Marvel’s “First Family” finally joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, directed by Matt Shakman. Starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, the iconic comic family of heroes is finally brought to the big screen in a film that pays loving tribute to co-creator Jack Kirby.
Shakman, who created the hit Marvel TV series WandaVision, perfectly uses charm, humor and a dash of nostalgia to build a retro futuristic world that is unlike any we have seen before, and tells a character focused, relationship driven, story with emotional weight.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps releases July 24, 2025.
Official Synopsis
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
Review – A Delightful First Step Into a Larger World
In Marvel comics, the Fantastic Four are affectionally called “Marvel’s First Family,” which reflects the quartet’s revered status in the comics universe. They were one of the first Silver Age comic creations of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in 1961, preceding the likes of Spider-Man, The Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and the Avengers. Yet, despite their important place in Marvel, the superhero family of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm have not yet been properly adapted into a live action feature film.
There have been four main efforts by studios to bring the Fantastic Four to the big screen, including an unreleased film produced by Roger Corman in 1994. However, most of these, like many superhero features before the MCU, didn’t quite grasp the essence of what makes these characters so beloved and enduring.
Unlike the typical superheroes, who boast giant muscles, arrogance to match and look like gods, the Fantastic Four are a family of scientists and explorers who unexpectedly gain bizarre powers. What makes them actually heroic is not their superhuman abilities, but their commitment to serving each other and the public. In essence, more than superheroes, they’re public servants.
With that in mind, Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps is not only the first film to reflect a genuine understanding of the First Family, it’s also one of the most refreshing and unique superhero films ever.
As seen in the trailers and marketing, the film takes place in a retro futuristic society that is reminiscent of our own, but different in several important ways. The film begins with a video montage that quickly welcomes and introduces audiences into this new world, dubbed Earth-828 (the main MCU world is Earth-626). These heroes live in a 1960s United States of America that has advanced technology well beyond its time thanks to the genius inventions of Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal). They also have achieved world peace thanks to the bridge-building talents of Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby). There are still some low level villains running around, including Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser), but nothing the Fantastic Four can’t handle. In fact, after they apprehend Mole Man, Sue is able to broker a peace deal with him as well to allow both surface and underground communities to coexist.
A master class in world building, Shakman has expertly created a world that has just enough nostalgia, but is actually an aspirational society that many of us would dream to live in. It’s not some rose colored view of our past, but a realized ideal of what we should be. At the center is the Fantastic Four, whom the entire world looks to for leadership, safety, wisdom and more. They aren’t heroes with masks and secret identities. They are public servants, leaders and celebrities with a glimmering tower at the center of New York City.
Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) is the city’s most eligible bachelor and appears on billboards. When Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) walks down the street, people aren’t scared of his rocky visage; school children cheer him on. When Sue and Reed find out that they are pregnant with their first child, the information is instantly the biggest public news. Like any good futuristic family, they are supported by an autonomous robot named HERBIE (Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics).
Everything seems picture perfect, until an alien being suddenly appears, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), to declare that their perfect little planet is marked for death by Galactus (Ralph Ineson). At first, the public has little concern. The Fantastic Four will take care of this problem like they have all the others. Sure enough, the foursome don their space suits and head out to deep space to confront this cosmic threat.
The film spends ample time letting audiences get to know the family as they perform mundane tasks like cooking dinner and looking for medicine in the bathroom. Shakman makes a concerted effort to allow the audience to really become familiar with the family as people and embrace them. Each of the main cast members feel perfectly suited for their respective roles. Pascal’s Reed is a genius, but he isn’t arrogant or boastful like Tony Stark. Instead, he’s sincere, loving and even anxious. He understands the responsibility that comes with their place in society and constantly checks and rechecks his equations to ensure he can prepare for all that might go wrong. That’s what makes both Reed different from other genius heroes in the MCU and Pascal such an inspired choice for the character. The MCU is full of sarcastic, arrogant, quippy heroes who are unshakable in their self believe. But Reed isn’t worried about telling everyone how smart he is; he’s too focused on protecting his family and the world they’re charged to protect.
Kirby as Sue is a perfect balance to Reed, as a wise, stable and strong leader of the team. Sue might just be the most important person, not just in the family, but the entire planet. Her leadership is subtle but confident. She relates to everyone around her and their affection and admiration for her are palpable. You really believe that if there’s anyone who can actually bring world peace, it’s Sue Storm.
Moss-Bachrach and Quinn infuse their characters with healthy doses of heart and humor to round out the family. Both are quite enjoyable and have memorable moments in the film, but don’t have the depth of character that Sue and Reed do. They’re the fun uncles, and everyone is happy that they’re there, but they’re certainly not the most important.
The team soon finds that Galactus is not a solvable problem, even for their unique talents. There’s a moment after the team returns from their harrowing first meeting with the world eating being, when the press simply asks them to describe how they defeated Galactus. It never once occurred to them that any other result was possible. When they learn that their heroes did not in fact deal with their world ending problem, panic begins to spread. It’s akin to a child realizing for the first time that their parents aren’t perfect and don’t have all the answers.
Michael Giacchino’s masterful score, which can only be described as an ear worm that embeds itself into your brain, beautifully complements the sense of wonder that is pervasive throughout the film. Even as it feels impossible that four tiny humans will be able to save their world from the kaiju-sized villain, the music never lets you fall into despair.
For his part, Galactus is massive, awe-inspiring and terrifying. Shakman doesn’t try to hide Galactus in the way the trailers have, revealing him early on in the film. And that’s a great decision, because the traumatic experience that the heroes and audience have with Galactus early on continues to haunt them the rest of the film. Instead of telling the audience that something scary is coming, Shakman allows us to experience that fear and seek to avoid it.
The Silver Surfer, as an extension of Galactus, is almost as scary. Shalla-Bal is fast, powerful, and her ability to phase through walls makes her feel inescapable. From a story perspective, she isn’t given much to do, particularly in the second half of the film, but she’s certainly memorable for how she makes the heroes and audience feel.
Much of the film feels like a disaster story in the vein of Armageddon. The extinction event is coming and the everyone is trying to come up with a plan to survive. Similar to those disaster films, when Galactus finally arrives, the plans to defeat him seem ridiculous and unlikely to succeed. It’s here where Reed’s genius could have been more effectively highlighted. Even in the face of an impossible problem, Reed should have been able to come up with a plan that at least feels like the smartest human on the planet came up with it. Instead, the plan feels desperate, inadequate and…doomed.
The finale, like the rest of the film, is light on action but heavy on heart. It delivers an emotionally satisfying experience, even if the actual execution could have been more thrilling. Marvel is at a point where it’s difficult to win. Give the audience a massive, VFX filled spectacle and people complain that it’s too much of the same. But avoid a climactic battle and it feels like it’s missing something.
That aside, The Fantastic Four: First Steps leaves you feeling good and eager to revisit this wonderful world that Shakman has crafted. It’s inspiring and idyllic and offers the kind of cynic-less sincerity that we desperately need in our own world.
Rating – 4.5/5 Pocky
Ron is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of POC Culture. He is a big believer in the power and impact of pop culture and the importance of representation in media.
