Making a movie about the Fantastic Four isn’t easy. We know this, we’ve seen it on multiple occasions. And yet Matt Shakman and company brought us something special with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Marvel’s First Family is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 37th film. Rights issues aside, it means that what would have potentially been a literal first step for the franchise has, instead, become its second wind. Without Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, the MCU needed a new set of heroes. It has been taking its time rebuilding it and with First Steps, it found its footing.
Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) have been working together for years prior to their accident in space. The cosmic blast turns the team into the Fantastic Four, a beloved team in Earth-828’s New York City. They are basically celebrities with their own television show, merchandise, and an adoring public who want to see the team they consider family.
What is perfect about First Steps is that it took note from movies like Spider-Man: Homecoming and Superman before it: They don’t really make us relearn the same origin story again. This time, we are thrown into the team when they are already famous with a “documentary” on the Ted Gilbert Show, showing glimpses of them pre-power and using that device to give us information about the team without showing us the same origin again.
But the movie itself works because of all of its moving parts coming together to create a visually stunning look at what the 1960s would look like for the Fantastic Four.
Villains that work
Often with Marvel, the villains are either the big and well-known ones right out the gate or they’re so secondary that there is a lot of explanation needed. Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner) is not that well known but the Silver Surfer, the persona she takes on to help Galactus (Ralph Ineson), is. While Shalla-Bal is the Silver Surfer as well in the comics, she’s not the one people instantly think of. So it was a nice change of pace to see her take on the role and how that worked with the team themselves and her being the “herald” of their end.
In the same vein, Galactus is not necessarily the first villain you think of when you think of the Fantastic Four. That title goes to Doctor Doom and we already know that we’re building towards Robert Downey Jr. taking on the role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. So to pair Shalla-Bal and Galactus together allows all the exposition to belong to them. We know who this team is, we’ve been here for two big blockbuster adaptations of their story already. But Galactus and Shalla-Bal are new to audiences and it made for a worthy exploration.
More than that, seeing how these two characters appeal to the team as a whole and their need to save everyone worked so incredibly well. Galactus is the Devourer of Worlds. That doesn’t bode well with the team, who wants to keep their Earth safe. And getting to see how Shalla-Bal plays into things is truly an exciting take on the Silver Surfer.
Hot shoes to fill
Out of all of the team, the one that I was the most hesitant on was Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm. Not because I didn’t think he could do it but because out of all the other Fantastic Four adaptations, the one character they all kind of understand the best is Johnny. Meaning we do, despite how one might feel about the other Fantastic Four films, have good Johnny Storms to talk about.
But Quinn made his take on Johnny his own. Time and time again, he’s diminished to being Sue’s little brother. And yet instead of making people listen to him or doing something reckless, he just keeps proving himself and it was a nice change to how some of the Johnny Storm portrayals have been presented to us.
He knows he’s not as smart as Reed, as loving as Ben, or as “important” to the team as his sister. But Johnny notices things and he uses that to his advantage. It made him fun to watch and throw in his relationship with Ben Grimm and he easily became one of the best parts of the movie.
Friends until the end
Ben Grimm’s story is one that many turn into a negative thing. We’ve seen Ben sad that he’s a giant rock man and we’ve seen him hiding away from people, ashamed of what he looks like. First Steps allows Ben to basically be the world’s favorite member of the team and that’s what he’s always deserved. The only member of the Fantastic Four who is not related in some way or another, Ben doesn’t have to be loyal to Reed, Sue, and Johnny. And yet he’d give his life for them.
Moss-Bachrach brings a lot of heart to every role he plays. It is why Richie has become such a fan favorite on The Bear. But with Ben, he allows Ben’s teasing nature to be more genuine and soft. When the kids want him to play up his strength, he does it. When Franklin needs him, he’s there holding him like it is the most casual thing in the world.
When Reed needs a moment to come back down to Earth, Ben is willing to listen. He’s there for Johnny and he looks out for Sue. Ben Grimm has always been the team’s “rock.” And First Steps is one of the first attempts at a Fantastic Four movie to actually earn that.
This is a story about what you’d do for your family
The heart of First Steps comes in the form of Reed Richards dealing with becoming a father and Sue Storm having to put her family first. One of the most emotionally impactful scenes in the movie comes from Reed and Sue having a fight with each other. His analytical brain makes him look at all the worse case scenarios first and Sue, being the loving wife that she is, knows exactly what he is thinking in any situation.
She says to him that his way of thinking is just how he works out a problem but that sometimes it hurts her and he doesn’t realize it. To me, that is a perfect exploration of how Reed and Sue’s relationship should be. He’s so smart that sometimes, social cues are not his speciality. And Pascal does such an amazing job of balancing Reed’s intelligence with his lack of ability to understand the more human approach to something.
This movie is, for the most part, Sue’s. Kirby brings us a comic accurate Sue Storm who loves her family deeply, which includes the people who care for the team on Earth. And while Kirby shines, it is the distinct difference in how Pascal plays Reed that makes this version of the team so special. Look, I’ve seen a lot of Pedro Pascal roles and this is so different from his other work, it is amazing.
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Overall, The Fantastic Four: First Steps brings a lightness back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that both feels like returning home while being entirely unique to Shakman’s MCU style. It is what I wanted from this movie and so much more.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
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