Vanessa Kirby, much to her surprise, had no trouble committing to the sprawling MCU as she was cast in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, where she portrays Sue Storm/Invisible Woman in Marvel Studios‘ official launch of Phase Six.
During a recent interview with Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, The Crown alumna talked about falling in love with the famed comic book character and what it’s been like reprising the role for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.
“When this one came around, I was so genuinely moved by the fact that this was a woman who was pregnant and was a new mother, and also has these superpowers,” Kirby said. “It helped me ground it in something — to try and understand what it would be like to have both those things happening at the same time was a challenge, but I was grateful for that because it rooted it in this kind of domesticity, in this family and home, which made it easier.”
For the role, Kirby did not audition, first meeting with helmer Matt Shakman over lunch and later on top brass Kevin Feige. The actress said she was excited to mine the “counterculture and super meaningful” ’60s comic book era to bring the character to life, adding that because of Sue Storm’s expansive journey she didn’t have any trepidation agreeing to future MCU pipeline projects.
“With this, I actually didn’t have that, and I’m surprised to say that,” the Pieces of a Woman star explained. “I think it was because I really liked her so much and because I’d read so many of the comics and she goes through so many different iterations. She becomes Malice, this really dark version of herself for quite a long time, and then she renames herself Invisible Woman having been called Invisible Girl and she goes off with Psycho-Man, like her history is incredible, so I felt like there’s so much there to even [explore] psychologically. I mean, she has a stillborn, and people don’t know that. She’s gone through a lot.”
More importantly, Kirby said she felt confident continuing her collaboration with the superhero studio alongside her fellow First Steps co-stars Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach: “I knew I wouldn’t be without these three actors, and these three actors have genuinely become family, and I admired them so much, and I knew that we’re a four and the four in the comics are never separated, so I assumed that we’d be together, and that really helped ’cause then you’re not a lone ranger going to new, daunting environments.”
Speaking to the much-hyped Doomsday, Kirby said more shoots are on the way: “I’m loving it, absolutely loving it. It’s been a complete privilege,” she said of filming, which she is doing while pregnant, adding that it’s the “coolest” experience.
Shakman previously spoke to Deadline about how his MCU entry is able to “pass the baton” to the Joe and Anthony Russo-directed 2026 movie. Though plot details are currently tightly under wraps, audiences can expect the tentpole to center on supervillain and Fantastic Four arch nemesis Dr. Doom (Robert Downey Jr.).
“[The Russo Brothers] describe it like they’re making a recipe of different ingredients, and it’s unbelievable that these Avengers movies work in such a beautiful way,” Kirby said. “You look at Infinity War and you’ve got all these different energies but somehow they all fuse together, and I remember them saying the first one they had no idea if any of them would go together, and it just works. It’s quite exciting to be a part of something and go, ‘OK, this is my flavor, I don’t know.’ It’s in their hands to work out what flavors go with what and how and where and there’s a surrender in that.”
Lauding Downey Jr.’s leadership onscreen, Kirby said: “He’s the most incredible human being, soulful, deep, kind — he’s been an amazing leader to us considering we’re the newbies, and a lot of the others have known this world for a really long time, and he’s been a phenomenal leader, and also he’s just doing the most amazing work.”
In addition to the quartet from First Steps and Downey Jr., confirmed cast members include Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd, Letitia Wright, Florence Pugh, Simu Liu, Tom Hiddleston, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Winston Duke, Danny Ramirez, Hannah John-Kamen, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Channing Tatum, Tenoch Huerta Mejía and Lewis Pullman.
Watch the full Happy Sad Confused interview below: