Director: Matt Shakman
Writer: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer
Stars: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Synopsis: Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, the Fantastic Four must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.
Listen, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is fine. And that’s fine, I guess, right? Considering the franchise’s history has been tepid at best, Marvel almost had to play it safe—using this film to relaunch the brand and pinning the studio’s hopes on Phase Six of its cinematic history. Yes, the movie looks great, as if the Mad Men production design team collided with the Marvel Cinematic Universe to give this new wave a unique presentation and feel like you’re watching a superhero movie from another time and place.
However, beyond that, is The Fantastic Four: First Steps really anything special? The story is just—what’s the word—oh yeah, fine. The good guys protect a city, which, of course, has to be a major market like New York or Los Angeles. God forbid they set up in Buffalo—probably because Times Square offers a plethora of product placement opportunities to help pay for the lavish production. A villain shows up—this time doing the “honorable” thing by warning everyone that the end is near, so enjoy what time you have left.
Again, we’re not reinventing anything here. And for some reason, studios seem determined to skip the origin story setup altogether—a trend that robs these kinds of films of some of their charm. We’re given a quick run-down of how the Fantastic Four came to be and have already saved the world. They’re back, and now holed up in a Trump-like tower, eating dinner as a family after returning to Earth-828—cosmically changed forever. A cosmic ray exposure has transformed Dr. Reed Richards (Materialists’ Pedro Pascal), known as Mr. Fantastic, who can now stretch any part of his body to great lengths.
His wife, Sue Storm—aka the Invisible Woman (Academy Award nominee Vanessa Kirby)—drops a bombshell: after years of trying, they’re finally pregnant. (No word on whether Reed’s ability to stretch, uh, any part of his body played a role in ending that dry spell.) It’s about to be a full house at 260 Baxter Building Plaza. As they sit down for dinner, Ben Grimm—aka the Thing (Emmy winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach)—a sensitive soul now covered in an external layer of orange rock, picks up on the news from Reed’s dumbfounded expression.
Johnny Storm—aka the Human Torch (Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn)—is thrilled at the idea of returning to space and is over the moon for his sister and brother-in-law. However, he is about to fall in love as well, as he meets the Silver Surfer (Ozark’s Julia Garner), an enforcer for a cosmic gigantic being, Galactus (Ralph Ineson). They are told Earth’s days are numbered. However, when the Fantastic Four set out to save the world, they are given a choice to surrender Sue and Reed’s unborn son—or witness the total annihilation of Earth.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps, from WandaVision’s Matt Shakman, takes a disappointingly “just fine” approach—abandoning that series’s risk-taking and creativity in favor of a script that feels more paint-by-numbers than a bold reinvention of the genre. It’s not that Shakman dusted off the Marvel playbook—it’s that he followed it step by step, which is really all Marvel seems to do these days. Skipping over the group’s formation was a misstep, though I understand the desire to introduce one of Marvel’s greatest villains, the Silver Surfer, early to help establish the new phase.
Is that fine? No—because a production like this should take more risks and build stronger conflict. Yet almost nothing elevates the tension. For one, the script is utterly predictable. And the attempted dynamic between the Human Torch and the Silver Surfer lacks any real spark, despite the efforts of screenwriters—take a deep breath—Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer, who desperately try to forge a human connection between them. Pascal and Kirby have more chemistry off-screen than on. The most compelling storyline belongs to Ben Grimm and Natasha Lyonne’s Rachel Rozman, but unfortunately, The Thing never gets any clobberin’ time with his love interest.
That’s a shame, considering the film went through numerous rewrites—stripping away most of its personality in the process. Odd, given the roster of writers includes names behind fun, big-budget fare like Thunderbolts*, Thor: Ragnarok, and Black Widow (I will defend David Harbour’s comedic performance in that film until the day I die). Frankly, I would have preferred more of Paul Walter Hauser’s Mole Man over Galactus, who is a gigantic bore for much of the film. The villain lumbers around like a lethargic Transformer—is that supposed to be exciting or suspenseful? We already know Disney won’t allow a child to be abducted or a main character to be killed off, so where’s the actual tension?
The result is an improvement over the turn-of-the-century adaptations. The film aims to be a friendly, comforting family story about teamwork, and its retro-futuristic flair consistently provides visually stimulating moments. While the bond between characters is present, the audience never gets to witness how that bond was formed—missing the emotional connection and resonance that could have grounded the story.
I did enjoy Moss-Bachrach’s voice work, Kirby’s luminous star quality, and Pascal’s nerdy, family-man take on Mr. Fantastic. However, the overall experience feels humdrum, never allowing the audience to invest in the picture fully. That may be fine for some—fine for now—but The Fantastic Four: First Steps is ultimately a recycled effort with a fresh coat of paint, and hardly worth your time, especially at theater prices.
You can watch The Fantastic Four: First Steps only in theaters July 25th!
