Fantastic Four's Director Confirms That Reed Richards' Lab Has Three Distinct Sections, And Tells Us What They're For (Plus Shoots Down One Rumor From The Comics)

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Part of the fun of visiting a movie set is stepping into actual locations that have been constructed to bring a fictional environment to life. When you attend a set visit for a blockbuster superhero film, however, you get a mix of two different experiences. I was lucky enough to visit the set of Avengers: Infinity War in Atlanta, where a group of journalists watched T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) welcome Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and a refugee band of Avengers to Wakanda. Outside of a constructed platform, however, we only saw green screens instead of Wakanda. But other times, I've been lucky enough to see a replica of Kamar-Tak on the Doctor Strange set, the exterior of The Daily Planet on the Superman set, and plenty of exciting builds while visiting the set of The Fantastic Four: First Steps outside of London in 2024.
One of the main messages professed by director Matt Shakman and the producers of The Fantastic Four is that this movie is aiming to be massive in scope, and practical in scale. Now, that's not possible for a villain like Galactus, who literally is the size of several skyscrapers. But on our visit to The Fantastic Four set, we were able to step into physically constructed sets for The Baxter Building, Yancy Street, a 1960s replica of Times Square, and Reed Richards' laboratory, which was an exquisite and sprawling set that stretched on, providing exciting new details in each reveal.
Standing on the outside of Richards' lab, which we were told will be located on a separate floor of The Baxter Building, Matt Shakman explained to CinemaBlend:
If you guys have a chance to peek your head in there and take a look, it's a sort of a 2001-inspired laboratory. It's got three circles. (The team is) in the blue circle, which is the Mission Control area where Reed does his searches for extraterrestrial life. He does space experiments, monitors his telescope, things like that. The middle circle is his Thinking Zone, which has the world's largest chalkboards, which go up and down in a really quite extraordinary way. And that's where he thinks about the big problems of the universe. And then the red circle at the far end, which you can't see, is his Engineering Circle, where he actually builds things by hand, and makes inventions. So, the greatest lab for the greatest mind.
There was some discussion following the release of the trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps that we didn't see Pedro Pascal stretching, showing off the elasticity that comes with playing Reed Richards. And that's true. But I'd argue Reed's real superpower is his intellect. It's what allows him to go toe-to-toe with his legendary adversary Victor Von Doom, who we know will be played by Robert Downey Jr. in the MCU… perhaps in scenes for The Fantastic Four, released this year?
That's a rumor. And speaking of rumors, I wanted to ask Matt Shakman about one we'd heard regarding The Negative Zone, a dimension frequently showcased in the Fantastic Four comics that some believe might be used to transport the FF from their world to Earth-616, where the rest of the MCU awaits. But when I asked Shakman this point blank, he candidly told CinemaBlend:
The Negative Zone is not a part of our film. That doesn't mean it won't appear later.
Later, like, in an upcoming Avengers movie? Anything is possible. Based on what we learned on the set of The Fantastic Four, this movie is going to open up the MCU to all new corners of the universe, and expand Marvel's playing field to include exciting new dimensions and galaxies. Marvel's first family arrives in theaters on July 25. Keep it here for the latest coverage regarding all things comic book in Hollywood.