THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS
2025 | Dir. Matt Shakman | 115 Minutes
"A mother would move heaven and earth for their child."
2025 | Dir. Matt Shakman | 115 Minutes
"A mother would move heaven and earth for their child."
Loved by all, the Fantastic Four have saved the New York City and the Earth several times over. However, when faced with their biggest threat ever, public opinion quickly turns and tensions within the family rise when they choose not to sacrifice their newborn to save the planet. At the eleventh hour, the heroes devise a plan to save the world without forsaking the newest member of their family.
After several stand-alone films of varying questionable quality, one of Marvel Comics' most storied and beloved superhero teams gets a proper Marvel Cinematic Universe introduction. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a lighthearted take on superheroes as public figures, brilliant scientists, and also as a caring family unit with genuine compassion for all. Immediately and convincingly selling the audience on the idea that the world loves the super-powered family, the feature wisely references their origin story in a breezy manner instead of fully rehashing it, fast-forwarding through their string of victories protecting their world against silly and outright bizarre villains of shapes and sizes while focusing the first act on their rather somewhat mundane day-to-day lives give or take a few bits of super-science. As the cosmic stakes for this particular story escalate, its primary conflict forces the heroes to make the impossible choice to sacrifice the newest member of their family or their entire planet and everyone under their protection. In an inspired and inspirational turn of events, the heroes opt for the solution that makes the most sense both logically and emotionally: play to their individual unique strengths to outsmart the problem and sacrifice no one, perfectly capturing what sets the titular Fantastic Four apart from other super teams.
The meticulous production design behind the alternate Earth-828 of First Steps is nothing short of superb, presenting a fully immersive fashionably retro 1960s New York City populated with sleek and imaginative technology. Michael Giacchino's film score is a perfect match the aesthetic of the picture, big and corny in the best very way. The effects are also generally very impressive, with fully computer-generated characters of Ben Grimm, the Silver Surfer, and Galactus standing out particularly in action sequences. The FTL chase scene leading the heroes and the Silver Surfer to a black hole is one of the most inventive superhero movie set pieces ever. However, CGI Baby Franklin Richards is without a doubt unsettlingly uncanny.
Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn share infectious chemistry playing this incarnation of the Fantastic Four. Imbuing Reed Richards with a specific unintentional aloofness, Pascal makes one understand how one can both love and hate the impossibly ingenious and deeply frustrating Mister Fantastic. Kirby brings a barely contained ferocity to Sue Storm, gradually unleashing it more and more as the plot unfolds. Moss-Bachrach's sensitive tough guy persona fits Ben Grimm perfectly. Somehow, Quinn is simply charming as cocky kid brother Johnny Storm without a shred of obnoxiousness. In the role of Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal, Julia Garner delivers her dialogue with enough gravitas to further accentuate the herald's striking appearance. Ralph Ineson is believably terrifying as absolutely memorable as Marvel's legendary destroyer of worlds Galactus. The supporting cast also features Mark Gatiss as the Ed Sullivan-esque television host Ted Gilbert, Sarah Niles as Future Foundation CEO Lynne Nichols, Paul Walter Hauser as the mostly harmless Mole Man Harvey Elder, and Natasha Lyonne as Ben Grimm's schoolteacher love interest Rachel Rozman
The Fantastic Four: First Steps does Marvel Comics' first and most famous family justice, delivering a thrilling space adventure with an appealing retro-future look. Entertaining, endearing, featuring wonderful ensemble cast and action sequences that are ambitious in scale and visually exciting, it's one of the most emotionally satisfying films from Marvel Studios. Notably, enjoying this picture requires no prior knowledge or investment in Marvel's sprawling shared cinematic universe.
MID-CREDITS STINGER
Franklin Richards is visited by a stranger in a green hood holding an iron mask.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
H.E.R.B.I.E. watches intro to the in-universe The Fantastic Four Power Hour cartoon.
FRAGMENTS
- Very cute that the leads of the infamous unreleased 1994 The Fantastic Four make a cameo appearance together among the civilians expressing their appreciation
- Also cute that the recreated the cover of The Fantastic Four #1 in live-action
After several stand-alone films of varying questionable quality, one of Marvel Comics' most storied and beloved superhero teams gets a proper Marvel Cinematic Universe introduction. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a lighthearted take on superheroes as public figures, brilliant scientists, and also as a caring family unit with genuine compassion for all. Immediately and convincingly selling the audience on the idea that the world loves the super-powered family, the feature wisely references their origin story in a breezy manner instead of fully rehashing it, fast-forwarding through their string of victories protecting their world against silly and outright bizarre villains of shapes and sizes while focusing the first act on their rather somewhat mundane day-to-day lives give or take a few bits of super-science. As the cosmic stakes for this particular story escalate, its primary conflict forces the heroes to make the impossible choice to sacrifice the newest member of their family or their entire planet and everyone under their protection. In an inspired and inspirational turn of events, the heroes opt for the solution that makes the most sense both logically and emotionally: play to their individual unique strengths to outsmart the problem and sacrifice no one, perfectly capturing what sets the titular Fantastic Four apart from other super teams.
The meticulous production design behind the alternate Earth-828 of First Steps is nothing short of superb, presenting a fully immersive fashionably retro 1960s New York City populated with sleek and imaginative technology. Michael Giacchino's film score is a perfect match the aesthetic of the picture, big and corny in the best very way. The effects are also generally very impressive, with fully computer-generated characters of Ben Grimm, the Silver Surfer, and Galactus standing out particularly in action sequences. The FTL chase scene leading the heroes and the Silver Surfer to a black hole is one of the most inventive superhero movie set pieces ever. However, CGI Baby Franklin Richards is without a doubt unsettlingly uncanny.
Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn share infectious chemistry playing this incarnation of the Fantastic Four. Imbuing Reed Richards with a specific unintentional aloofness, Pascal makes one understand how one can both love and hate the impossibly ingenious and deeply frustrating Mister Fantastic. Kirby brings a barely contained ferocity to Sue Storm, gradually unleashing it more and more as the plot unfolds. Moss-Bachrach's sensitive tough guy persona fits Ben Grimm perfectly. Somehow, Quinn is simply charming as cocky kid brother Johnny Storm without a shred of obnoxiousness. In the role of Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal, Julia Garner delivers her dialogue with enough gravitas to further accentuate the herald's striking appearance. Ralph Ineson is believably terrifying as absolutely memorable as Marvel's legendary destroyer of worlds Galactus. The supporting cast also features Mark Gatiss as the Ed Sullivan-esque television host Ted Gilbert, Sarah Niles as Future Foundation CEO Lynne Nichols, Paul Walter Hauser as the mostly harmless Mole Man Harvey Elder, and Natasha Lyonne as Ben Grimm's schoolteacher love interest Rachel Rozman
The Fantastic Four: First Steps does Marvel Comics' first and most famous family justice, delivering a thrilling space adventure with an appealing retro-future look. Entertaining, endearing, featuring wonderful ensemble cast and action sequences that are ambitious in scale and visually exciting, it's one of the most emotionally satisfying films from Marvel Studios. Notably, enjoying this picture requires no prior knowledge or investment in Marvel's sprawling shared cinematic universe.
MID-CREDITS STINGER
Franklin Richards is visited by a stranger in a green hood holding an iron mask.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
H.E.R.B.I.E. watches intro to the in-universe The Fantastic Four Power Hour cartoon.
FRAGMENTS
- Very cute that the leads of the infamous unreleased 1994 The Fantastic Four make a cameo appearance together among the civilians expressing their appreciation
- Also cute that the recreated the cover of The Fantastic Four #1 in live-action
- The curious absence of a representative from Latveria as such an big invitation to speculate about what has already happened between these variations of the Fantastic Four and Victor von Doom
- The revelation at the bottom of the end credits that the Earth-828 designation is based on Jack Kirby's birthday is simply lovely
