Marvel’s first family is back up on the big screen in the new superhero film The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The 2025 reboot of the franchise marks the beginning of Phase 6 of the MCU and introduces a new cast that nails the family dynamic.
Set in a 1960s-style retro-futuristic world on Earth-828, the Fantastic Four are the protectors of their earth and famous for it. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), his wife Sue/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Sue’s brother Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm, the clobbering The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), are enjoying their lives and considering the prospect of going back into space again. The family’s keeping busy attempting to decipher mysterious messages from outer space, recorded in an unknown language, when their lives are drastically interrupted.
The sudden arrival of Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), a mysterious being from space, has Earth-828’s citizens in a panic. Silver Surfer hovers over Manhattan and addresses the Fantastic Four.
“Are you the protectors of this world?” asks this strange visitor with a haunting voice. “Yes, we are,” replies Sue. “Your planet is now marked for death,” answers the silver entity before revealing that a ravenous space god called Galactus (voiced by Ralph Ineson) is going to devour their planet.
As she soars away, Johnny activates his Human Torch powers and pursues her in an exhilarating chase through the skies. When he finally catches up to her, she speaks to him in a different tone, not threatening but almost sweet and comforting, before weakening him with her touch and flying off.
Determined to save the planet, the Fantastic Four journey into space to find Galactus, hoping to reason with the space god. The negotiations fail miserably, and worse yet, Galactus sets his sights on Reed and Sue’s unborn baby, claiming it as his new heir and salvation.
Horrified by this revelation, the team races back to Earth to try and devise a plan to stop Galactus and Silver Surfer. Upon arrival they are asked by the news media if the world is now safe, and Mr. Fantastic, the smartest man on the planet, replies, “I don’t know.”
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a visually engaging superhero reboot of the 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, except here Reed and Sue are married and starting a family, and the characters are older and a little more mature.
Hands down the best thing about The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the new cast and their terrific chemistry on screen. Pedro Pascal captures the awkward brilliance Reed Richards possesses, along with the guilt he carries with him about what happened to his family that turned them into genetically altered superheroes. Pascal has wonderful chemistry with Vanessa Kirby, as Sue, as they get ready to become parents. A scene early on in the movie showing Reed searching for something in the bathroom and Sue coming over with the object and her pregnancy test is sweet and touching.
Vanessa Kirby delivers an outstanding performance as Sue/Invisible Woman, the moral center and heart of the family. Kirby flawlessly captures the family vibe with all her castmates, especially with Pascal. Joseph Quinn is perfectly cast as Johnny/Human Torch, capturing his outgoing, playful side and his deep devotion to the team, especially Sue and Ben/The Thing. Julia Garner steals every scene she’s in as Silver Surfer, portraying the character as a powerful and mysterious messenger of death while also at times conveying the humanoid alien as a haunted and sad being.
The special effects are striking, particularly in how they depict the appearance of the Silver Surfer. The production design and sets successfully convey the vibe of America in the 1960s. However, what’s missing in the film is any real sense of urgency and energy dealing with a looming world-ending, doomsday event. That sense of dread, fear, and gravity of the stakes so wonderfully portrayed by the actors in the film Avengers: Infinity War isn’t conveyed in this film. Also, the plan to defeat Galactus is unimpressive and feels way too similar to a 1950s science fiction horror film’s way of killing an alien creature.
Even with minor missteps, a top-notch cast and stunning visuals make The Fantastic Four: First Steps the best Fantastic Four film of the franchise and a satisfyingly entertaining superhero adventure.
GRADE: B-
Rating: PG-13 for some language, action, and violence
Running Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Release Date: July 25, 2025
Directed By: Matt Shakman
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