‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Reinvigorates Marvel as a Cosmic Adventure With Heartfelt Delight

Alci Rengifo

Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” feels like a real comic book movie in the best sense. It is vintage pop art and heartfelt popcorn entertainment. For the studio that has been dominating the box office for over a decade now, the stakes are famously riding high on this one. Not only is this a return to the screen for one of Marvel’s most classic titles, it also marks the beginning of Kevin Feige’s “Phase Six” of his grand cinematic universe design. Having struggled to regain its stride after getting too massive, the MCU continues to refresh what makes it work. Taken on its own, “The Fantastic Four” is a summer delight that works as both a cosmic adventure and family film. 

The story is set in a retro New York with sci-fi elements combined with a 1960s aesthetic. A quick newsreel explains (for those who don’t know) how our heroes, Reed Richards, aka stretchable Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), his wife Sue Storm, aka The Invisible Girl (Vanessa Kirby), Sue’s younger brother Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm, aka the rocky The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), were transformed during a space mission where they were hit by cosmic rays. Now famous worldwide for their powers, the team face a new chapter when Sue discovers she’s pregnant. Brainy scientist Reed seems in control about it, even if he accidentally reveals his actual nervousness at times. Baby planning gets put on hold when a mysterious being, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), arrives from space to let Earth know it will soon all be devoured by the titanic cosmic being Galactus (Ralph Ineson).

The characters of “The Fantastic Four” have had an infamously difficult road towards a decent movie that has formed its own lore among fans. In 1994 B-movie guru Roger Corman produced a feature that was famously never released and has yet built a cult following through pirated copies (you can watch it on YouTube). In a nod to its reputation as lovable schlock, the original cast of that movie makes cameos in this one. 2005 saw the first big budget version released which made money but is acknowledged as being simply bad. A dismissed sequel, “Rise of the Silver Surfer,” followed in 2007. The last attempt, 2015’s “Fantastic Four,” was so bad it basically derailed director Josh Trank’s career. For this new “The Fantastic Four,” Marvel has done something smart and brought in a director, Matt Shakman, not readily known for big budget superhero movies. Shakman’s work has primarily been in television and theater. 

The result is one of the MCU’s leanest, most easily enjoyable movies in a while. Visually it is instantly immersive with cinematography by Jess Hall that is rich in evoking the ‘60s and the fantastical. This is the first Marvel film where the shots make you think about “Mad Men” at times. It’s also an acknowledgement of this title’s legacy, since the Fantastic Four were one of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s earliest creations (an early shot nods at the cover of the Fantastic Four’s first ever issue from 1961). You can just drink in the retro décor of the Reeds’ apartment, how vintage couches feature next to their dutiful little robot and Reed’s gadgets. There’s no internet or even cell phones in this world where television and phone calls operate about the same as in the 1960s. News reports update us on events as if we were watching classic newsreels. Recordings are saved on tape or LPs. 

Shakman and writers Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer also take adequate time to build the characters into personas we care about. Instead of packing the early moments with nonstop action, the narrative focuses on the small, essential details that build a world. The dynamics of the team are familiar to those who know their comics, yet get broadened well here for film. Reed is incredibly smart while admitting his small rough edges (he can’t cook or drive). Johnny is perpetually immature and instantly crushes on the enigmatic Silver Surfer. Typically it’s the Thing who gets the existential crisis in any “Fantastic Four” movie due to his condition. The others may have wild powers, but could pass for normal people while he’s this striking figure who looks put together by rocks. Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays the role here like a toughened New Yorker with confidence, though he is clearly in love with a local middle school teacher, Rachel (Natasha Lyonne, who we will no doubt see more of in future MCU entries). These feel like genuine personalities. Vanessa Kirby is a great presence who has special chemistry with Pascal. 

They bring humanity to a plot that gets existential in that pop art allegorical sort of way. Galactus may be one of those typical MCU villains who just want to rule everything, but he poses a genuinely torturous dilemma for our heroes. Driven by a hunger to devour worlds, he instantly senses that Sue’s baby will have immense power, immense enough for Galactus to want to take the child in order to download his consciousness into it and be free from having to eat more planets. If Reed and Sue hand over their child, the world is saved. To make it even more intense, all of Earth learns of the deal, so now there’s global pressure on the Fantastic Four to sacrifice the baby. Step back and ponder the plot in the way popular entertainment should work. It’s a rather potent metaphor for making difficult choices and what the worth of one life can mean. Pascal and Kirby bring genuine pathos to their struggle of attempting to figure out what to do in order to save their world and their offspring. Silver Surfer’s background is likewise given genuinely tragic dimensions. She is the slave of Galactus, meant to find new worlds for his devouring. It was the deal made to save her home planet. Good popcorn writing hides bits of eloquence in the material, as when Silver Surfer tells the inhabitants of Earth that now is the time to share what you’ve been holding back and spend time with those you truly love, since the end is now at hand.

Still packed in there is all the action you would expect with standoffs in space that feel inspired by J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” films and a showdown with Galactus stomping on New York and gazing at the Statue of Liberty. Admirably, Shakman and team don’t overdo the collapsing buildings and destruction. Like James Gunn’s recent “Superman,” you’re having fun while genuinely caring for the characters more than the explosions. Maybe this genre is truly recovering its stride after tiring us out with offerings that were starting to feel too much like cynical cash grabs. The bonus end credits scene is designed to excite fans for the next phase of the MCU, but it’s also done with subtle tact. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” warrants a trip to the multiplex. It looks great, doesn’t overstay its welcome and focuses on having a genuine heart.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” releases July 25 in theaters nationwide.