie' Revealed

The Artbook Collector
5 hours ago
4 min read

August 21st 2025

The upcoming artbook for the Marvel Studios' take on The Fantastic Four has gone through a series of updates since being revealed, from page count changes to a title change. Now though, we have more details on the mysterious second book, shining a light on what to expect in Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps - The Art of the Movie.

Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps - The Art of the Movie placeholder cover

The artbook is set for release on November 18th 2025, the only consistent detail so far other than the hefty price tag of $150. It was this price point that raised eyebrows, because that is very expensive for a collector's edition of a book, let alone the only version available. When first listed, it had a page count of 400, but was quickly knocked down to 256. It was moved up to 288 with the reveal of the second book, titled 'Portfolio' at the time, highlighting the reason for the second price increase. We now know after the recent update that this is fully titled, 'Future Foundation Portfolio'.

As seen on retailer listings, it is given the following description;

"From the desk of Dr. Reed Richards, this companion volume presents the film’s advanced technologies in meticulous detail, with blueprint-style schematics of the various gadgets, gizmos, and designs that bring the Fantastic Four’s world to life."

This is an interesting addition, as it was previously described only as never-before-seen artwork, which applies to all of their books, so this clarifies what fans are getting. Schematics are a thematic inclusion, perfectly suited to First Steps, but brings up a point raised in my reporting when the second book was revealed, will this be the ongoing new format? If it were simply two artbooks, you could see it happening at the very least with each movie release, but perhaps not the shows. Schematics aren’t relevant to many entries in the MCU though, so will this be a one off, or will there be other inclusions that feature different content to suit each project? It will be interesting to find out when the next movie artbook is revealed.

Above art by Ryan Meinerding

There is no mention of the size of the book though, because although the details are clearly subject to change, as it currently stands this would be a small book. If they are sticking to their ongoing page cap of 224 for the artbook, then this portfolio book is only 64 pages, which for an additional $50 is hard to reasonably justify when comparing to other books on the market.

Switching hats as a reporter of news to a consumer and reviewer, these details create a potential problem for buyers and sales. This second book isn’t one that comes with conventional concept art and while this may be of interest to some, others might not share this view. The $150 sticker shock being caused by a more niche volume could turn people away. This site and the collection here is focused on concept art books, but I am also curious to check out the portfolio book too, while fully acknowledging this view won’t be shared by everyone. People will be much less likely to buy it out of curiosity, or out of interest in one book over the other, when they can buy 3 new Dark Horse artbooks for the same price. I'm more intrigued than ever and want to see what the final details will be, but I still wonder why they haven't done a standalone book option as well as this slipcase set to make it accessible to more MCU fans.

Top pages by artists Rodney Fuentebella and Thomas du Crest, bottom pages by Wesley Burt

Despite these concerns, Marvel artbooks hit a lot more than they miss, offering incredible artwork from some of the best in the industry. The page design is always top notch and the insights from the artists, creators, and cast make for a fun read. So even if this book isn’t for you, or is too high a price, there are dozens to go back to and enjoy. We will never know the sales numbers of the books, but whether this format is used again or not will be a good indicator of its success.

Previews were also recently released for the artbook as seen in this article. It's an unusual move for Marvel, but a great way to give people unfamiliar with the books an idea of what to expect. If interested in more from Marvel Studios, you can check out reviews of their recent releases here, which includes an entry from the ongoing Titan Books' rereleases for the Infinity Saga artbooks;

You can also see a preview of Marvel Studios' Loki: Season Two - The Art of the Series below from The Artbook Collector YouTube channel.

If interested in ordering Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps - The Art of the Movie ahead of its release on November 18th, you can do so here;