I don’t know if I’ve ever admitted this to myself, but sometimes I think I was born into the wrong time. Don’t get it twisted: being there for the birth of the internet, social media, AI, virtual reality and all kinds of other tech breakthroughs has been cool, but as a child of the ’80s, I was really hoping to experience robot butlers, friendly alien races, flying cars, anti-aging, instant gourmet meals and augmented humans. Basically, I was hoping to live through “The Jetsons” with a dash of “Star Trek.”
While I think some of those things might start emerging (and are beginning to) in my lifetime, a combination of life-enhancing technology and a utopian society still seems pretty far away. Luckily, we have the bottomless resources of Disney and Marvel to tell stories in worlds that spark our imaginations and give us glimpses into futures not our own. I guess it will have to do for now. With the Fantastic Four, Marvel has not only managed to give us a strong new entry in the forever franchise, but also crafted a retro-futuristic sci-fi adventure that not only feels like the “Jetsons” movie I’ve always wanted, but also sets up the future of the Marvel universe in ways that specifically reaches out to viewers suffering from superhero fatigue.
First published in 1961 and invented by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, The Fantastic Four has always been considered Marvel’s First Family: scientific genius Reed Richards, his fearless and centered wife, Susan Storm, her hot-headed playboy brother, Johnny and Reed’s best friend, the gruff, yet lovable test pilot Ben Grimm. When they are bombarded with cosmic rays after a scientific mission to outer space, the four are gifted with superpowers that they use to protect the world from threats both galactic and domestic: Reed becomes stretchy, Sue creates force fields and turns invisible, Johnny generates flame and Ben becomes a massive, super-strong rock monster.
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, remarkably, feels completely different from any that have come before.
I wasn’t a fan of the Jessica Alba-led “Fantastic Four” movies from the early ’00s and the less said about Josh Trank’s 2015 disastrous reboot, the better, but I was looking forward to the MCU finally bringing the Fantastic Four into their playground because seeing super genius Reed Richards squaring off with Doctor Strange or Spider-Man sounds like a blast for my inner 12-year-old. Finally, we have a really fun take on these characters with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” from Matt Shakman, the filmmaker who directed the great Disney+ series “WandaVision” as well as hugely memorable episodes of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Game of Thrones” and “Fargo.”
The first thing Shakman gets right with “First Steps” is the casting. Pedro Pascal brings his trademark intelligent charisma to Reed Richards, while Vanessa Kirby carries such a luminous otherworldliness that her Susan Storm immediately feels like THE interpretation of the character. Joseph Quinn channels a young Robert Downey Jr. with his Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (who has long been stealing scenes as Richie in “The Bear”) brings a weary humanism to The Thing we haven’t seen before.
The other choice that Shakman nails is in not making “First Steps” another origin story. Just as James Gunn’s “Superman” proved a few weeks ago, these characters have been around long enough that we can assume audiences have at least a passing familiarity with who they are. The last two Fantastic Four attempts showed them get their powers and, along with Peter Parker being bitten by a radioactive spider and Bruce Wayne witnessing the murder of his parents in Crime Alley, we’ve probably seen these origins enough for a lifetime.
Instead, “First Steps” feels like an episode of a “Fantastic Four” TV show, where the First Family goes on a cosmic mission to save their world (a different one than Earth 616, where all the other MCU films take place) from the planet-eating Galactus and his herald, The Silver Surfer. The plotting of “First Steps” doesn’t take many big chances as it mostly feels like the entire film is a setup for the Fantastic Four to eventually hop universes and join forces with The Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool when they clash with Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom in 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday.” It’s still a lot of franchise building, but it’s ludicrously entertaining, regardless.
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, remarkably, feels completely different from any that have come before. From the 1960s retro-futuristic aesthetic to the singular production design and a much-needed goofball optimism, the film isn’t just going to age beautifully, but feel like a genuine escape for people exhausted by the real world. It’s not perfect and might not cure audiences’ recent apathy toward Marvel, but it feels like a first step in the right direction.
This article appears in Source Weekly August 7, 2025.
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