The Fantastic Four: First Steps Artbook Gets New Details and Previews

The Artbook Collector
3 days ago
3 min read

September 20th 2025

After periodic updates for the upcoming artbook based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of The Fantastic Four, it looks like the final one has now arrived. Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps - The Art of the Movie now has some new previews and details about the 'Portfolio' volume.

Since being listed back in February, the slipcase set has had two titles changes, multiple page number updates, two placeholder covers, the reveal of a second book, and additions to the description. Only two details have remained the same, the release date of November 18th—which if it sticks to would break the cycle of 26 prior books being delayed—and the price.

Starting with 'The Art of the Movie' book, it has now been confirmed it will include 256 pages, making it the first to go above 224 in the Multiverse Saga and is a welcome change. More is always a good thing, especially when a movie has a focus on and the introduction of multiple characters. You can see the promo image below that also highlights the cover art of the hardcover book featuring Galactus.

The second update is for the 'Portfolio' book. In previous reporting, I speculated that as the total page count is 288, that the first volume would be 224 again, with this look at Reed Richards blueprints and designs being 64. However, it is now confirmed to be just 32 with a card cover, not quite the big addition some may have hoped for. Below you can see some preview pages, that highlight some nice artwork that includes the designs of their car and space suits seen in the movie.

The slipcase set also comes again with five lithograph prints that have been featured in the previous releases that came with a hardcover book and a slipcase. They come in a simple folded piece of card and feature concept art on each one.

As both as a collector of the Marvel Studios artbooks and someone that reviews releases, I'll switch hats from a reporter of news to a reviewer as I have done before to raise the biggest issue many will also share. If you have been following the reporting here on the book, the same concern has been raised each time—the price.

The $150 price tag is hard to ignore and adds on another $50 to an already high increase made for the current slipcase format. I said before that 288 pages between two books and 5 prints will be a tough sell at this price, as it is not remotely competitive with other artbooks on the market. $50 for an extra 32 pages in the book and the 32 page Portfolio inclusion is what you can buy a newly released 200+ page hardcover artbook for, so this can't be overlooked. Three high quality books Dark Horse, Abrams Books, or Titans Books for the same price as this one puts Marvel in the position of having to prove themselves with this upcoming release.

A copy of the book will be joining the collection here to be reviewed when it arrives, so I'm very curious to go hands on with this entry in the series and see if the price is indeed justified. For a series that gets little to no promotion, it will be interesting to see how this performs on sales charts, as the limited audience has been given a new barrier for entry. I'm also keen to see if this format is used again, as that would indicate its success, or if it gets deeply discounted very quickly as some of their previous books have.

Before then though, check out some of their previous releases here and watch a preview of Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts: The Art of the Movie below from The Artbook Collector YouTube channel.

If you're interested in the book and want to secure a copy for your own shelf, you can order Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps - The Art of the Movie ahead of its release on November 18th here;