The film stars Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, and Kerry Washington.

The film follows the origins of the titular team as they learn to come to terms with their newfound abilities following their exposure to cosmic rays.

Reed is able to stretch like rubber, Susan can become invisible and create force fields, Johnny can engulf himself in fire, and Ben is transformed into a large, rock-based creature with superhuman strength and durability.

The media dubs them "The Fantastic Four," and Victor exploits the news story to his stockholders, but they decide to pull out of Von Doom Industries.

Victor, now calling himself "Doom," tortures Reed using a super-cooling unit and fires a heat-seeking missile at the Baxter Building to kill Johnny.

In an epilogue, Ben tells Reed to forget about his experiment with the machine, as he has accepted his condition through his relationship with Alicia Masters, a blind artist.

As in almost all of the previous Marvel Comics-based films, Fantastic Four co-creator Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as Willie Lumpkin, the postal worker who greets the team on their way to the Baxter Building elevator.

[6] Hugh Jackman reprises his role as James Howlett / Logan / Wolverine from the X-Men film series in a scene in which Reed Richards changes his face to resemble Jackman's portrayal of Wolverine in an attempt to woo Susan Storm; the scene was deleted from the theatrical cut of Fantastic Four and was restored in the "Extended Cut" of the film.

[7] Cameos during the X Games scenes include professional freestyle motocross riders Kenny Bartram and Brian Deegan, and reporter Jamie Little.

In 1983, German producer Bernd Eichinger met with Stan Lee at his home in Los Angeles to explore obtaining an option for a movie based on the Fantastic Four.

[8] The option was not available until three years later, when Eichinger's Constantin Film company obtained it from Marvel Comics for a price the producer called "not enormous", and which has been estimated to be $250,000.

With none forthcoming, Eichinger planned to retain his option by producing a low-budget Fantastic Four film, reasoning, he said in 2005, "They didn't say I had to make a big movie.

[14] He developed a screenplay with Michael France, but decided to step down as director and focus on producing Fantastic Four under his 1492 Pictures company.

[15] Fox brought in Sam Hamm to rewrite the script in April 1998[16] in an attempt to lower the $165 million projected budget.

[13] In February 1999, with development taking longer than expected, Eichinger and Fox signed a deal with Marvel to extend the control of the film rights for another two years, with a summer 2001 release planned,[17] and hiring Raja Gosnell to direct.

[28][29] Robert Downey Jr. was initially considered for the role of Doom;[30] he would later be cast as the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he will appear in Avengers: Doomsday in 2026.

[27][28][32] Tim Story was signed to direct in April 2004, after Fox was impressed with his early cut of Taxi (2004) and him being a fan of the comics.

Berardinelli praised Chiklis for a standout performance despite being buried in makeup, summarizing: Fantastic Four has its good points—there are individual scenes that work" and said there are "moments of surprise and excitement ... but the tempo's off, beats are missed, and the production ends up sounding out-of-tune.

[50][51][52][53] At the Saturn Awards, Fantastic Four was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film, but lost the trophy to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).

Alba was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her performances in both this film and Into the Blue, but lost to Jenny McCarthy for Dirty Love.

The DVD expanded on The Thing's relationships with Alicia Masters, Doom's scheming to break up the group, and the Human Torch's womanizing backfiring on him.

[57] Fantastic Four received a novelization written by popular Marvel Comics writer Peter David, which included several scenes not present in the movie.

A sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, was released on June 15, 2007, with director Tim Story and the cast returning to the fold.

Jon Watts was originally attached to direct, but later stepped down after expressing his desire to take a "break" from superhero films.

[65] An alternate universe version of Reed Richards portrayed by John Krasinski appears in the MCU film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).