Tomorrowland meets 1960s NYC in new Fantastic Four film

What if the dreams and design features of Disney theme parks' Tomorrowland were realised in 1960s New York City?

- Robert Ito

NEW YORK -

One gets a sense of the possibilities in Marvel's blockbuster movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which begins on Earth-828, a doppelganger for Earth itself and the home base of the film's titular superheroes, before spilling out into space.

This alternate universe includes mod fashions and flying cars, Flash Gordon-inspired rocket ships and robot butlers, mid-century modern chairs and space-age architecture.

In this iteration of the franchise, directed by Matt Shakman, the superhero team inhabits a planet devoid of other Marvel superheroes — no X-Men or Spideys here — and a vastly transformed Manhattan simultaneously familiar yet alien.

For the film's fashion, Oscar-winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (Elizabeth: The Golden Age, 2007) looked at everything from Ernst Haas photos to 1960s ski wear to fashion designers such as Rudi Gernreich and Bonnie Cashin. Little was overlooked.

Byrne even wrestled with the challenges of how the massive Thing (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach) might dress himself. "He's got rock hands," she said. "He would never be able to do buttons up."