Marvel’s Fantastic Four, the team that kicked off the whole Marvel revolution of comic books thanks to creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, has been notoriously difficult to adapt on screen. A 1994 version directed by Roger Corman had a tiny budget and was never officially released. Tim Story directed a 2005 version and its sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer, and though at least the first one did fine at the box office, they were both critically lambasted. And a 2015 reboot directed by Josh Trank was marred by reshoots and studio interference, and was a critical and box office bomb.
Well, guess what? Turns out fifth time is the charm, as Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps finally, finally gets the team right with a comic book faithful adaptation full of heart, humor, big action, and an engrossing retro-future setting.
First Steps is an MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movie, but it takes place on a totally different Earth than the rest of the films, making it (mostly) completely unconnected from the 36 films and 16 TV series that came before. Instead, the movie is on a planet set in a future vision of the 1960s right out of Disney’s Tomorrowland, complete with flying cars, robots that run on tape drives, and family dinner every Sunday night at 6 PM. And while there is a brief recap of the team’s origins towards the beginning of the movie thanks to a TV celebration of the fourth anniversary of the team (hosted by the always delightful Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert), like Superman from DC Studios two weeks prior, Fantastic Four: First Steps is content to thrust you right into the action and roll with it.
And thank god. We’re finally past the years of comic book movies apologizing for their source material, and instead embracing what is fun, weird, and interesting about them, then figuring out how to bring them onto screen. There’s no more complicated explanation for the team’s powers than they were hit by cosmic rays. Now, Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal) can stretch his limbs while he does science and leads the team. Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby) can turn invisible, as well as make other things invisible and create temporary (invisible) constructs. Johnny Storm/the Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) can set himself on fire, and control flames. And Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is a big, friendly rock man.
The plot kicks off right in the first scene — mild spoilers past this point — when Sue finds out she’s pregnant, after she and Reed gave up trying two years earlier. The impending childbirth is what drives the emotional thrust of the movie, and what First Steps smartly does is dive into the idea of what it means to bring a child into the world and become a parent, whether you have superpowers or not. As soon as they discover the pregnancy, Reed and Sue tell each other that they can handle this — after all, they’ve taken down everyone from the Red Ghost (John Malkovich, who was cut from the movie), to The Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser, who plays a small but crucial and hilarious role). Like a mantra, they keep repeating: nothing needs to change.
Except, of course, everything changes when you have a baby. And the movie brings in the biggest stressor possible in the form of Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), the herald of a planet-eating elder of the universe named Galactus (Ralph Ineson). Galactus wants to eat the Earth to feed his unending hunger, but there’s one thing he wants more: Reed and Sue’s son, who he thinks can sate his urges, for reasons that will thrill comic book fans in particular. The first third or so of the movie takes a while to get on its vibe thanks to some choppy pacing and lack of stakes. Once Galactus enters and the trolley problem of “the Earth or the baby” hits, the movie snaps into place — and it’s a thrilling and emotional ride from thereon in.
Though the action is clear and epic as the team travels from space to the depths of the Earth, ending in a climactic fight in New York City, it’s the emotional beats that hit the hardest. Fantastic Four is a team that has always been explorers first, superheroes second. And what greater unknown than becoming a parent? You can plan, you can baby-proof your house, you can run all the tests you want… But ultimately, you can’t know what it’s like to be a parent, until you are one. Every child is different and special in its own way, and though Reed and Sue’s superhero baby is a little more special in other ways, First Steps never forgets to make the first steps the team takes into parenthood relatable and emotionally palpable.
As for the main team, Pascal takes a few scenes to settle into the shoes of the genius Reed Richards, playing him as aloof and disconnected when Pascal’s strength as an actor is emotionally raw moments. There is a speech he gives to his child halfway through, though, that is heartbreaking and eminently relatable, and once that knot is tightened it feels like the movie finally gets what it wants to do with Reed. Vanessa Kirby, always a stand-out, brings the strength of Sue Storm to the forefront… Where Reed is the reserved thinker, she’s all emotional intelligence, even when she’s often two steps ahead of her husband. Moss-Bachrach doesn’t get a big emotional arc — he’s mostly relegated to a sort-of romance in a few scenes with a heavily underserved Natasha Lyonne as Hebrew school teacher Rachel Rozman, though shouts to the movie for getting two Jewish actors for the roles, even if not much is done with the plotline. But the CGI for The Thing looks great — he’s got his big, Jack Kirby brows for the first time on screen — and Moss-Bachrach is sweet and fun, even if his arc is “should I grow a beard” and then he does.
The weak link of the four, unfortunately, is Quinn. Though he’s been a stand-out before in roles like his breakout as Eddie on Stranger Things, as well as Gladiator II and A Quiet Place: Day One, his supposed-to-be hothead Johnny Storm has all the fire of a cold, limp noodle. His underplayed delivery makes all the jokes and jabs fall flat. His arc starts as “wants to go to space,” and then after the team goes to space, it becomes something else entirely that just doesn’t fit either the character as established in the movie or in the comics. And worst of all, nothing he does seems to connect to the main, emotional thrust of the movie. It’s particularly unfortunate because, despite the aforementioned bad takes on the team, both Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan, two effortlessly enigmatic actors, have taken on the role and stood out in the midst of otherwise pretty terrible movies.
Other wobbly bits include some clear edits that lead to barreling through the plot for most of the first half of the movie, and some dodgy CGI when it comes to the baby. But the CGI baby is eventually swapped for a real-life baby actor, Ada Scott, who is adorable. And director Matt Shakman and his team of writers have crafted a wonderful world that feels fully lived in, complete with vintage ads, the delightful retro-robot H.E.R.B.I.E., and is overall a triumph of set and costume design. It’s actually unfortunate that the next two times we’ll meet the team will be in the MCU proper for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, because this retro-future vision is so much more interesting than the “realism” of the MCU.
But that aside, taken on its own, First Steps is a lovely, emotional movie with some real stakes that brings iconic comic book ideas to life. Specifically, the ideas of artist Jack Kirby, who died penniless, and his estate was part of a protracted legal battle with Marvel for decades. First Steps seems to be the start of a cultural correction, from the idea that Stan Lee was the sole genius behind Marvel that was pushed by Marvel Studios for years… And instead, to an understanding that it’s the visual acumen of Kirby that was likely the real innovation. In fact, the movie ends with a quote from Kirby — not Lee:
“If you look at my characters, you will find me. No matter what kind of character you create or assume, a little of yourself must remain there.”
You will find Kirby in every frame of Fantastic Four: First Steps, from the massive Galactus to the expressive brows on The Thing. Kirby was the king of the visual revolution that inspired thousands of artists and helped launch Marvel Comics. While your mileage may vary in terms of how much Kirby himself would have enjoyed all this, after four unsuccessful attempts, it’s a minor miracle to finally see his imagination live on screen.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25, 2025.
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I don’t believe Kirby died “penniless”. He did get some retro $ from Marvel and it was a substantial amount. Are you sure about that assessment?