The Marvel Cinematic Universe grows once more with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which finally introduces this latest iteration of Marvel’s First Family. The movie was directed by Matt Shakman, who first entered the MCU with his work on WandaVision. Shakman worked off of a screenplay by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer (with additional story credit going to Kat Wood), which offers those who haven’t kept up with the MCU a fresh reentry point thanks to the movie’s alternate dimension 1960s setting.

As seen in this The Fantastic Four: First Steps clip, the Four are played by an exciting crew of actors in Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. But they’re not the only key players in a film that also introduces the Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal and one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic antagonists in Galactus. In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the Silver Surfer is played by Julia Garner, while Galactus is brought to life by Ralph Ineson.

ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan separately interviewed The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman, First Family actors Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn, and stars Julia Garner and Ralph Ineson. ScreenRant’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps review praised the chemistry between Pascal and Kirby, which those actors discussed. Shakman shared some of the influences behind the movie, while Garner and Ineson reflected on the relationship between Silver Surfer and Galactus.

Matt Shakman Reveals His Influences For The Fantastic Four: First Steps

“Where Kirby Meets Kubrick”

Early reactions to The Fantastic Four: First Steps named the movie’s production design as a clear highlight, which is an early win for the world Matt Shakman brought to the screen. “We defined the aesthetic as ‘Where Kirby meets Kubrick,’” Shakman said, “so Jack Kirby–the original creator, with Stan Lee, of the Fantastic Four–and Stanley Kubrick, [who directed] 2001, which was sort of the great retro-futuristic movie of that time.”

“We really wanted to build a world that felt like it was drawing from Kirby’s comics,” Shakman continued, “but also from what the best of the futurists [in the ’60s] were thinking the world would look like. We’d bring that all back and make that real for the Fantastic Four, and that was their world.”

It was The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ comic book influences, however, that encouraged Shakman and co. to set the film in the 1960s. Shakman shared that the characters “were created in the middle of the Space Race, in a time when JFK optimism was everywhere. People were looking at the stars and imagining putting a person on the moon, and [there was] the idea that the right heart and the right technology could solve everything.”

Pedro Pascal Explains Reed Richards’ Wholesome Kink

“I’d Be Like ”’Reed, Don’t Do That’”

Reed Richards, the patriarch of Marvel’s First Family, has often been portrayed as a rather square–but Pedro Pascal is (sort of) changing that. When asked if any invented backstory was in the actor’s head as he played Richards, Pascal said “Reed had a kink … he would love to sit and watch [Sue Storm] get ready.” “I would imagine him kind of just loving to sit back and see her brush her teeth and stuff,” Pascal added.

“Yeah,” Vanessa Kirby added, “to music. We played nice music. We did that in a scene. He was sitting there with music, and I was just brushing my teeth … I’d be like, ‘Reed, don’t do that.’”

Julia Garner Reflects On Silver Surfer’s Relationships

“She Doesn’t Want To Get Too Attached”

The largest looming threat in The Fantastic Four: First Steps is Galactus, a planet-eating cosmic being who has Earth in his sights. The first sign of Galactus’ approach, however, is the arrival of Shalla-Bal aka the Silver Surfer, played by Julia Garner. She and Ralph Ineson weighed in on the dynamic between the pair, with Garner quipping that “they have communication issues.”

“Yeah,” Ineson added, “I haven’t spoken for millions of years before the events of this movie, so there’s not a lot of communication that goes on … it’s a pretty messed-up relationship.” When asked how a therapist might break it down, Garner gave a one-word response: “Avoidance.”

But Shalla-Bal is set to come across some much chattier characters in the film, especially Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), who feels sparks fly upon meeting her. “I think she’s amused by him,” Garner said, “because I think she’s not used to getting attention like that.” But don’t expect the pair to immediately ride off into the sunset, as the actor continued to say “she doesn’t want to show him because she’s not a hundred percent sure, she doesn’t want to get too attached, and because the world’s potentially ending. You know, all those things push and pull.”

Herbie’s Connection To A Star Wars Prequel, Revealed

Hello There, Matthew Wood

The Fantastic Four may be the stars of the show, but their robot companion Herbie is bound to win over plenty of audience members (and sell some tie-in merchandise, too). “Herbie’s great,” Matt Shakman said of the character, “He is a practical effect. We built a full animatronic Herbie. [He has] so much personality, brought to life, also, by a puppeteer named Jack Parker, who staged the scenes just like an actor operating Herbie, giving something for the other actors to act off of.”

Regarding Herbie’s personality, Shakman said “He’s put upon, he’s got a lot of stuff to do, he can sometimes be a little annoyed, [and] he also loves his family. He’s very much a part of his family.”

But Jack Parker wasn’t the only person who brought Herbie to life. “The real secret sauce,” Shakman said, “is Matthew Wood, our Skywalker Sound guru, who was also involved in creating Wall-E and a lot of the droids in Star Wars. He’s the voice of General Grievous in Star Wars, and he is the little almost human voice that you hear when Herbie is talking. You can almost think you’re hearing words, but you’re not. That’s Matt’s vocalization.”