The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

MARVEL is having a great year (2025). Just months after the dual successes of Thunderbolts* and TV’s Dare-Devil: Born Again revival, the studio now brings the first successful incarnation of The Fantastic Four to the big screen.

Matt Shakman, who did such a memorable job with Disney+’s WandaVision (and a veteran of prestige shows such as Game of Thrones, Billions and Succession), strikes a winning formula with the way in which his film balances high stakes, tension and spectacle with more intimate elements such as family and morality.

It looks amazing too, having been set in an alternate reality (part of the multi-verse) in which New York is re-imagined as a retro-futurist city steeped in early 1960s style.

Rather than take viewers through yet another origins story (newcomers get a whirlwind flashback via an anniversary newsreel that also throws in some of the Four’s greatest hits), Shakman throws viewers into an evolving situation.

Sue ‘Invisible Woman’ Storm (Vanessa Kirby) and Dr Reed ‘Mr Fantastic’ Richards (Pedro Pascal) discover, to their surprise, that they are pregnant with their first, much sought after child, prompting much worry about whether the child will be affected by the cosmic elements that brought about their super powers.

Living with them, and offering various levels of support, are Sue’s brother, Johnny ‘Human Torch’ Storm (Joseph Quinn) and superstrong Ben Grimm (The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach), as well as a cute little robot helper.

Their happiness is soon threatened, however, by the arrival of The Silver Surfer (Ozark standout Julia Garner), who arrives on Earth as the emissary of the colossally destructive Galactus (Ralph Ineson), announcing the planet’s subsequent demise.

The Four hastily hit space (together with a more heavily pregnant Sue Storm) to confront Galactus and negotiate with him - only to learn that his mercy can only come at a terrible price.

This marks the halfway point of the film and comes amid a brilliantly tense set piece that really makes you sit up and take notice. And once you realise what the stakes are, the film really comes into its own, laying out a huge moral dilemma that adds a nice complexity.

Galactus is a suitably intimidating giant being, while The Silver Surfer is also a suitably wily adversary to the Four. The conundrum sets about a lot of possibility surrounding the future direction of the MCU.

But while certainly paying lip service to future plans, Shakman never forgets to deliver a hugely satisfying film in its own right and First Steps is another entry that deserves to sit among the best that the MCU has ever had to offer (while also rivalling the emotional intensity that he brought to WandaVision).

It feels fresh, it’s involving (with characters you genuinely care for) and the set pieces are memorable. The leads, most importantly, are all given the chance to shine - unlike some of the more cartoonish elements that hampered the overall enjoyment of Tim Story’s films (from 2005 and 2007), or the poorly written Josh Trank franchise killer from 2015.

Here, the characters have depth. Pascal’s Reed Richards carries guilt for the fate of his friends and family, as well as worry about the future of his son. He’s earnest, loyal, pragmatic and wise (although he continually finds himself frustrated by his own limitations and at odds with his own scientific, common sense approach to problem solving).

Kirby’s Sue Storm carries a warrior’s instinct befitting of her mother role, yet is also capable of challenging her husband on an intellectual and emotional level, while Quinn’s Storm is much less of a womanising show-boater - he’s cocky, yes, but determined to impress on his own intellectual terms and very much a team player.

And Moss-Bachrach brings depth and a certain melancholy to his role of Ben, humble enough to embrace his monster status for the kids, yet mindful of the limitations his appearance brings - not least when covering up his feelings for Natasha Lyonne’s teacher (a welcome role for Lyonne that, in one of the film’s few shortcomings, could have done with more screen-time).

Garner, too, makes her Silver Surfer memorable (and is given her own decent back story), while supporting work from the likes of Paul Walter Hauser (as Mole Man) and Mark Gatiss (as a TV presenter) also make good impressions.

A mid credits scene, meanwhile, succeeds in bringing back the ‘oooh’ factor synonymous with the build-up to some of Marvel’s biggest hits (think Endgame or Infinity War), while a post-credits animated sequence revels in its playful sense of nostalgia and arrives with a suitably humbling quote and two dedications for MCU stalwarts.

This very much feels like a labour of love; carefully plotted, meticulously delivered and carrying the type of hopeful message - about the importance of both family and individuality/difference (a shout out to scientific minds?) - that is all too needed nowadays.

First Steps is as fantastic as it can possibly be!

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 115mins