It’s amazing that it took more than a few tries to get the Fantastic Four right, but that’s what Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, and director Matt Shakman have finally done with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
While Roger Corman’s initial attempt at Marvel’s First Family never received a theatrical release and remains a curio easily found on bootleg, 20th Century Fox did produce two Fantastic Four films in the 2000s, neither of which captured the imagination of critics or audiences. Director Josh Trank’s 2015 take on the franchise was a reboot with good ideas that suffered from studio interference and disastrous reshoots, tanking at the box office. However, with the property under the rightful stewardship of Marvel, audiences finally received a film worthy of the team’s illustrious lore with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps skips an origin story and presents a team already established around the world. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) are the Earth’s heroes, beloved and viewed as the planet’s protectors. So when the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) arrives to herald the coming of the planet-devouring Galactus (Ralph Ineson), the world expects the Fantastic Four to save the day.
Set in the retro-future 1960s Earth 818 (not the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Earth 616), The Fantastic Four: First Steps is so far ahead of all their previous iterations. From the performances of all the leads to the absolutely incredible depiction of Galactus, previously seen onscreen only as a gaseous cloud in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the film feels like a Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic book come to life. The movie, along with its spectacle, also has, most importantly, a solid script that allows for a team dynamic based on closeness and family.
Unlike the long list of Marvel movies that we’ve had for nearly 20 years, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a standalone film, unencumbered by connectivity to other heroes or stories. It’s refreshing to be able to walk in and simply enjoy the movie without wondering where it fits into the larger puzzle that is the MCU. That will happen, of course, next year with Avengers: Doomsday, and that’s fine. Seeing the Marvel sandbox now include Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and The Thing has been a long time coming. Still, as a first step in bringing the FF to proper life, this movie delivers and then some.
Highly recommended, for longtime Fantastic Four fans and newcomers alike.
