Director Matt Shakman (Wandavision) hasn't just made another superhero movie; he's crafted a dazzling, retro-futuristic family portrait that proves the core of the Fantastic Four isn't cosmic rays: it's heart.
A Family Affair
The film’s masterstroke is its casting and the incredible chemistry that sparks between the four leads. This isn't a team; it's a family, and you believe it in every frame. Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, Prospect) delivers a career-defining performance as Reed Richards. He finds the perfect balance between the character's awe-inspiring intellect and his crippling social anxiety. You can see the gears turning in his head, wrestling with problems that could unravel reality, while simultaneously struggling to be a present husband and father.
It’s a beautifully nuanced take that lays the groundwork for the hero and potential megalomaniac he could become.
But the film's undeniable MVP is Vanessa Kirby (Mission Impossible) as Sue Storm. As the invisible anchor of the family, Kirby is fierce, brilliant, and utterly captivating. She is the one who holds the team together, often saving her super-genius husband and hot-headed brother from their own worst impulses. One standout scene, where she confronts an adversary while in the throes of labor, is an all-time great hero moment.
The dynamic between her and Pascal, navigating the cosmic terror of Galactus alongside the very human terror of first-time parenthood, gives the film its powerful, relatable core.
Rounding out the quartet, Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm is more than just charming comic relief. He's got swagger and a reckless streak, but there's a real hero underneath, and his fiery interactions with Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Ben Grimm are a joy. Moss-Bachrach brings a world-weary pathos and gruff humor to The Thing that is pitch-perfect.
When these four are together, bickering over breakfast or strategizing how to save the planet, the movie is simply electric.
It allows the film to unapologetically embrace the source material's Silver Age zaniness.
This is a world where a giant man in a purple helmet can show up to eat the planet, and the film doesn't flinch. Ralph Ineson's Galactus is genuinely menacing, a force of nature with a god complex, and his herald, the Silver Surfer (a mesmerizing Julia Garner), is both an elegant threat and a tragic figure. The movie commits to the bit, and it pays off spectacularly, creating a visual style that feels both timeless and completely fresh for the MCU.
While the plot to defeat Galactus is straightforward, it works because the film isn't really about that. First Steps smartly sidesteps a drawn-out origin story, trusting the audience to get on board quickly. It prioritizes character over spectacle, and in doing so, it delivers a more satisfying experience.
It's a film about family, legacy, and the daunting task of protecting a future for your children, just with planet-devouring cosmic gods thrown into the mix.
So where does Marvel's first family go from here?
Straight to the top.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps feels like a foundational text for the next era of the MCU.
It ends not with a cataclysm, but with a promise.
After their post-credits appearance in Thunderbolts, the FF are on a direct collision course with the MCU's next great threat, Doctor Doom in the forth coming Avengers film.
Rounding out the quartet, Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm is more than just charming comic relief. He's got swagger and a reckless streak, but there's a real hero underneath, and his fiery interactions with Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Ben Grimm are a joy. Moss-Bachrach brings a world-weary pathos and gruff humor to The Thing that is pitch-perfect.
When these four are together, bickering over breakfast or strategizing how to save the planet, the movie is simply electric.
The World of Tomorrow
Shakman and his design team have made a truly bold choice by setting the film on an alternate Earth-828, a world forever stuck in a 1960s vision of the future. It’s all bubble cars, sleek mid-century modern architecture, and a sense of unbridled techno-optimism. This aesthetic isn't just window dressing; it's a mission statement.It allows the film to unapologetically embrace the source material's Silver Age zaniness.
This is a world where a giant man in a purple helmet can show up to eat the planet, and the film doesn't flinch. Ralph Ineson's Galactus is genuinely menacing, a force of nature with a god complex, and his herald, the Silver Surfer (a mesmerizing Julia Garner), is both an elegant threat and a tragic figure. The movie commits to the bit, and it pays off spectacularly, creating a visual style that feels both timeless and completely fresh for the MCU.
While the plot to defeat Galactus is straightforward, it works because the film isn't really about that. First Steps smartly sidesteps a drawn-out origin story, trusting the audience to get on board quickly. It prioritizes character over spectacle, and in doing so, it delivers a more satisfying experience.
It's a film about family, legacy, and the daunting task of protecting a future for your children, just with planet-devouring cosmic gods thrown into the mix.
The Future Foundation of the MCU
So where does Marvel's first family go from here?
Straight to the top.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps feels like a foundational text for the next era of the MCU.
It ends not with a cataclysm, but with a promise.
After their post-credits appearance in Thunderbolts, the FF are on a direct collision course with the MCU's next great threat, Doctor Doom in the forth coming Avengers film.
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