After having directed all nine episodes of the miniseries “WandaVision” (2021), Matt Shakman was given a big task in delivering a Fantastic Four film that had to at least be better than its previous installments. Ironically, it took four attempts to make a film featuring the Fantastic Four that is of good quality.
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (2025) is set in a futuristic 1960s America on Earth-828. The Fantastic Four are the only established heroes in this particular universe, and for four years, they have been the protectors of their world.
Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/the Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) are each involved in providing something noteworthy for society outside of their lives as superheroes.
Their headquarters is the Baxter Building, and they have H.E.R.B.I.E., a robot, as their personal assistant. Whenever there’s a villain to antagonize them or hurt others, like Harvey Elder/Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser) or Giganto, they come together as a family to defeat them.
However, a new villain in the form of Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and Silver Surfer/Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner) threatens to destroy Earth unless Reed and Sue are willing to give up their newborn son, Franklin, in exchange for Earth to be left unharmed.
The team obviously rejects this negotiation and instead decides to keep their child safe while also protecting all on Earth from being devoured by Galactus.
For the past five years, the state of Marvel Studios and the content they have produced has severely dropped in quality in comparison to what they released prior to 2020. The only films that received praise from critics and average moviegoers alike were heavily dependent on nostalgia, like Jon Watts’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021), or were continuations of established characters like James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (2023).
The outlier that Marvel Studios took a chance on was “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021), a film that featured zero characters accepted well within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and did surprisingly well critically and financially.
Although the Fantastic Four has been present in other films, this iteration of the team and how they are presented is a massive win for Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios. It’s the film they needed to make and release years ago.
That isn’t to say that the film is without its flaws. Overall, the film is a refreshing entry into the MCU because of its simplicity and low scale. Yes, Galactus is a world-ending threat, but there’s no mention of the multiverse or anything else to make the plot convoluted.
What this film needed to accomplish well was its main characters, and it does for the most part. Kirby’s Sue Storm is, without a doubt, the best performance and heart of the film. She captures the essence of what it’s like to be a mother and having to protect her child from not only Galactus but also people on Earth who believe she should sacrifice Franklin.
She’s never belittled for being a mother, and the film has a great theme of family camaraderie and being together when the whole world is against you. Despite some thinking that he would be unfit to play Reed, Pascal proves his doubters wrong with his take on Mister Fantastic.
He’s the world’s smartest man, yet is cautious about being a father and raising a child, and Pascal plays that line perfectly. Quinn’s Johnny Storm has many awesome scenes where he’s willing to risk his life to save others. Out of the four, Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm suffers the most, mainly because he doesn’t have a lot to do.
Perhaps this issue can be resolved going forward with the Fantastic Four appearing in more MCU films. In the case of Galactus, Ineson is menacing as him, along with his deep and distinguished voice. However, the film could’ve done a better job building him up.
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is a back-to-basics approach from the perspective of Marvel Studios. If it is greenlit for a sequel, hopefully, the problems it has now can be resolved later on.
Rating: 4/5
