The Fantastic Four: First Steps – the MCU is back and ‘clobbering’ all expectations

When the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards and Susan Storm begin to prepare for the birth of their son, along with extended family Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm, their joy is interrupted by the herald of cosmic villain Galactus, who is preparing to consume the earth for energy. When Galactus becomes aware of Sue’s child, he becomes even more determined to both destroy the Earth and harvest the child’s supposed cosmic power. The Fantastic Four must band together to save the baby and Earth.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps pleasantly surprised me as a breath of fresh air for Marvel; it is a truly marvellous standalone film that we haven’t seen from the brand in decades. It must be framed within the context of the media conglomerate’s desperation to claw back its audience, after the climactic Avengers Endgame in 2019. Fantastic Four is as refreshing a film as its rivalling summer blockbuster that reimagined a character of even greater cultural significance than Marvel’s most beloved family – and no, I am not talking about F1’s Brad Pitt when I say Superman. Marvel’s latest superhero spectacle is all about family and, quite frankly, it is a film that could have released around Christmas time and been received with even greater warmth and appreciation.

The set design stripped straight from the 1960s taps straight into our nostalgic love for that Back-to-the-Future-esque sci-fi world full of timeless antiquity

While Superman is this unashamedly colourful comic book bonanza with interesting, contemporary political references and a vision for how it wants to shape its universe and characters, Fantastic Four is fundamentally different in its scope and purpose. This film uses its retro-futuristic aesthetic – a quality that every review about this film hasn’t failed to praise it for – to romanticise its world and family of characters, completely separate from the main Marvel cinematic universe. The adorable home-body robot, H.E.R.B.I.E, and the set design stripped straight from the 1960s taps straight into our nostalgic love for that Back to the Future-esque sci-fi world full of timeless antiquity. The studio executives need this film to stand out from others in the MCU and resonate with audiences as The Fantastic Four could be the new cornerstone of their upcoming reboot and rebrand. A similar technique was adopted at the start of the cinematic universe with films like Captain America: The First Avenger, which uses a similar subtitle to the new Fantastic Four film, that attempted to leverage the heroic patriotism of the Second World War to embed its protagonist with a certain prestige associated with the heroes of that time.

This big blockbuster is a digestible thrill ride, holding itself together, despite its rapid pacing issues in the first act. Its airtight plot gives it a run time of just under two hours, which is possibly a result of the studio executives taking a fine-toothed comb to the film’s final cut. The trailers include scenes that seemingly never left the cutting room floor. For example, one of the most gorgeous shots in the trailer was Johnny Storm suspended in space after reaching the silver surfer’s board and being thrown off. Similarly, John Malkovich was supposed to play a character, as he appeared within a trailer, but was cut out of the final film. This brings into question how much of the marketing and the cast is covering the nervous paranoia of the executives at Marvel Studios, who really need to get these characters and this film right.

No longer is [Ben Grimm] a troubled and depressed creature called “The Thing,” but a loved and valued hero, admired by kids and worthy of respect

One cannot write a review about the new Fantastic Four film without mentioning the wonderful and charismatic cast. Ebon Moss-Bachrach voices the character of Ben Grimm and, like Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, acts in an invisible capacity with the audience, who must connect with the humanity that exists past the CGI exterior. Ben Grimm’s character is only able to exist because of the groundwork of Superman director James Gunn’s efforts to humanise the inhuman in his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy – see Rocket Racoon’s entire character arc for further details. No longer is he a troubled and depressed creature called “The Thing,” but a loved and valued hero, admired by kids and worthy of respect. In simple terms: a huge and beautiful upgrade from previous iterations of the character.

Joseph Quinn has huge shoes to fill from the charm and boisterous whimsy of Chris Evans – whose version of the character was killed off in last year’s Deadpool and Wolverine. Quinn brings a human side to the character that has never been seen before, expanding past the suave wit of previous iterations and allowing Johnny Storm to be recognised as a competent character with his own intelligence and virtue. Despite Quinn’s strengths as an actor and his wonderful work in this film, he has something to prove before the consensus moves on from how brief but iconic Chris Evans was when he played the character. Can Quinn live up to a performance that even Stan Lee praised as perfectly capturing the “exuberance” of Johnny Storm?

This same hesitancy does not apply to the protagonist of this film, Susan Storm, an endearing mother and the heart of the Fantastic Four family, who is played by the wonderfully talented Vanessa Kirby. It seemed effortless for Kirby to tap into the emotions necessary for her role, as she is not foreign to the role of motherhood in film, evident within her stunning performance in Pieces of a Woman. Kirby, pregnant herself, embodied her character’s plight as she dominated the press tour from carpet to carpet, transcending the reductive sex appeal of Jessica Alba that had objectified the character of Susan Storm since the 2000s. Kirby rejuvenates the audience’s understanding of who Susan Storm is and what she means for the Fantastic Four. Kirby’s character has a more serious and passionate stage presence, which can elevate the entire family to feel less like dissected caricatures and more holistically put together.

Turning our attention to Mr Fantastic, played by Pedro Pascal, we can observe the safety valves that Marvel have tightened for the film coming into effect, as some have addressed and criticised the radical differences in Pascal’s personality within the film’s marketing versus his performance in the film. The creative restrictions do prevent the campy horrors of the club scene from the 2007 film adaptation, but it also means that the scope for Reed’s character can become ironically thin. Reed Richards can become simplified to his plot armour intelligence, with the charm of an actor like Pedro Pascal being minimised.

Despite this dissatisfaction from the general audience, one comic book fan somewhat praises this version of Mr Fantastic as a true embodiment of Reed Richards, a genius with a socially awkward disposition. He references Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four run, where Reed’s personality is shaped by his absent father, a truly moving element of his character, which can replace the Marvel audience’s addiction to charming comic relief, divesting from audience expectation to centre both Reed and Susan’s roles as parents. Pascal’s character holds an anxiety – which is something the actor brings into his role from his personal life – as a father, causing him to try to baby-proof the world. This can be observed in one knockout scene consisting of Reed Richards having a sincere and private conversation with baby Franklin, reflecting on himself as a father and suggesting that there is “something wrong with [him.]” He comes to the conclusion that he will trust in his son to guide him.

These scenes are what make this film unique and original for Marvel, as it forgoes superficial character tropes for a complex, humanist philosophy

Most audiences and reviews will bring up the conflicting standout scene between Reed and Susan, where tensions naturally rise at the thought of sacrificing their baby for the common good of the Earth and its people. Reed admits that his mind forces him to consider the ethics and pragmatism of sacrificing his child to the vehement shock and disgust of his wife’s emotional sensibility and maternal instinct. But that scene pales in comparison to this short quiet moment between Reed and Franklin, unpacking the character of Reed with a vulnerability seen nowhere else in the film. Additionally, it pales in comparison to the powerfully moving scene between Susan Storm and the angry mob calling for the sacrifice of her baby, in which she appeals to their empathy and reasons to find a different way. Similarly, it pales in comparison to the red herring of Johnny Storm preparing to sacrifice himself to defeat Galactus to protect his nephew. These scenes, and the way these actors choose to conduct their characters in these scenes, are what make this film unique and original for Marvel, as it forgoes superficial character tropes for a complex, humanist philosophy that can be attached to the film and its narrative.

Beyond its wonderful core characters, this film has gorgeous action set pieces that only Marvel can do. Moving from the retro-futuristic New York to an Alien, Interstellar, 2001 (style) Space Odyssey when they go to face Galactus, is so aptly done that it somewhat fixes the pacing issues of the film’s exposition. The phenomenal aura of Julia Garner as Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal does not disappoint – to the dismay of annoying, reactionary sentiment online – as she pursues the Fantastic Four skirting around a black hole. It is truly a spectacle that must be seen on the big screen. Like the film’s antagonist, the movie calls upon itself to be devoured by its audience for its action, characters, themes, and visuals. A Fantastic film taking its First Steps at crafting Marvel’s brand new Fantastic Four.