This might have been the best promotion for Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

English actress Vanessa Kirby plays a pregnant superhero in the upcoming film. And she revealed her pregnancy while attending pop-culture festival CCXP in Mexico City on May 31.

The 37-year-old showed off her baby bump while walking the red carpet at a panel event for First Steps, in which she plays Invisible Woman/Sue Storm.

The character’s pregnancy was revealed in the trailer for the film. Sue Storm is the wife of Mr Fantastic/Reed Richards, played by Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps also stars English actor Joseph Quinn as Human Torch/Johnny Storm – the younger brother of Sue Storm – and American actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing/Ben Grimm. The movie opens at cinemas on July 24.

Kirby was seen cradling her baby bump in a short promotional video with her three co-stars in a post on Marvel’s Instagram page on June 1.

The actress is known for playing Britain’s Princess Margaret in Netflix series The Crown (2016 to 2023), and the White Widow in the films Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).

Kirby is dating retired professional lacrosse player Paul Rabil, 39, who is president of the United States’ Premier Lacrosse League.

They were romantically linked in October 2022, when British tabloid Daily Mail published photos of them stepping out together in New York.

The couple went public with their relationship in November 2023. Rabil posted a sweet tribute to her and shared photos of them on Instagram.

American celebrity gossip website Page Six reported in December 2024 that they were engaged after two years of dating.

Kirby previously dated English actor Callum Turner, her co-star in the film Queen & Country (2014). Meanwhile, Rabil was married to former lacrosse player Kelly Berger between 2014 and 2017, and dated Mexican actress Eiza Gonzalez in 2021. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network