By Felix Glanville, Film and TV Editor
Marvel really needed The Fantastic Four: First Steps to work. Since Spider-Man: No Way Home (2017) and Avengers Endgame (2019), the billion dollar franchise has been suffering at the box office and within the mainstream film industry. Poor reviews, downright bad visual effects (see Antman: Quantumania (2022) for reference) and oversaturation of similar formulaic Marvel television and film content plagued the $30bn franchise. Marvel CEO Kevin Feige recalled in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, 'The decision to expand devalued the franchise as a whole because there was just too much content'. Luckily for First Steps' director, Matt Shankman, the film succeeded upon expectations and is a supersonic standout.
So, what do you get when you thrust The Mandalorian, Princess Margaret, Cousin Richie, and Eddie Munson into a 1960s retro-futuristic Earth? This sounds like all the ingredients to a CGI disaster, but instead Matt Shankman's second MCU outing is a triumph. After all, this should have been expected as Shankman's Wandavision (2021) television series was the catalyst for Disney+ to shake up the streaming market– with 8m new subscribers in the first two months of Wandavisions' release.
The style of the film is what got me instantly on board– it felt unique for the MCU, rather than sheets upon sheets of green screen, you could feel the difference with lavish glossy interiors that matched this seemingly ordinary American urbanite family. The film remains grounded on this familial dynamic despite the members' superhero abilities and global celebrity status following their treacherous, transformational space mission. With husband and wife Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Susan Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Storm's brother, Johnny (Joseph Quinn), Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and of course, the handy domestic loveable robot, H.E.R.B.I.E, First Steps makes you invested in the bonds between this dysfunctional family as well as their ability in battling the planet consumer, Galactus– a notable performance by Ralph Ineson.
The world of Shankman's 1964 Earth-828 felt dynamic, alive and poignantly real. A gripe with James Gunn's Superman (2025), the July box office rival to First Steps, is that global conflict and superhero responsibility felt too caricatured and forced. Sure, the instant global cooperation in defending Earth against Galactus felt slightly absurd, this was a Marvel film that displayed the realities of international political communication and media paranoia during times of global crisis. The pressures of heroism were conveyed by Sue Storm as she defends her choice to not give away her baby, Franklin, to Galactus. Unfortunately, this was not without the typical MCU gag that broke up the emotional sentiment, but come on, it is to be expected– it's not an A24 film.
The real soul of the film was facilitated by its stellar cast– particularly Vanessa Kirby– whose combined maternal tenderness and strength was the real driver of the action, a first for the MCU. Pedro Pascal complimented Kirby beautifully– maybe aided by his love for handholding co-stars faces and their chins. Pascal was a steady level-headed presence against Joseph Quinn's lovingly playful Johnny Storm. Quinn defied all my expectations. Instantly charismatic, self-aware, and genuinely funny, Quinn proved he has versatility beyond his Stranger Things outing, and I cannot wait to see him bat an eye at Spiderman in Avengers Doomsday.
With its rather shorter run time of just two hours, I would have loved to see more development of Ebon Moss-Bachrach's 'The Thing'. His scenes alone the streets of New York were earnest and delicate– Grimm coming to terms with his beastly appearance, amplifying how this Fantastic Four outing is by far the most emotionally interested. Further, as I am a soundtrack fiend, Michael Giacchino’s soundtrack meets the heights and awes of the 80's classics– pumping up this family in hopeful optimism, like the United States' thirst for space exploration in the 1960's.
Overall, the film was graced in a beautiful mix of retro colours and wondrous moments in space, 0ur first introduction of Ineson's Galactus was of extraordinary size and gravitas– an iconic comic book villain that met the heights of Thanos from Infinity War (2017). The scale of the film itself must surely achieve critical acclaim– it felt polished, layered and perfect for IMAX. The Marvel formula has been rejigged and re-imagined, exactly what Wandavision aimed to do. Fans of non comic book film's should give this a shot– an infusion of galactic splendour like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and introspective contradictions of heroes like Watchmen (2009). That birth scene in space alone warrants a watch, trust me.
So, almost exactly 10 years on from the box office bomb and all round hot mess of Fantastic Four (2015), Matt Shankman has delivered on a distinct and innovative introduction to a superhero group which I truly believe deserves to be on par with James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). In pretty much all departments this is well beyond the superior film to The Fantastic Four (2005), albeit Quinns's Johnny Storm is in fiery contention (literally) with Chris Evans' outing.
This heralds a renaissance for Marvel Studios, in time for Avengers: Doomsday later next year. It's a five from me for the infamous group of four.
Featured Image: IMD
Do you think the Fantastic Four: First Steps is the beginning of a Marvel renaissance?
