Within the first 15 minutes of “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” members of the superhero team gain their powers, save New York, defeat a supervillain and broker world peace. And that’s all before the title card.
No, this isn’t a breathless recap of some preexisting movie you were supposed to watch ahead of time. Instead, it’s from an in-universe TV special celebrating the fourth anniversary of the Fantastic Four — who are already established as the beloved protectors of Earth 828, a retro-futuristic world with no direct connection to the one populated by Marvel’s Avengers — when “First Steps” begins.
This clever conceit allows Marvel to sneakily bypass an origin story we’ve seen onscreen (twice) before. In the process, it reveals a streak of indecisiveness that courses throughout the film and keeps Marvel Studios’ latest outing from ever achieving greatness.
From start to finish, director Matt Shakman’s take on Marvel’s groundbreaking First Family loudly rejects and then quietly incorporates the peskier elements allegedly holding back the superhero movie genre. The result is a film that at times feels aimless and empty, despite being packed to the brim with great acting, complex characters, gorgeous visuals and a sweeping score. The pieces are all there, but without a clear mission statement, they never quite add up to a memorable movie.
Meet Marvel’s First Family
With their well-trod origins (a trip to space, cosmic radiation, superpowers, etc.) out of the way, “First Steps” opens on a world at peace under the watchful eyes of its superhero saviors. But it doesn’t take long for chaos to unravel this happy status quo.
First, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby) reveals to her husband Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal) that she’s pregnant. Soon afterward, a being from outer space (Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer) arrives, heralding the arrival of Galactus (Ralph Ineson), a primordial goliath who plans to swallow the Earth whole. When diplomatic attempts fail, the Fantastic Four must come up with a plan to save the planet — without sacrificing their morality in the process.
While Sue and Reed form the emotional core of the movie, it wouldn’t be the Fantastic Four without two more heroes: Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Johnny Storm/The Human Torch (Joseph Quinn).
The group dynamic between all four characters is layered and warm. You’ll believe they’ve been a close-knit family for years. Jokes and gentle ribbing fly freely during family dinners and even tenser moments, but those one-liners are deeper and more personal than your typical MCU quip.
Despite the movie’s ensemble nature, it’s Kirby who carries the film with gravitas and poise. When the Silver Surfer first arrives in Times Square and asks if the four humans standing before her are Earth’s protectors, Sue Storm fearlessly answers “yes” while her family looks on in fear. She’s the emotional and moral bedrock of the entire movie, never losing her cool, whether she’s flying through space faster than the speed of light or giving birth.
Reed Richards, by comparison, is surprisingly two-dimensional. Perhaps it’s because Pascal excels at playing likable characters, while Richards’ comic book persona is neurotic and calculating, but the casting fails to click for the movie’s most recognizable character (and star). Throughout “First Steps,” we’re repeatedly told Richards has a dark habit of imagining the worst possible scenario, thereby projecting it into the world. But it’s hard to believe that such wicked thoughts could exist behind Pascal’s charming face. And the best the actor can pull off is pained, not nefarious.
As for the rest of the gang, Johnny and Ben are relegated to comic relief as the dual fun uncles of the team. Johnny’s character is mostly defined by his horniness, which we never actually see on display despite being repeatedly told he can’t help himself around women, though he does ultimately get to play a pivotal role in the story. Ben gets the least character development of all. The movie gestures at some meatier topics (romance, his Judaism), but the Thing’s most memorable plotline ultimately revolves around growing a beard.
(There’s not much to say about the movie’s two villains. While the CGI looks great for both Silver Surfer’s chrome form and Galactus’ hulking frame, the characters underneath feel intentionally unknowable in a way that’s enjoyably ominous but leads to some shallow performances.)
A Whole New World
“First Steps” transports Marvel fans to a brand new corner of the multiverse, one untouched by the gray color schemes and unfinished special effects that have unfortunately come to define the MCU. In its place, we get a gorgeous retro-futuristic world where 1960s aesthetics meet cutting-edge technological advancement. Times Square (a surprisingly important location for the film) is covered in massive cathode ray tube-style screens, while the superhero team’s blue and white costumes look like comfy pajamas compared to the leather fatigues and nanotechnology that clothe Captain America and Iron Man.
When our heroes head to space (where a large chunk of the film takes place), Shakman and cinematographer Jess Hall imagine the galaxy on a grand scale, with planets and solar systems whizzing by as the Fantastic Four soar through the cosmos. The movie clearly takes some inspiration from Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar,” especially in its depiction of black holes and other astronomical phenomena capable of bending the fabric of reality into beautiful abstractions.
The look and feel of each superhero’s powers are also stunning. Johnny’s ability to become a human torch never gets old, while the CGI used to bring The Thing to life is impressively believable. Mister Fantastic’s stretching powers are particularly fun to watch, even if the movie never indulges in some of the goofier applications seen in previous films or in the comics — if Reed Richards doesn’t use his body to tie up a criminal, is it really a Fantastic Four movie?
From start to finish, “Fantastic Four: First Steps” is a visual triumph, and the strongest argument yet that Marvel hasn’t forgotten how to make a great-looking movie. But the question remains: Is any of this enough to save what’s increasingly begun to feel like a sinking ship?
Can the Fantastic Four save the MCU?
It’s no secret the Marvel Cinematic Universe is struggling, both financially and culturally. Whether you blame an overabundance of content (and resulting decline in quality) brought on by the streaming wars, a lack of clear narrative direction after “Avengers: Endgame” tied up so many loose threads, or just plain old superhero fatigue, these movies simply aren’t performing the way they used to.
“First Steps” probably won’t fix that problem, but it has the potential to correct course and set up the franchise for success with next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday.”
And yet, I can’t help but feel that this isn’t the movie to solve the MCU’s problem. Sure, the writing, acting and CGI are better than most of what we’ve seen in recent memory, but at its core, “First Steps” is a film that’s seemingly ashamed to be part of this 17-year-old franchise.
A year from now, we may very well look back at “First Steps” as the movie that saved the MCU. Or, perhaps just as likely, we’ll see it for what it always was: the first sign that even Marvel itself was starting to grow tired of its own cinematic universe.