Yuri Xavier:
Welcome to Minded. How are you?

Kasra Farahani:
Very well, thank you. How are you doing?

Yuri Xavier:
First off—congratulations. The new Fantastic Four has been a huge success, and everyone keeps mentioning the production design. You must be feeling pretty good right now.

Kasra Farahani:
Absolutely. I feel very good that my team—and all the brilliant, talented people in the art department, set decoration, props, construction, and special effects—are being recognized for the world we created together.

Yuri Xavier:
Do you allow yourself to enjoy that moment, or are you already onto the next thing?

Kasra Farahani:
Honestly, probably not as much as I should. These projects are intense. You're fully immersed. And when it's over, it's hard to see the final product—you mostly see the things you wish you'd done differently. That's why it’s meaningful to hear that fans are happy. That helps me take a moment to reflect.

Yuri Xavier:
Were you always like this as a kid? Wanting more time, more refinement?

Kasra Farahani:
I think that mindset really solidified during my time at ArtCenter College of Design here in Southern California. It’s a very intensive school. That perfectionism and attention to micro-detail comes from that. Even on set, I’ll fill drawers with items the camera will never see—because it’s not finished unless it feels real.

Yuri Xavier:
You’ve designed some of Marvel's most iconic spaces—Loki, Fantastic Four. What’s your process from script to screen?

Kasra Farahani:
It starts with deeply absorbing the script and understanding the story priorities. Then comes translating those into environments that can be filmed—deciding what’s a set, what’s VFX, what’s location. For Fantastic Four, we built sets like Reed’s lab, the Baxter apartment, and a full-scale Times Square. That gave actors and directors freedom—but those sets are expensive. So we looked at how to consolidate scenes into shared environments to justify those builds.

Yuri Xavier:
So much of that worldbuilding is invisible to the audience. How much of your role is design vs. operations?

Kasra Farahani:
If you’re lucky, about two-thirds design, one-third logistics. I had great support—my supervising art director Nick Gottschalk and the team helped me focus on the creative. I only had to step in when major problems needed conceptual solutions.

Yuri Xavier:
Fantastic Four: First Steps looks unlike any other Marvel film. What inspired that retro-futuristic aesthetic?

Kasra Farahani:
It’s grounded in optimism. We drew from industrial design from the 1930s to 1960s—the streamline era, the jet age. In this alternate timeline, Reed Richards is born in 1930. By 1950, he’s changing the world. So anything in New York built after 1950 reflects his influence—flying cars, monorails, walking robots. But it’s only one-third retro-futuristic; the rest is real New York. That balance keeps it grounded.

Yuri Xavier:
Do you think that visual language will influence the wider MCU?

Kasra Farahani:
Not really. Loki’s TVA was its own world. Fantastic Four is the same—its own corner. I know Kevin Feige mentioned that some sets might appear in Avengers: Doomsday, which started a rumor that I’m designing that film—I'm not. But generally, these were standalone visual worlds.

Yuri Xavier:
If you could design another cinematic universe—Star Wars, Dune, Blade Runner—which would you choose?

Kasra Farahani:
I admire them all, but Dune stands out. What Denis Villeneuve and Patrice Vermette have done is masterful—fusing sci-fi scale with timeless, architectural elegance. I think it will age beautifully.

Yuri Xavier:
Your work feels emotional—almost like we've seen it before. Where does that sensibility come from?

Kasra Farahani:
I try to ground everything in real architectural research—materials, proportions, detail. I balance fantastical with familiar. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, but it worked well for Loki and Fantastic Four.

Yuri Xavier:
Was there a moment that really challenged you during Fantastic Four?

Kasra Farahani:
Many. We only had 13 months from script to wrap. In that time, we built Times Square, two Fantasticars, the lab, the apartment, and more. And we had to deliver most of our big sets early in the shoot, which meant building multiple massive environments at once. On top of that, my second child was born in the first month of the job—so it was intense on every level.

Yuri Xavier:
We can’t talk about design today without asking about AI. What’s your view?

Kasra Farahani:
AI is a powerful tool, but it’s still ethically complicated. I’m curious about tools trained on owned data, like Adobe’s model. But overall, I don’t think AI will replace innovation. It’s backward-looking. It may raise the floor, but it won’t raise the ceiling. It can help generate B-level images—but not A+ design. That still comes from humans.

Yuri Xavier:
Before you go, can you give us some quick recommendations? A film, a book, a skill to learn—and who we should invite next?

Kasra Farahani:
For film: 2001: A Space Odyssey—a visual lighthouse. And Barbarian—super original. For books: Wellness and The Nix by Nathan Hill. Skill-wise: learn something outside your field. I stopped doing concept art to study screenwriting and directing. That risk changed how I design. Finally—bring on Denis Villeneuve or Matt Shakman!

Yuri Xavier:
Working on it! Kasra, thank you. Incredible conversation and congratulations again.

Kasra Farahani:
Thank you, Yuri. It was a pleasure.