The fact that it took six phases and thirty-seven entries into the Marvel Cinematic Universe to finally get a Fantastic Four film is almost juvenile, considering the group’s vital status as Marvel Comics’ first superhero team created by the legendary Jack Kirby. After years of oversaturation, it’s ironic to recall that the MCU‘s foundation was built on the love for Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as Iron Man — once a C-list character, then the center of the franchise (and now its future?). After Tony Stark’s death in Avengers: Endgame (2019), the MCU began to feel hollow and directionless, constantly introducing new characters, alternate universes, and potential threats, but ultimately lacking a throughline to care about any of it.
When Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019, the remaining IP owned by the devoured studio reverted back to Marvel Studios. Although the approach to integrating the X-Men into the MCU has been mixed, Deadpool and Wolverine (2024) opened the floodgates and proved that audiences were ready to see these characters receive “justice” on screen. Enter The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), a fifth reboot for the superhero team with almost too many promises: it aims to rebrand these characters, honor their source material unlike ever before, set the stage for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday (2026), and repair some goodwill towards the MCU among general audiences after Thunderbolts* and Captain America: Brave New World both underperformed earlier this year.
A Touching and Philosophical Sci-Fi Story Fit for The Fantastic Four
Luckily, with so much riding on its success, director Matt Shakman — best known for his work on WandaVision, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters — remembers that none of those aforementioned promises would be earned if this also wasn’t a good adaptation on its own terms. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a great comic book film that is (for the most part) refreshingly unencumbered by the usual MCU trappings that hold back so many entries before it. Thanks to its pitch-perfect ensemble cast and Shakman’s imaginative interpretation of the material, we finally have a quality Fantastic Four movie that is worthy of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s iconic family.
Courtesy of Disney
Set on Earth-828, a retrofuturist timeline within the multiverse, we are introduced to an alternate reality where, instead of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four are the planet’s chosen defenders. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) are not only heroes, but also cultural icons of hope and optimism. Their status quo is tested when the Silver Surfer/Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner) warns mankind that Earth is marked for destruction by Galactus (Ralph Ineson). Meanwhile, Sue and Reed struggle with the weight of welcoming their first child amid impending doom. It’s up to the Fantastic Four to find a solution that preserves the future for both humanity and their newborn child.
First Steps is a Celebration of Heroism and Why We Love Superheroes
Though there are five credited writers on The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it is to the film’s credit that the final story manages to be genuinely emotional and appropriate to the spirit of these characters. The script impressively prioritizes family drama, saving the action for the right moments. We get to intimately know each member of this team, so when the destruction begins, it all lands with the proper amount of pathos. Typical Marvel fare never ventures as deep, often forcing us to connect the dots of vague emotional arcs. First Steps earns all of its narrative beats and then some, fully showcasing the beauty of this retrofuturistic universe and what’s at stake if our heroes lose.
Just like James Gunn’s Superman (2025) accomplished earlier this month, First Steps feels like a reminder of why people love superheroes in the first place. With the Future Foundation, which serves as this universe’s equivalent of the United Nations, the movie paints a vivid picture of what the Fantastic Four’s role in society looks like beyond the typical crime-fighting. Reed hosts a kid’s educational program on science, Ben uses his super-strength as The Thing to aid his childhood community, and Sue works as a local politician.
The Fantastic Four aren’t only here to fight evildoers and cause collateral damage; they are social workers, role models, and peacemakers who operate alongside everyday citizens. This Marvel blockbuster paints a vision of optimism and heroism that has felt strangely abandoned by the superhero genre nowadays.
One of the Most Beautiful MCU Movies to Date
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is by far the most visually stimulating MCU film in recent years. Visually bold costume choices, the timeless 1960s aesthetic of the colorful set designs, detailed miniatures, and the way montages break up the screen in panels all emulate the dynamic feeling of reading a comic book. Many of these creative flourishes appear to be deliberate choices from Marvel Studios to address past visual criticisms — moving away from the grey, concrete look of previous MCU fare and investing extra time in the VFX and production quality. The result is a blockbuster that has the right amount of texture and color to represent its larger-than-life characters.
Courtesy of Disney
However, the third act struggles to maintain this high level of consistency, as this is probably where the most retooling occurred in the production process. Some uncanny CGI moments interrupt the overall cohesion of the film’s visual identity. It never looks as flat or ugly as something like Captain America: Civil War (2016), or the sludge-like CG noise of Infinity War (2018) and Endgame, but it particularly stands out in contrast to the stunning visuals of the rest of the movie.
Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm is the Emotional Anchor of an Elite Cast
The glue that holds The Fantastic Four: First Steps together is its powerhouse cast. Vanessa Kirby (Napoleon, Pieces of a Woman) is the heart of the entire film as Invisible Woman, equally adept at delivering powerful monologues, quieter moments of intimacy, and emotional third-act swings with ease. Pedro Pascal (HBO’s The Last of Us, Materialists) has a unique take on Mr. Fantastic as a man with unmatched intelligence who struggles to convey the same emotional depth. The pair displays electric chemistry, and their loving marriage translates as authentically as possible, warts and all.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s (The Bear, Andor) Ben Grimm is a simple man underneath the orange rock, and his quiet sadness is a highlight in some of the movie’s slower moments. Joseph Quinn’s (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place: Day One) Human Torch feels like he leaped right out of the page: his boyish recklessness and charm tie the group together. Watching this team work together to solve problems and come together as a family is thoroughly a joy to watch from start to finish. Marvel has consistently excelled in group dynamics (the praise of the Thunderbolts is evidence). However, the bond that the Fantastic Four share is genuine, unsarcastic, and specific to them as Marvel’s first family.
Family First, Always
Thankfully, the Fantastic Four’s MCU debut doesn’t adapt them like the Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy but in a different font. This movie celebrates their existence in a way that isn’t entirely free from irony, yet still proudly embraces the source material. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a sentimental, zany, and vibrant reintroduction to Marvel’s first superhero family, and a perfect argument for why it was totally worth rebooting them for the silver screen again. Moreover, First Steps successfully tells a moving story of a family fighting hard for the future of their child at the end of the universe.
Whether the quality of this film will rub off on Avengers: Doomsday under the Russo Brothers‘ direction remains to be seen, but director Matt Shakman’s focus on making this unapologetic comic book adaptation stand on its own two feet is extremely admirable.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25!
Release Date: July 25, 2025.
Directed by Matt Shakman.
Screenplay by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, & Ian Springer.
Story by Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer, & Kat Wood.
Based on The Fantastic Four created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby.
Produced by Kevin Feige.
Executive Producers: Grant Curtis, Louis D’Esposito, Robert Kulzer, & Tim Lewis.
Main Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Sarah Niles, Matthew Wood, Ada Scott, & Mark Gatiss.
Cinematographer: Jess Hall.
Composer: Michael Giacchino.
Production Company: Marvel Studios.
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Runtime: 115 minutes.
Rated PG-13.
