The Fantastic Four: First Steps Review

Directed By: Matt Shakman
Written By: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer, and Kat Wood; Based on the Marvel comics and characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Runtime: 114 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG-13 for action/violence and some language

Pedro Pascal – Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
Vanessa Kirby – Sue/Invisible Woman
Ebon Moss-Bachrach – Ben Grimm/The Thing
Joseph Quinn – Johnny Storm/Human Torch
Julia Garner – Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer
Ralph Ineson – Galactus
Natasha Lyonne – Rachel Rozman
Sarah Niles – Lynn Nichols
Paul Walter Hauser – Harvey Elder/Mole Man
Matthew Wood – H.E.R.B.I.E.
Mark Gatiss – Ted Gilbert

At a time when Marvel Studios is in desperate need of a home run, one of the House of Ideas’ most iconic IPs steps up to the plate in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Although this is the fourth live-action movie featuring Marvel’s First Family, it’s the first one produced and overseen by Marvel Studios, unlike the previous attempts made by 20th Century Fox. First Steps presents a solid, rousing comic book superhero adventure, but it has its drawbacks.

Rather than a traditional origin tale, director Matt Shakman depicts the quartet four years into their journey as world-renowned superheroes. The group of four astronauts, including the brilliant Reed Richards (Pascal), his wife Susan (Kirby), Reed’s best friend Ben Grimm (Moss-Bachrach), and Sue’s younger brother Johnny (Quinn), travel to space, where they are caught in a cosmic storm that grants them superpowers. They utilize their newfound gifts for the greater good, becoming the Earth’s protectors and crimefighters in Universe 828. Universe 828 marks another realm of the Marvel Multiverse, set in a more idyllic, utopian, futuristic version of the 1960s, that pays tribute to the era that gave birth to the iconic quartet.

The Fantastic Four’s heroic exploits are recounted in a fictionalized television program within Universe 828, hosted by Ted Gilbert (Gatiss), with multiple scenes paying homage to famous moments and characters of the Fantastic Four’s illustrious history. The montage-style origin sequence offers some of the film’s most memorable comic book-style moments. Frankly, First Steps would have benefited from a few more moments or sequences such as these to go along with the more introspective family drama.

The story begins with Reed and Susan about to embark on a new chapter of their lives as a celebrity superhero family. Susan is pregnant with their first child, but the Earth soon receives a grave message from a metallic interstellar visitor, the Silver Surfer (Garner). Silver Surfer is the herald signaling the coming arrival of the Great Devourer, Galactus, an interstellar giant with a voracious, insatiable appetite, and Earth is the cosmic entity’s next meal. The Fantastic Four, despite their incredible powers, finally meet their match. It will take all of the family’s combined might and love to confront this dire threat and keep their family together.

Matt Shakman succeeds with First Steps by showcasing Marvel’s First Family as strong, well-rounded characters, each with their own unique identities. He exceptionally captures the character dynamics that have persisted with the characters for decades — since they made their comic book debuts in the early 1960s. Pascal beautifully portrays Reed as an absent-minded, yet brilliant, introvert who likes to overthink every problem. Kirby captures Susan’s infinite and unconditional love and warmth for her family. Quinn and Moss-Bachrach also have fun leaning into Ben and Johnny’s sibling-like rivalry, as they are the big kids of the group.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps accurately showcases the idea that the team is a family first and superheroes second, and that’s always been the heart of the storyline. The threat of Galactus becomes more harrowing as stopping him risks tearing the family apart.

The main cast impressively captures their characters. Moss-Bachrach finds his version of The Thing at a time in his life when he has learned to live with and accept his rocky visage. He performs a more soft-spoken, less hard-nosed version of The Thing, but he still imbues the character with a subtle introspection. It’s gratifying to see The Thing executed this well in a visual effects-laden movie.

Quinn’s version of Johnny Storm has visibly dialed down his playboy heart-throb ways. It’s understandable why the film moves away from that aspect of Johnny’s character, but the film misses an opportunity to further explore more romantic angles for Johnny. Many MCU entries lack strong romances, which turns out to be a significant mark against them.

The main problem with Galactus as a character is that the plot dedicates a significant amount of time discussing and thinking about how to deal with Galactus, which dramatically slows down the pacing. Galactus is a looming world-ending threat, but the characters essentially have to spend over half the movie prepping for his arrival. As a result, the film lacks some action and suspense. It would have been exciting to see the team using their powers and fighting in tandem. The action does pick up in the final act, but even Reed Richards’ elastic powers look nerfed in the process. Reed’s vast intelligence is on full display, but his stretching powers take a backseat for most of the film.

At the very least, First Steps attempts to present Galactus in his full cinematic glory, and it’s a relatively faithful adaptation of the comic book character. However, Galactus needed more screentime to underscore the world-ending threat he represents. The same goes for the Silver Surfer, whom Johnny seeks to learn more about. The relationship comes off like a missed opportunity, considering Johnny has previously been in love with a Herald of Galactus in the comics.

The change to the Silver Surfer character is good. The film opts for Shalla-Bal becoming Galactus’ herald over Norrin Radd. The character still follows a familiar path. She looks visually impressive and striking, and provides the main source of the action throughout the narrative. However, the plot plays like some of her character development was left on the cutting room floor, especially considering the relatively lean runtime of 114 minutes.

Paul Walter Hauser is the closest thing in the movie to a scene-stealer in his all-too-brief role as Harvey Elder, aka The Mole Man. Hauser brings so much charisma in his one notable scene that it’s disappointing his role is so marginalized. The film certainly cheaps out with Mole Man’s realm of Subterranea and the Moloids, who merely look like regular people wearing hard hats and rags.

First Steps takes place in its own self-contained corner of the Marvel Multiverse, which causes ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, it’s probably a good thing that Shakman crafts First Steps as a more self-contained adventure without too much forethought into its place in the grander MCU, especially with the woefully mixed results of the Multiverse Saga. At the same time, considering the inter-connectivity of the MCU used to be its biggest selling point, it’s weird that a whole new universe was made to finally bring the Fantastic Four to the MCU.

Kasra Farahani presents a retro-futuristic style to the film’s production design, resembling a high-tech version of the 1960s. It certainly brings some interesting technological ideas to the table, even if the style is somewhat derivative. It would have been nice to see the First Family already part of the main MCU timeline rather than worrying about how characters will cross dimensions for future adventures.

The Fantastic Four is a CG-heavy movie, and some of the visuals look impressive, such as The Thing. However, other visual effects look more ropey and rough. CG-animated visual effects appear to be regressing in various big-budget blockbusters.

Issues aside, The Fantastic Four works best when it turns on the charm and fun, embracing its comic book roots with some passionately nostalgic nods to legendary comic book creator Jack Kirby. The heart with the family of superheroes is there, despite some nitpicks along the way.