Review Roundup: Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Despite being Marvel’s “First Family,” the Fantastic Four have experienced a rocky cinematic journey, to say the least. Back in the mid ’90s, Roger Corman produced a still-unreleased Fantastic Four film that was only made so producer Bernd Eichinger could keep the film rights to the characters — and things only slightly improved from there.
But as the MCU finally seems to be righting itself after a long and underwhelming spell, perhaps now is the perfect time for Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing to venture onto the big screen once again, with director Matt Shakman (WandaVision) at the helm.
The teasers and trailers revealed a truly unique aesthetic, one heavily indebted to a ’60s retro-futuristic vibe, with the never-disappointing Pedro Pascal leading the team as super-genius Reed Richards. And even more intriguing, the film adapts one of the Fantastic Four’s most iconic storylines, as they seek to save Earth from the world-devouring Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer (aka, my favorite superhero of all time).
So does Shakman do right by Marvel’s “First Family”? Or do the Fantastic Four suffer from yet another bad cinematic adaptation? Read on for a selection of reviews and reactions to the film.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is more than a reboot, it’s a reinvention. Instead of racing to tie into a larger Marvel narrative, it builds its own identity, powered by rich character work, stylish design, and a deep understanding of what makes this team so enduring.
As an actual narrative film, though, First Steps is not entirely a pleasure cruise. It is even ironically the second superhero movie this month to begin in medias res, deliberately starting after a skipped origin story, and with a mountain of exposition to surmount. Like James Gunn’s Superman, First Steps wants to be a zippy bit of Silver Age comics triumphalism; but at the same time it hurriedly seeks to redeem one of the greatest stories ever told in a superhero magazine, Kirby and Lee’s “Galactus Trilogy” from 1966.
As First Steps limps to its total nothing of a conclusion, it feels less like a victory than it does a total surrender. You have to walk before you can run, but at this point the MCU is back to crawling on its knees, and at this point it seems like it might be too afraid to ever stand back up again.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is like an ice-cold drink on a warm summer’s day. A slice of apple pie with a glass of milk. It’s a nice, simple, familiar-feeling movie that will make you feel warm and fuzzy for a while but maybe doesn’t have the lasting power of something stronger. It’s easily the best Fantastic Four movie ever, and yet, falls just short of being fully “fantastic.” Nevertheless, it’s still highly enjoyable.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the franchise’s answer to years of excess. It’s Marvel’s defibrillator — the straightforward, no-fuss shock of life that won’t just revive a dying franchise, but bring it back to the foundations it’s long dismissed. The fingerprints of Jack “King” Kirby and John Byrne are all over this film, and with their contributions top of mind, writer-director Matt Shakman might have just truly saved a flailing MCU.
[J]ust on its own merits, it’s a solid comic book adventure that’s not embarrassed by being a comic book adventure — in fact it finds real power in its love for its roots. Hopefully, that’s an energy the MCU can carry forward with it. Because that’s what has kept these stories alive ever since the day a kid named Stan Lee came up with some ideas for characters, and his pal Jack Kirby brought them to life.
Marvel’s First Steps may feel somewhat unique in tone, carefree and blithe in a manner audiences haven’t seen before, and yes, these inaugural strides are the best version of these heroes to be experienced on screen. But unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that First Steps is essential, or even fantastic viewing.
Hollywood’s long-standing obsession with presenting superheroes as grimdark figures was at odds with the Fantastic Four’s roots in the colorful, whizbang silver age of comics — which is what makes The Fantastic Four: First Steps so refreshing. The new movie is actually kind of a blast and a promising sign that Marvel is shaking some of its bad moviemaking habits.
It’s probably a three-star movie in terms of nuts-and-bolts achievements, but the acting and the visuals elevate it far beyond the baseline of the genre, which is often blandly lit and indifferently composed screensaver images with CGI-enhanced people in them.
While it might have taken five films, four decades, and three reboots (the last thanks Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox six years ago), to finally give Marvel’s First Family the big-screen treatment they’ve long deserved, lifelong and casual comic-book fans alike should be happy, possibly even ecstatic, at The Fantastic Four: First Steps refreshingly irony-free blend of superheroes, epic-scaled world-building, and stakes-heavy comic-book action.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters on July 25, 2025. Watch the trailer below.
