THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS
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Director: Matt Shakman
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Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, Sarah Niles
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Genres: Action, Science Fiction, Adventure
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Release Date: July 25, 2025
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Runtime: 115 minutes
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Language: English
The Fantastic Four: First Steps – the best origins movie Marvel has made in years? Discuss with spoilers
The franchise flat pack has been ditched for something weirder, warmer and more self-contained. So, what did you make of this retro sci-fi bedtime story? This article contains spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a curious hybrid: part Jetsons fever dream, part nuclear family therapy session, part cosmic horror birthing video. It ditches Marvel’s usual franchise flat-pack assembly for something weirder, warmer and vastly more self-contained: a superhero movie that unfolds like a retro sci-fi bedtime story, then ends with a glowing new mum hurling an invasive space god into a binbag full of stars.
This is a Fantastic Four movie that finally figures out why the team works – not because they’re the strongest or the smartest, but because they’re messy, human and weirdly functional in the face of total annihilation. Yes, the fate of this gloriously future-retro version of Earth (828) is at stake. Yes, someone gives birth to a child that (at least in the comics) is basically a deity. But the thing you’ll remember is the squabbling, the love, and the actual screen chemistry.
It’s not flawless – the midsection wanders like it’s looking for a post-credits tease that never arrives – but for long stretches it plays like the best origins movie Marvel has made in years: a superhero film with heart, smarts, and bonkers space Dada. Here’s what makes it tick.
Finally, a Marvel movie that doesn’t feel like homework
