THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Review

Shang-Chi and The Eternals didn’t need to be the next Iron Man. The Marvels nor Anthony Mackie’s Captain America never stood a chance at being such given the climate they were released into (not to mention their generally poor quality) whereas Thunderbolts* needed to do a lot of things but it didn’t necessarily need to turn over a new leaf or define the next generation of super hero films in the way 2008’s Iron Man did. This third iteration of "The Fantastic Four" in thirty years though…it did kind of need to be the next Iron Man; not necessarily in terms of look, feel, or execution but by doing what that film did for the genre upon its release: revitalizing it. The challenge facing The Fantastic Four: First Steps is that it both needs to feel fresh, be something of a departure from the MCU thus far signaling a changing of the tide while retaining audience investment in the future of the universe at large. Herein lies the issue as First Steps is essentially a self-contained, single issue comic book story that introduces, entices, and entertains - all good things on their own merits - yet it still feels uncertain how convincing the film is at persuading casual viewers that they should follow Marvel’s first family into the future.

The simplicity and practicality of Marvel’s approach to the introduction of this version of The Fantastic Four echoes through the story, the design of Earth 828 where the film takes place, as well as extending to the mentality of all of the characters; what is right and wrong not only seems evident to everyone but it is purposefully communicated the majority are on the same page -- tensions only arising once the nuance of Galactus’ ultimatum does and even then, humanity trusts The Fantastic Four enough to not question their methods. Director Matt Shakman began with Marvel on Wandavision, so his hiring for this retro futuristic take on the superhero family makes sense and to he, the editors, and the screenwriter’s credit the film efficiently conveys not only the context within which this team exists but the place they occupy in society and in the world.

L to R: Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), and Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) ready themselves for their latest space voyage in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Photo by Marvel Studios/MARVEL STUDIOS - © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 MARVEL

The natural chemistry between the core four is certainly present and the screenplay attempts to interrogate each member on a more personal level but Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm/The Thing draws the short end of the stick despite being the most conflicted while Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm feels severely underdeveloped and mostly a plot surrogate throughout the first two acts especially considering what the third asks of the character. In reality, Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm is the character most easily dismissed which seems to have compelled the screenwriters to make this a part of his arc as Quinn spends much of the movie trying to prove himself to his brother-in-law by piecing together the mystery of Julia Garner’s Shalla-Bal AKA Silver Surfer. Ralph Ineson as Galactus is genuinely epic when experienced on the scale of the IMAX format and Garner, despite concerns over the CGI, pulls off the aura of this "herald" imposing stakes and authentic emotion onto the two major setpieces with the effects-driven sequence featured as more or less the centerpiece of the film is one of the most exhilarating moments of any MCU movie period. It is Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards who receives the most attention in terms of examining any of these inherently silly character’s psyches though, as we learn at the onset of the film that he and Sue are expecting a child after many years of trying with no success. Richards, known as the smartest man in the world, seeks to cope with the idea his child isn’t an equation he’ll be able to figure out with ease and who will live in a world of factors he can’t control. When he is asked to trade that child for the guaranteed safety of the rest of the planet, his mathematical and emotional intelligence are unable to compute leaving said smartest man in the world unsure of the correct answer. 

With the chemistry between the actors palpable, the aesthetic of the sets and production design near-perfect, the score from Michael Giacchino being especially noteworthy, and the villains a smart balance of purposeful and menacing the largest complaint is that the relationship we’re able to form thus far with these characters is neither as distinct as the immediate impression of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark or as impactful as Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. In the similar territory of earnestness in which this very Jack Kirby-esque version of The Fantastic Four operates I recall not instantly being taken with Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers either. This only makes the idea of jumping straight from this introduction into a two-part Avengers story more daunting than exciting as it would seem more beneficial to the team as a whole and especially the characters as individuals to have another self-contained, solo excursion in order to develop their arcs further before becoming the lynchpin for all of the MCU.

Shalla-Bal AKA Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) informs Earth of the impending arrival of Galactus,  a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force.
Photo by Marvel Studios/MARVEL STUDIOS - © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 MARVEL

Maybe the idea of comparison, no matter how built into the DNA of the genre, isn’t fair and First Steps should be taken solely for what it is and not as part of what these characters inevitably will be. It’s difficult not to consider such things though, when despite trying to allow one’s self to become wrapped up in the mortal dilemma Reed Richards faces -- this idea of what is right being that you should probably sacrifice one life, your own child’s life, for that of billions of others -- still comes in second to whether or not they’ll show RDJ’s face as Dr. Doom in the stinger. This isn’t any fault of the movies, it’s the fault of the studio, but it’s an inevitable symptom of the cinematic universe. Would I have enjoyed the film more were it a stand-alone story with no ties to the greater MCU? Probably not. I currently have a six month-old at home, so the parental anxieties and infant peril really hit home and would have regardless of the inclusion of any mid or post-credit scenes. I (obviously) look forward to what might be teased next in order to reel me back in no matter the verdict of what was just witnessed but something is happening in the MCU specifically as this was the first time, in some time, where the desire to see why these pieces are being put in place is the same as wanting to see more of these characters in order to flesh them out and affirm what is suggested. I liked this movie a lot actually, and am trying to reconcile why I feel conflicted one of the more singular films the MCU has given us since its inception is still obligated to be a part of this larger story. This all to say, in my head -- as I experienced the film -- I was impressed by how involved I became and would easily crown it among one of the better MCU origin stories yet I worry over the course of even the next five years what comes after might re-contextualize this team in such a way that the promise of this initial film isn’t fulfilled. As with the Archimedes quote utilized here, we can only hope First Steps is an example of leverage applied at the right time, illustrating how a smaller force can be used to move or propel the larger MCU back to if not what it once was, what it still so clearly has the potential to be.