Fantastic Four First Steps
- Antonio Machado
- 19 hours ago
- 2 min read
By Antonio Machado
Editorial Staff
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has completely dominated the box office for the past decade, and accordingly, they’ve released more and more projects each year. Audiences, however, have begun to consume these projects less and less, a phenomenon that’s been observed as “superhero fatigue.”
In their time of need, Marvel has once again enlisted the help of the Fantastic Four to save them - just as they did in 1961 to revive their dying comic book company.
Set against a retro-futuristic 1960s backdrop, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” follows an already established Fantastic Four as they prepare themselves and the entire Earth to deal with the impending threat of the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus (Ralph Ineson).
The film diverges from previous iterations of Marvel’s First Family by capitalizing on their true nature as space explorers and emphasizing their family dynamics as opposed to the flashy superhero fights audiences expect of the MCU, but they make up for it with their characterization.
Pedro Pascal brings Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) directly from the page of a comic book onto the screen, inviting audiences inside the mind of the smartest man alive as he struggles with fatherhood.
The Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bacharach), though perhaps underused, are perfectly cast - serving perfectly timed comedic relief with intelligence. They are, perhaps, the most comic-accurate iterations of these respective characters.
That all goes to say, the film simply would not function without Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm. The most vital part of the Invisible Woman is seeing directly through her heart, and Kirby’s performance shows every color on the spectrum of motherhood.
Though the action sequences may be few and far between, they are by no means unengaging. Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer glides through the screen with both poise and ferocity, and Ineson’s deep snarl as Galactus is already enough to frighten audiences - his sheer scale is just a bonus.
Despite questionable CGI at times, the film has a very tangible beating heart, and it feels like a breath of fresh air in a genre that has become winded from constantly racing to the next big spectacle.
