The Fantastic Four: First Steps Review

Matt Shakman directs a film that’s interesting to look at even if it doesn’t quite rise to the scale of its planet‑eating antagonist, a force of cosmic nature that doubles as a metaphor for parenting in a way that reminded our reviewer of the terrifying early days of fatherhood. Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss‑Bachrach and Joseph Quinn bring Marvel’s First Family back to the big screen with new takes on Reed Richards, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and The Thing. These First Steps might not be the great strides we were hoping for, but they are sure footing for the Fantastic Four to officially leap into the MCU. The film follows Mr. Fantastic, his wife Sue Storm, her brother Johnny Storm and the best pilot in the world Ben Grimm, as they become superheroes after a space accident and cosmic rays gift them with superhuman abilities. Can the movie stack up to Galactus and his herald The Silver Surfer? In this review we break down the retrofuturistic setting, which universe the movie takes place in, and how Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. Doom might finally arrive in the MCU.