The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Director: Matt Shakman
Writer: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer
Based on: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby‘s comics
Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss
Part of: Marvel movies
Seen on: 8.8.2025
[Here are my reviews of other Fantastic Four movies.]

Plot:
A few years ago, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) set out on a mission to space and were forever changed for it. Now their superpowers allow them to help the people on Earth, and they are revered for it. But the next big change is waiting for them as Sue is pregnant with Reed’s baby, and they really don’t know what their powers mean for their child. Before they can figure it out, though, a mysterious silver figure (Julia Garner) shows up to announce that Earth is scheduled to be consumed by Galactus (Ralph Ineson). The Fantastic Four immediately make plans how to defeat Galactus, but he might be too powerful even for them.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a thoroughly entertaining, extremely pretty film that worked very well for me, despite a few quibbles.

[SPOILERS]

It seems that The Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting its groove back a little, at least when it is allowing itself a bit of deviation from the established, a little playfulness. And this film brings spades of it to the table. Since this film takes place in a parallel universe, it is not concerned with fitting into any kind of established chronology, and it gives the production team a chance to really play with the design of the world. The resulting retrofuturistic vibe is absolutely gorgeous.

I also loved that the film is so very clear that Baby Fantastic is definitely not to be traded, nor is anybody else. If we take seriously that life is invaluable, that there is no price to be put on a single life, then other lives is also not a price worth paying. Like, the only moral choice in the trolley problem is to try everything that no person is killed. We may not succeed, but we still have to try.

Unfortunately the film uses the trope that mothers will suddenly get superhuman strength (or in the case of Sue, super-superhuman strength) when their baby is threatened, and I absolutely loathe this trope. That mothers have to carry more than they can is not a heroic thing, but a failure of everyone around them, and mothers will run out of energy, too. It is the kind of narrative that allows us to treat actual real life mothers like shit because they will manage anyway. It’s particularly galling because the film isn’t exactly great with the few women it features. Apart from Sue, we get a villain/romantic interest/victim in the Silver Surfer and a romantic interest with only a few lines (as great as those scenes were) in Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) and that’s pretty much it.

Other than that, though, the film does some really good character work. Reed and Sue are a great couple, with Pascal and Kirby getting their relationship and chemistry just right. Johnny and Ben don’t get enough attention – the film is more about the baby and its parents – but they manage to have their fun (Johnny) and sweet (Ben) moments. And even Galactus and the Silver Surfer are allowed some depth. Combined with the nice action scenes and fine pacing, the movie is definitely an enjoyable entry into the MCU.

Summarizing: highly entertaining.