The Fantastic Four: First Steps

 

The odd name for Marvel's fourth effort to adapt the First Family to the big screen, First Steps, is humorous and fitting. Matt Shakman's retro-futuristic vision, which creates the most visually unique and emotionally grounded Fantastic Four adaptation to date, is a true step forward for the franchise. However, the film periodically stumbles when its ambitious world-building surpasses its storytelling, much like its heroes who venture into cosmic unknowns. This results in a work of breathtaking atmosphere and performances that never quite comes together into a truly satisfying tale.

First Steps stands out right away thanks to its stunning atmospheric design. A retro-futuristic 1960s "Earth-828" by Shakman and production designer Kasra Farahani seems like The Jetsons filtered through Jack Kirby's cosmic vision and Mad Men. This isn't just nostalgia cosplay; it's a completely realized other reality in which robot butlers serve coffee in slick, curved architecture that would make Eero Saarinen cry with delight, flying automobiles cohabit with CRT monitors, and Pan Am still runs. The film is perhaps the most visually complex MCU release since Guardians of the Galaxy since it uses a variety of film stocks, including grainy 16mm for flashbacks, to transport audiences to this tactile, lived-in universe.

This dedication to atmosphere is also evident in Michael Giacchino's score, which forgoes the composer's signature bombast in favor of choral arrangements that give the events a sense of cosmic grandeur. Together with the production design, the ultimate effect is a movie that makes you want to stop and take in the background details—the fictitious movie posters, the analog-futuristic technology, the clothing that combines superhero pragmatism with mid-century optimism.

First Steps really shines when it recognizes that the Fantastic Four are more than just a superhero team—they are really a family. Bypassing the cliched beginning, the movie jumps ahead three years into their professions, when Sue Storm (played by Vanessa Kirby) reveals she is expecting Reed Richards' (Pedro Pascal) kid. The familial stakes are instantly highlighted by this narrative decision: they are seasoned protectors dealing with the universal problem of approaching motherhood rather than heroes learning to employ powers.

The gravitational center of the movie is the chemistry between the four leads. As the team's moral compass during Sue's difficult decision between her child and her planet, Kirby offers her emotional vulnerability and grounded composure. At first glance, Pascal's Reed appears miscast—too warm, too human for the customarily icy "Mr. Fantastic"—but it soon becomes clear how brilliant this interpretation is. Instead of being emotionally detached, his Reed is overcome by the weight of knowledge and frequently knows the "right" solution to moral dilemmas but is unable to express it without causing suffering.

Johnny Storm, played by Joseph Quinn, exudes impulsive charisma that channels the character's hot-headedness while exposing surprising levels of loyalty and intelligence. But Ben Grimm, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, comes out as the quartet's central figure. His down-to-earth friendliness and tragicomic romance with schoolteacher Alicia (Natasha Lyonne), despite his brief on-screen presence, evoke working-class dramas such as Marty and On the Waterfront, bringing the cosmic extravaganza down to human-scale feeling.

Julia Garner's portrayal of Shalla-Bal, the Silver Surfer, is the film's most notable performance. Recast as a female Galactus herald, Garner's gestures are almost sensual in their otherworldliness, and her voice carries the weight of innumerable worlds seen dying. She also gives balletic athleticism and tragic resignation to the character. The character's role as an exposition-delivery mechanism is transcended by this star-making turn, which completely realizes the Surfer as a person divided between duty and conscience.

Instead of being ostentatious, the ensemble succeeds through moderation. The movie attains a unique level of authenticity for the genre when it lets its actors just play these parts—sharing meals, fighting about childcare, and making fun of one another with the ease of prolonged intimacy. The dramatic tension peaks in quiet moments rather than amid CGI spectacle: Ben thinking about his hideous reflection, Sue facing the impossibility of sacrifice, and Reed choosing to give up researching his unborn son's abilities.

The unique scientific depth of First Steps sets it apart. Reed's intelligence is treated in the movie as a process rather than as magic; we watch him calculate, fail, and recalculate. The cosmic elements—from Galactus' world-destroying apparatus to the Surfer's cosmic power—are depicted with Kirby-like visual inventiveness, which gives abstract ideas a physical form. In ways that earlier movies have failed to do, the visual extravaganza during the space scenes and Galactus' arrival—especially the appearance of the Kaiju-scaled world-eater—delivers on the promise of cosmic Marvel.

Nevertheless, First Steps' fundamental narrative thinness persists despite all of its artistic and performative accomplishments. Although it creates a great deal of dramatic suspense, the basic conflict—Galactus proposing to save Earth if Sue and Reed give up their possibly superpowered child—remains essentially unchanged for a large portion of the film. Instead of being a growing story, the storyline is a sequence of increasing complications, with the Fantastic Four trying a number of unsuccessful solutions before the final act's inevitable resolution.

If the movie focused entirely on its character study, this thinness may be excused, but First Steps all too frequently reverts to traditional superhero extravaganza. Even while the action scenes are physically stunning, they seem detached from the emotional core, especially in the last act when the movie goes into autopilot mode and waits for Reed to create the unavoidably impossible contraption to rescue the day. The first act rushes through setup, only to bog down in repetitious middle-act issues, causing the pacing to suffer.

The production is rife with inconsistent quality. The Silver Surfer's effects and The Thing's motion-capture show off VFX at its best, but other aspects, especially the CGI infant and some green-screen composites, come across as glaringly fake. The editing occasionally appears choppy, with subplots like Ben's romance given little development to land their emotional beats, presumably due to last-minute cuts (reports say 15–20 minutes were eliminated).

There are many amazing elements in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but they don't quite add up to a spectacular total. With outstanding group chemistry and a particularly strong performance from Julia Garner, it provides the most atmospheric, emotionally intelligent, and visually unique version of Marvel's First Family. The dedication to family relationships and retro-futuristic world-building point to a franchise that has finally realized what makes these characters unique.

However, the flimsy plot and shoddy execution keep it from becoming truly fantastic. Like its characters, the movie strives for celestial heights while adhering to earthly norms; it never quite finds the strength to be as strange, personal, or daring in its storytelling as its visuals suggest. As befits a first step, it is promising, exciting at times, but obviously a trial run for the assured stride that Avengers: Doomsday is likely to require.

First Steps provides enough emotional sincerity and visual inventiveness to make the trip worthwhile for fans tired of the MCU template. It might seem like another well-known journey in chic new packaging to those looking for narrative novelty. In any case, it demonstrates that the Fantastic Four are deserving of their cinematic role—if only filmmakers could eventually unlock their full potential.

Credits:

Directed by: Matt Shakman

Screenplay by: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer

Story by: Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer, and Kat Wood

Based on: Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Produced by: Kevin Feige

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson

Cinematography: Jess Hall

Edited by: Nona Khodai and Tim Roche

Music by: Michael Giacchino

Production company: Marvel Studios

Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Release date: July 25, 2025

Running time: 114 minutes