Is Marvel Finally Back? 'Fantastic Four : First Steps' (2025) | Film Review

Fantastic Four : First Steps (2025) 

This is our first introduction to The Fantastic Four within the MCU and on the one hand I was blown away by the films design, cast and position within the overall timeline. I was also ever so slightly disappointed by the lack of x beats and crucial character development.  

The narrative jumps us into the 1960’s, Earth-828l. The family are already established superheroes amongst their world but we get to watch as they navigate a new addition to the family, Reed and Sue’s son Franklin. Franklin is the catalyst for the films trajectory and presumably the entirety of the MCU going forward. 

Fantastic Four : First Steps (2025) is a sight to behold, this film transports you into a beautiful retro futuristic world, for those of you who are Disney fans this feels like the Fantastic Four live inside Tomorrowland or EPCOT. Aesthetically, I was fascinated by the scope of the set design, costumes and attention to detail when building the world around the characters. 

The films design was its strongest element somewhat to a fault, when moments needed room to breathe there was no room. The plot was busy and therefore sacrificed a few key, emotional moments. Particularly with Johnny and Ben, although strong performances both characters were secondary to Sue and Reed’s relationship which made them less integral and more expendable. 

I was pleasantly surprised by all the performances and I genuinely felt like each character was perfectly cast, they had natural banter and chemistry with one another which added to the films realism. Julia Garner’s Shalla-Bal and Ralph Ineson’s Galactus were monstrous threats, I absolutely loved every moment of theirs on screen. 

The family is made up of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm who are each portrayed faultlessly by their actors but the true stand out was Vanessa Kirby. Kirby was able to tap into a version of Sue we have never seen on screen before, a version of the character that was able to combine her strength as a member of the team and as a mother. Sue is a complex female character and easily one of the most powerful in Marvel, Kirby did a fantastic job at representing her many facets as a woman. 

I would highly recommend Fantastic Four : First Steps (2025), aesthetically this film is beautiful and I could easily write a whole essay on my fascination with the timeline and stylistic choices. As a superhero movie it lacked time to breathe and time to let the audience think but regardless of that this film is fundamentally enjoyable and memorably cast and performed. This is a step in the right direction for the MCU and it has made me excited for future projects… 

Probe Points

★★★★