This review may contain spoilers!
The Fantastic Four: First Steps marks the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and introduces Marvel's first family to the saga. Set on an alternative 1960s retro-futuristic Earth, the Fantastic Four are established and champions for their world. But when faced with a new threat, the world-devourer, Galactus, the team will be faced with their greatest challenge yet.
The film hits the ground running by taking us into a refreshingly creative superhero world, something entirely new and unique to this Fantastic Four team. This is a world captured with retro-futuristic technology, but with a 1960s aesthetic tipping its hat to the time this hero team debuted in the comics. I was really impressed with the simple manner in which this world was delivered to us; technological leaps were caught simply in a home that is furnished with an antiquated style but adorned with handy gizmos. The costumes are a sharp contrast to the high-flying Fantasti-car and the modern monorail, which navigates the city. It's a world that tells us Marvel is still willing to keep playing, reimagining and offering us something fresh nearly forty films deep. But that's just where this film gets points for being creative; this is actually a Marvel feature with a significant amount of heart. At its very core, the Four are truly a family here, and that's what matters most. This is a film where our leads have some beautiful chemistry with one another; they feel entirely bonded. The film centres upon how these characters can save a new member of their family without sacrificing their commitment to save their world. The value of being able to show up and depend upon your family is pretty special, and I liked that the character storytelling shown throughout really uplifted that value. Watching The Fantastic Four: First Steps felt the most like watching a comic book leap right off the pages I have seen in a while. But right here, we have the Thing, who is entirely a big softie, a Johnny Storm who loves to tease, the most powerful member: Sue Storm and Reed grappling with the dark side of his logic-first manner of thinking. Not to mention Galactus and Silver Surfer being perfectly adapted for the big screen, with Galactus feeling like an entirely unmatchable threat.
This is a very aesthetically unique film to watch. The film is shot and styled around capturing the special effects world it had developed without shredding a moment of intimacy between the core cast. I was really blown away by the CGI in this; it was clear Marvel had been banking big on The Fantastic Four because the attention to detail was unreal. There are some obvious wins like the design of The Thing or the Silver Surfer, but it gets right down to some truly impressive design work like the space chase sequence or Galactus arriving upon Earth in the final act. The musical score Michael Giacchino has crafted here is bubbly and brilliant, entirely fresh and leaves me feeling quite reverent towards a superhero team I didn't feel this strongly about previously.
Vanessa Kirby, who played Sue Storm, is the backbone of the Fantastic Four team; Kirby's moments of fury and especially her moments of strength are some of the top scenes in the film. Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who played Ben Grimm, really is the gentle giant at the heart of this team; I liked the way Moss-Bachrach always brought out the kindness in Ben. Joseph Quinn, who played Johnny Storm, is often hilarious and has some great teasing dialogue between many of his co-stars; despite being the cockiest in the team, I enjoyed that Quinn always found a purpose to the boldness of his role. Ralph Ineson, who played Galactus, truly breathes life into this cosmic monolith; Ineson's voice radiates power, and his presence as this character holds your attention completely. Julia Garner, who played Shalla-Bal, is convincing as an otherworldly presence; the scene where Johnny makes her feel the guilt of her actions is emotionally painful to watch and played to perfection by Quinn and herself.
However, the best performance came from Pedro Pascal, who played Reed Richards. There is no denying that Reed has always been captured on-screen as the smartest member of the Fantastic Four team. But few films have found what Reed's moral centre looks like, not in the way Pascal cuts straight to it. From his first scene, this Reed is shown to be easily distracted and leading with a mind trying to solve a problem, but not necessarily leading with emotional intelligence. Yet, this same man is capable of a steady, gentle expression of love towards his wife and family, which extends entirely to his more soft-spoken manner across the feature. It's really interesting to watch Pascal lead this team confidently and with surety, and yet entirely without the bravado of past MCU heroes in his position. I entirely believed in Pedro's portrayal of raw intellect and moments of social awkwardness; he found his own flavour here. The really powerful moment that stemmed from an actor as great as Pascal taking on Reed is the moments in which his character sat with a dark solution to a problem in a rough contrast to the rest of the Fantastic Four family. Definitely the most well-realised portrayal of Reed to date and a hero I'm looking forward to seeing more of.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps has a fun but very tumultuous beginning. There is a quick introduction to our heroes via a talk show narration recap. This is a nice way to get the proverbial ball rolling and set us up with the key information, but I was disappointed that so much of the start was basically a headlining introduction of 'here's what to expect from the characters you came to see'. I think there were more creative ways to skate around the big origin story. I also found the entire world uniting to be teleported away from Galactus quite optimistic, if not entirely too cheesy. This film does tend towards a soft and lighter pitch, so it's an unsurprising if not unlikely narrative beat. I also didn't much care for a number of the side characters across this film, and the feature pushed these roles to the side with a lack of care that held the whole thing back.
Natasha Lyonne, who played Rachel Rozman, had this flirtatious connection with Moss-Bachrach's Ben that felt extremely underdeveloped; I enjoyed Lyonne having fun with her lines, but she seemed uncertain of her purpose in this piece. Paul Walter Hauser, who played Harvey Elder, seemed like a cheap comedy character tacked on for laughs; this was a performance that played things too big in every scene he was in. Sarah Niles, who played Lynne Nichols, was an entirely dull side character; an administrative role to the Four that was far too present across the feature. Mark Gatiss, who played Ted Gilbert, wore thin pretty fast as this talk show host; Gatiss's long stint of narration-style exposition was far less thrilling than the action being played out.
This is probably the best superhero film of 2025. I would give The Fantastic Four: First Steps an 8.5/10.
