The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) Marvel/Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure RT: 115 minutes Rated PG-13 (action/violence and some language) Director: Matt Shakman Screenplay: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer Music: Michael Giacchino Cinematography: Jess Hall Release date: July 25, 2025 (US) Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Ralph Ineson, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Matthew Wood, Ada Scott.
Rating: ****
HALLELUJAH! REJOICE! They finally got it right! It’s about damn time. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is easily the best of the F4 films attempted in the past, the last one being the 2015 misfire, a murky mess that makes the 1994 Roger Corman cheapie look like quality cinema. This new one blows them all out of the sky.
Director Matt Shakman is no stranger to the MCU. He previously directed the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision and did a great job of it. Each episode has a distinct visual style inspired by classic sitcoms from the 60s to the 00s. It’s the show’s defining trait. He and cinematographer Jess Hall bring this same visual sensibility to The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It has this 60s retro-futuristic aesthetic that pays homage to the original source (the comic book foursome was originally introduced in 1961) while simultaneously building an alternate world where different eras merge into a place only dreamed of by kids with big imaginations. It is a feast for the eyes.
Cinematically speaking, Shakman pretty much gets everything right with The Fantastic Four: First Steps starting with the narrative. Although it’s a reboot, it’s NOT an origin story. That’s not to say we don’t get a backstory on the super-powered family unit. We do in the form of a quick recap by the host of a TV show on which they’re about to appear. He explains how the titular heroes- elastic-limbed Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards (Pascal, Gladiator II), The Invisible Woman/Sue Storm (Kirby, Mission: Impossible- Fallout), Human Torch/Johnny Storm (Quinn, Stranger Things) and hulking behemoth The Thing/Ben Grimm (Bachrach, The Bear)- got their powers after encountering a cosmic storm in space and became the protectors of Earth-828. Then the film gets down to business.
When we first meet this version of the Fantastic Four, they’ve been on the scene for four years. They’re famous all around the world. Everybody loves them. For their part, life is about to get a little more complicated. Sue has just found out she’s pregnant. She and the two uncles-to-be are ecstatic. Reed is concerned. Will they have a normal or super-powered child? He wants to know what to expect. Then fate delivers the proverbial kick in the rear. A celestial being known as Silver Surfer (Garner, Inventing Anna) shows up and announces that they have only seven days of existence left before Galactus (Ineson, Harry Potter) devours the whole planet.
Everybody’s counting on their heroes to save them so they decide to take a quick trip to space to try and negotiate with Galactus. He turns out not to be completely unreasonable. He says he’ll spare them for a small fee. All he wants in exchange is Reed and Sue’s yet-to-be born child. Why? Obviously, he knows something they don’t about their offspring. Of course, they say no way. Now they have to find a way to defeat the planet-eating alien without giving up their baby.
I’m going to take it a step further and say The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the best Marvel movie in a long time. They’ve been in a slump as of late (post-Deadpool & Wolverine) with underperformers like Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts. They weren’t all that great and audiences responded with indifference. Personally, I’ve been tired of the whole superhero thing for a while. I still say Marvel should have given it a long rest after 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
Hopefully, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will breathe fresh life into a genre that’s been gasping for air for years. It’s a fun and often funny movie with a limitless imagination and well-developed super-powered characters that don’t brood over their existence or speak entirely in smart ass quips. Shakman takes a lighter approach to the characters, imbuing them with both humor and seriousness. The actors, all of them well cast, manage to strike just the right balance of the two. They make their characters feel human.
Pascal leads the pack as the patriarch of the bunch, a serious sort who thinks he always needs to know all the answers before making any kind of decision. Kirby lends emotional heft as the new mother who wants to protect her child even if it means losing favor with the once-adoring public. The two have strong chemistry as a married couple who have to factor the fate of the world into their relationship. Quinn adds comic relief as hotshot (literally) Johnny, an impetuous young man who, unlike Chris Evans in the 2005 and 2007 versions, doesn’t bask in the spotlight. He’s actually pretty smart. He’s the one who translates Silver Surfer’s alien language. Bachrach is really good as Thing, a surprisingly sensitive type who loves to entertain kids by lifting Volkswagens over his head. If I have one complaint about The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it’s that his romance with schoolteacher Rachel Rozman (Lyonne, Poker Faces) gets too little attention. I would have liked seeing more scenes between those two.
I was a little shocked when I learned this movie’s Silver Surfer was female, but Garner does a fantastic job with the role. This iteration of the character, a metal-skinned herald who gets around on a silver surfboard, gets a backstory. We come to understand why she works with him. Ineson, through the magic of motion capture and practical effects, makes Galactus a commanding presence.
I’m not the biggest proponent of CGI, but I have to admit the effects (also a mix of CGI and practical) in The Fantastic Four: First Steps are awesome. The finale where Galactus tramples all over New York like Godzilla is cool. The production design is pure art. It’s both creative and clever. This universe has flying cars right out of The Jetsons. The heroes have a cute robot butler named H.E.R.B.I.E. who deserves his own short film. It’s fun to observe how similar yet different this world is from ours. It has some of the same products and brands (e.g. Lucky Charms, Canada Dry and Pan Am), but other things (like their movies) belong to it alone.
I suppose the highest compliment I can pay The Fantastic Four: First Steps is that it’s completely satisfying. I didn’t have that empty feeling I usually have after viewing one of today’s blockbuster films. This one, the first entry in Phase Six of the MCU, is more than substantial. It’s smart, exciting and a wondrous sight to behold. It has emotional content as well. This is a blockbuster worth leaving home for.
P.S. Naturally, there are extra scenes during the end credits, one mid and one post. The mid one sets up a sequel; the other is just fun for fans. Also, keep an eye out for cameos by the main cast of Corman’s version.
