REVIEW: The Fantastic Four: First Steps

This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Fourth time's a charm, I suppose.

Of the four Fantastic Four films made at this point, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is superior in major ways. From its star-studded cast containing Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us), Vanessa Kirby (Fast & Furious, Mission Impossible 7), and Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), to the direction from Matt Shakman (WandaVision) and a writer's room of major sci-fi and fantasy big leagues, this movie was destined for greatness.

First Steps takes place in Earth-828, an alternate timeline from the main Marvel Cinematic Universe's Earth-616. 828 is a retro-futuristic universe, with technology meeting modern day standards but everything else is based in '50s and '60s culture. That is one aspect of this that I really enjoyed, and it reminded me much of the early episodes of WandaVision. Overall, this film's primary focus seemed to give insight to the Fantastic Four to new viewers and set up the upcoming team-up film Avengers: Doomsday, releasing in 2026. That said, the story in this film stands on its own. I really enjoyed the themes of strong family bonds, and putting family first.

The standout for me was Joseph Quinn's Human Torch. Simultaneously funny and serious, and I'm glad they didn't dumb him down. He reminded me much of Jimmy Olsen in the other recently released superhero film Superman (psst, read my review here!). Secondarily, Sue Storm was also a strong character. I was really happy with the fact that her character wasn't sexualized (a problem I had with Jessica Alba's iteration of the character). I also enjoyed that Sue's new role of being a mother didn't take away from her story, and she still fought every step of the way with the team. On the other hand, Pedro Pascal's Mr. Fantastic and Ebon Moss-Bachrach's The Thing did not stand out to me. As much as I enjoyed the acting, their characters did not seem well fleshed out in this film alone. I'm hoping to see some development in the upcoming Avengers film or a potential Fantastic Four sequel.

Is it my favorite superhero film of the summer? No, that honor belongs to James Gunn's Superman. However, it's not fair to compare an established solo film to a team-up origin story. The Fantastic Four: First Steps exceled at what it aimed to do and is a worthy entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

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