Vanessa Kirby Says Real Baby Helped Bring Heart to ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’

Fantastic Four: First Steps is a big hit, and not just because of its massive action scenes and star-studded cast. What really stands out is the emotional center of the story, and it turns out, that came from a very real place.

Vanessa Kirby, who plays Sue Storm, revealed that the baby in the film was real, not CGI, and was present throughout the entire shoot.

Speaking to Variety on the day the movie hit theaters, Kirby shared how filming with a real infant helped shape the heart of the story. “100% of the film was shot with a real baby,” she said. “Our lead baby, Ada, a little girl, was just heaven. We had lots of other babies who were acting with us and helping us. We got really attached to them, and they were so part of our journey.”

The film follows the Fantastic Four as they prepare for the arrival of Sue and Reed’s son, Franklin Richards, a character long known in the comics as one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe.

As they face off against cosmic giant Galactus and his herald Silver Surfer (played by Julia Garner), Sue goes into labor, in space, and gives birth to Franklin during the chaos.

Kirby explained that shooting the birth scene was intense but meaningful. “It was so cool that, at the midpoint of the movie, it centers this woman giving birth, and these three kind and loving men supporting her,” she said. “It was so cool to see that a superhero was doing something so primal and so utterly human. I was most excited for that bit.”

Filming in zero gravity added a new challenge, but the emotional weight of the scene made it worth it. “We had an amazing couple of weeks shooting that sequence in that spaceship. I loved every minute. I lost my voice by the end. We did hundreds of takes. I think the crew had to get earplugs,” she laughed.

The baby wasn’t just in one or two scenes either, she was at the center of the story, always present. Kirby said it felt strange when the babies weren’t on set. “It almost became weird if they weren’t there,” she said.

During one emotional night shoot in London, the babies all cried at the same line in Sue’s speech. “I thought, ‘Am I delivering something so bad that they’re crying at the same moment?’” she joked. “Babies are the most natural actors in the world.”

The film builds toward a powerful moment where Sue uses all her strength to protect Franklin from Galactus. In the process, she sacrifices herself, only for Franklin, the infant, to bring her back. Kirby said that moment was all about the love between a mother and her child. “It was so helpful to know that it was a mother’s rage, and a mother’s love,” she said. “I wanted it to feel more primal. I’m fighting to save my child.”

That bond, between Sue and Franklin, gives the movie its emotional punch. Kirby felt that putting a baby at the center of a superhero film made it feel different from other Marvel movies. “This baby really is at the heart of the story,” she said. “They’re not just protecting the world. It’s about what this new consciousness represents.”

Kirby, who is also pregnant in real life while filming Avengers: Doomsday, said the experience helped her understand motherhood in a whole new way. “It certainly taught me about motherhood, and my own motherhood journey. That can’t be a coincidence,” she said.

At the end of the day, while Fantastic Four: First Steps has all the cosmic action fans expect, what makes it special is something simple, a real baby, held by real actors, telling a story about love, sacrifice, and new life.

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