Popverse's top stories of the day

• Dune: Prophecy creators promise to bring the "complexity" and "grand scale" of Frank Herbert's books and Denis Villeneuve's movies to TV
• Marvel's TV head says there's "absolutely" a future for Jon Bernthal's Punisher after his Daredevil: Born Again appearance
• Meet the Grim Reaper of The Walking Dead TV show cast, and what goes into killing someone off in the show

Ok gang, I've figured out how to get scoops on the Marvel Cinematic Universe: All you have to do is spend much of your life dedicated to creating the best and most interesting Marvel storylines, then apparently, you might get invited to an MCU movie set! At least, that's what happened to several high-profile Marvel Comics creators, who got to visit the Fantastic 4: First Steps set just a few weeks ago. Among them was executive editor Tom Brevoort, who took the time to write down (what he was able to of) his experience.

The report comes from Brevoort's weekly substack, Man with a Hat, in the October 27 edition. The current captain of the X-Men line shared a little bit about what he and the creators pictured above saw on-set in England, but don't expect very much in the way of spoilers. Even the picture that headlines this piece was, in Brevoort's words, "the one photograph that has been cleared for release so far," which gives you an idea of just how tight-lipped the whole operation had to be.

What Brevoort can say with no reservation, however, is just who did and didn't make it to set that day. As you can see from the photo, that was "Marvel EIC C.B. Cebulski, SVP David Bogart, Sara Pichelli, Alan Davis and his wife Heather Davis, Matt Fraction, Dan Slott, Chip Zdarsky, Mark Bagley, Ryan North and Tom DeFalco." All of these folks have created or were adjacent to the creation of landmark stories in the long history of Marvel's Fantastic Four comics.

Other unspecified comic creators were also invited, Brevoort writes, only naming one who couldn't make it. That was Jonathan Hickman, who wrote the FF between issues #570-#611, and who couldn't make it due to an expired passport. Sorry Mr. Hickman; we know the Krakoan customs agency can be pretty paperwork-heavy.

The creators who did manage to make it, however, saw some pretty exciting stuff according to Brevoort, not the least of which was the set of the Baxter Building (which we knew would be a part of First Steps thanks to some San Diego Comic Con footage) and the set of Yancey Street (which we did not know would feature in the film). They were also greeted by a very enthusiastic Vanessa Kirby, who Brevoort writes "was super-interested in talking with everybody about her character Sue Storm."

Unfortunately, that's all Brevoort could reveal of his time on the Fantastic 4: First Steps set, which he called "a top-5 day in my long Marvel career." But don't worry everyone, I'm working on learning how to draw The Thing so I can invited to set before the movie comes out July 25, 2025.

Wish me luck!

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters