“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” was directed by Matt Shakman, based on Marvel comic book series of the same name, is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the 5th film in the Fantastic Four series & is the second reboot of the franchise. The film stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach & Joseph Quinn as the title group with Paul Walter Hauser, Julia Garner & Ralph Ineson as the rest of the cast of characters. This film marks the first appearance of the group since Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox in 2019.
In 1964, on Earth 828, the world celebrates the anniversary of their beloved superhero group after their daring exploration of a cosmic cloud that gave them superpowers. The group consist of Reed Richards (Pascal) a highly intelligent scientist with the power to stretch his body in any way, shape or form, his wife, Susan Storm (Kirby) who powers consist of invisibility & generate force fields at will, his best friend, Ben Grimm (Bachrach) who transformed into a rock monster with super strength & his brother-in-law, Johnny Storm, Susan’s younger brother, who can generate fire from his body. For the past 4 years, the Fantastic Four have protected & kept the world safe from every threat that has come their way. After the birth of Susan’s & Reed’s son, Franklin, they receive a warning a strange visitor from another world. A female covered in metallic silver substance & riding a surfboard who was given the name, The Silver Surfer (Garner). She warns them of an impending doom at the hands of her master, Galactus (Ineson), a cosmic super being of great size & power that can consume the entire planet to feed his cursed hunger for energy. Now, the team must not only prepare for this incoming attack but face difficult choice of superhero or family first.
This film had a lot riding when it was announced after the MCU’s struggles at the box office & mediocre reviews on their spinoff series. However, this was, no pun intended, a fantastic movie. It has the look & feel of “The Jetsons”, the family dynamic of “The Incredibles” all wrapped with stellar performances & very impressive visuals. Pedro Pascal nails the character of Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic. His portrayal is much more subtle & vulnerable than Ioan Gruffurd’s and much more charming & charismatic than Miles Teller’s. Joseph Quinn was great as The Human Torch. Not too big, not too small but perfect blend of arrogance & confidence. The Thing’s design was a much faithful adaptation to the comic book & Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s performance was much better than Michael Chiklis & Jamie Bell. But the standout performance in this movie was Vanessa Kirby. Her performance was a great arch jumping from mother to superhero to spokeswoman all with ease and great fluidity. Julia Gardner & Ralph Ineson in the villain roles are solid. Gardner did have an interesting background & characterization Although the overall story feels very similar to Tim Story’s 2007 film, this has a much better execution with way better performances and visuals.
Overall, this was a great movie & definitely a step in the right direction as far as the MCU’s struggles are concerned. It was a breath of fresh air & hands down the best live action adaptation of the group thus far. Way better than 4 previous films & hopefully it keeps the momentum moving forward. This was great way to bring the group into the MCU & they have already announced to return for the next “Avengers” film, “Avengers: Doomsday”, set to release in 2026. The film hit theaters on July 25th, 2025 & a sequel has already been announced with Matt Shakman returning to direct & the eagerly awaiting debut of Robert Downey Jr. as the main villain, “Dr. Doom”. Going to be an interesting debut for RDJ as he is well known as “Tony Stark / Iron Man” within the MCU moving forward.