The Future Foundation was introduced in 2010’s Fantastic Four #576, part of the defining run by writer Jonathan Hickman. Reed Richards created the Foundation as a think tank for the next generation of scientists, free thinkers who matched their technical prowess with boundless imagination, the very foundations on which the Fantastic Four were built.

Its original members consisted of young super-geniuses, including Alex Power of the Power Pack, the child clone of supervillain the Wizard, evolved Moloids (minions of the Mole Man), with Dragon Man serving as mentor. Later additions included Valeria Richards, the younger and smarter daughter of Reed and Sue), X-Men supporting characters Artie and Leech, Wakandan teen Onome, and Adolf Impossible, son of the mischievous imp the Impossible Man.

The Future Foundation embodied the central themes of the Fantastic Four, which had been lost in the decades since Lee and Kirby launched the series. The Fantastic Four captured a sense of optimism during the space race, the idea that the world’s youth would think of things and go places that previous generations didn’t dare to dream, that they would—to borrow the title of Hickman’s first FF storyline —solve everything.

By the 2010s, Fantastic Four remained one of the most important comics of all time, but the team was anything but young and forward thinking. The Future Foundation gave the series a shot in the arm by embracing the weirdest corners of the Marvel Universe and letting the kids go nuts with ideas.

If Fantastic Four: First Steps can capture just a fraction of the Future Foundation’s optimism and energy, then the movie will be the most energetic superhero film ever made.

Fantastic Four: First Steps launches into theaters on July 25.