The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Grade: B

A few months after Thunderbolts*, which I quite enjoyed, Marvel brings us The Fantastic Four: First Steps – which I liked just as much, for many of the same reasons. The stars had chemistry, and the plot kept me engaged. I didn’t check out. The aforementioned stories, and others, will be continued next year in Avengers: Doomsday. This is the most I’ve looked forward to something like that.

Vanessa Kirby, until very recently, had never been pregnant (she did announce in May 2025 that she is expecting her first child), but kept getting put into roles with intense childbirth scenes. She received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for playing a mother in the sad-but-worth-it Netflix movie Pieces of a Woman. In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, she is back into the world of sweating, heavy breathing, and contractions as Sue Storm. Her power is invisibility. Her baby boy is born about a third of the way into the film.

Earth has just received a visit from Shalla-Bal, who looks like a life sized silver statue on top of a surfboard. I wondered if she and the surfboard were a package deal, or if she could disconnect from it. A character asks her that. Anyway, she informs everyone that the planet is marked for death by the space god Galactus, and to enjoy their remaining weeks/days/moments.

The Four make their journey to meet with Galactus – who senses that the baby, still inside Sue at the time, has some valuable powers, and he could use him. Galactus tells them he will spare the Earth if she gives him the boy. Naturally, she says no, and surprisingly, 100% of Earth’s citizens that we hear from are upset with the Four – not understanding why this mother-to-be can’t just relinquish her newborn. I thought it was very odd that we don’t see anyone who supports Sue’s decision, or can at least see where she’s coming from. The Four try to find another way to solve this problem.

The rest of the family includes Joseph Quinn (Warfare, Gladiator II, George Harrison in Sam Mendes’s upcoming Beatles biopics) as Johnny Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (No Hard Feelings) as The Thing, and Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards. Pascal has been all over the place. This is the third movie I’ve seen him in this year alone. He reminds me of a very well-known actor/director in the Atlanta live theatre scene. I’d love to hear if any local theatre people have any guesses as to who I’m talking about. I liked the humor, particularly in a scene where Pascal begins mechanically rattling off complicated technical plot details (the kind that bog down the lesser and more lengthy Marvel films), and The Thing begins snoring. I loved the look of the movie. The futuristic cinematography made me want to go back to the Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland. I am optimistic about these first steps, and this Marvel phase as a whole. Kirby is one of my favorite actresses working today. Now that she’s finally about to live the situation she’s portrayed onscreen at least twice, I wonder if she’ll look back and have any notes for herself.

Grade: B