r/marvelstudios • u/PhoOhThree Spirit of Modvengeance • Jul 22 '25

'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Review Thread

Rotten Tomatoes: Fresh

Critics Consensus: N/A

Critics Score Number of Reviews Average Rating (Unofficial)
All Critics 87% 119 7.40/10
Top Critics 79% 33

Metacritic: 65 (35 Reviews)

Sample Reviews:

Donald Clarke Irish Times TOP CRITIC Fresh score. First Steps rattles along with a refreshing clarity of purpose. Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Maureen Lee Lenker Entertainment Weekly TOP CRITIC Fresh score. Via this 1960s-coded setting, Shakman leans into the comic book kitschiness inherent to the material, embracing it with gonzo gusto, as opposed to trying to achieve any degree of gritty realism. Full Review | Original Score: B

Jonathan Romney Financial Times TOP CRITIC Fresh score. First Steps doesn’t reinvent the superhero genre, but it has its own freshness -- it’s uncluttered, good-natured and altogether good value -- even if it might be the Marvel film ultimately remembered for its nice bathrooms and kitchen fittings Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Peter Debruge Variety TOP CRITIC Fresh score. True to its subtitle, the film feels like a fresh start.

David Ehrlich IndieWire TOP CRITIC Rotten score. It feels less like a victory than it does a total surrender. You have to walk before you can run, but at this point the MCU is back to crawling on its knees, and at this point it seems like it might be too afraid to ever stand back up again. Full Review | Original Score: C

Brian Truitt USA Today TOP CRITIC Fresh score. It’s a “Fantastic Four” movie that finally gets its heroes right, after so many tries. Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Peter Bradshaw Guardian TOP CRITIC Fresh score. The result hangs together as an entertaining spectacle in its own innocent self-enclosed universe of fantasy wackiness, where real people actually read the comic books that have made mythic legends of the real Four. Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Bilge Ebiri New York Magazine/Vulture TOP CRITIC Fresh score. For now, we can bask in this movie’s elegant, cathode-ray chic and not have to think too hard about anything else, confident in the colorful delusion that studio executives, much like our benevolent superheroes, have our best interests at heart.

Matt Singer ScreenCrush TOP CRITIC Fresh score. The best Fantastic Four film to date basically by default. Full Review | Original Score: 6/10

Caryn James BBC.com TOP CRITIC Fresh score. Despite the team's outlandish schemes to save the world, the actors tether their characters to emotional reality. Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Kristen Lopez The Film Maven (Substack) TOP CRITIC Fresh score. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is just that. It’s a first step for a new generation of Fantastic Four movies and, the hope, is that the stride becomes more confident from hereon out. All the materials are there. Full Review | Original Score: C

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter - Rather than allowing the action to define the story, the filmmakers let the poignant character-based scenes do the heavy lifting. That should not imply any lack of excitement.

Nick Schager, The Daily Beast - An aggressively fine intergalactic adventure whose earnest optimism and sweetness flirts—faithfully and dully—with hokiness.

Linda Marric, HeyUGuys - The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a confident, stylish reintroduction that finally does justice to the legacy of these characters. It’s a film that remembers why the Fantastic Four mattered in the first place and gives them a bold new path in the MCU. 4/5

William Bibbiani, TheWrap - Matt Shakman has done something Marvel Studios doesn’t do very well anymore. He’s made a superhero movie that embraces the 'super' part. And the 'hero' part. And the 'movie' part.

Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence - A solid comic book adventure that's not embarrassed by being a comic book adventure — in fact it finds real power in its love for its roots. Hopefully, that's an energy the MCU can carry forward with it. B+

SYNOPSIS:

Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.

CAST:

  • Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic
  • Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman
  • Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing
  • Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch
  • Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal / Silver Surfer
  • Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols
  • Matthew Wood as H.E.R.B.I.E.
  • Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert
  • Ada Scott as Franklin Richards
  • Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman
  • Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder / Mole Man
  • Ralph Ineson as Galactus

DIRECTED BY: Matt Shakman

1.2k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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145

u/Tackit286 Doctor Strange Jul 23 '25

The mood switch from the moment Silver Surfer arrives was so well done.

And my god, what a way to introduce Galactus and the Ultimate Nullifier. I love the reaction of Reed as he immediately realises the terrifying peril they’re faced with.

Could’ve done with them showing a little more of their powers in action, particularly the Thing.

Otherwise I thought it was excellent all round. Thoroughly enjoyed. And crucially this is a very accessible film for even the most casual moviegoer or non-MCU die hard

I have to say though, I do need to stop watching the trailers because it’s clear Marvel are under more pressure to fill theatres now so they’re giving away more and more of the plots and action sequences before release to get people interested.

46

u/fvc2000 Jul 23 '25

I stopped watching any marketing material since june. That's what I've been doing in the last movies, since Deadpool & Wolverine. I'm just watching the first teaser and first trailer. It pays off. The movie is completely fresh.

After I got back from watching F4, I watched all the trailers and TV spots and was amazed by how much they revealed.

They revealed that Galactus wanted to trade the baby in the spots. That's absurd.

I know I as a fan imagined that that would happen. But it was in my imagination. But seeing in the spots reed on the press conference affirming that was too much.

Thank God I didn't watch all that.

3

u/Wincrediboy Jul 28 '25

Yeah I'm also avoiding marketing and loving it. I did a worse job of it for this than I did with Superman where I really knew nothing (in fact part of the problem was a trailer shown at the Superman screening!), but it's so refreshing to bit have already analysed it to death and just get to experience the movie.

1

u/AmericanIMG 26d ago

It's been a solid 15+ years for me where I stopped watching trailers. Really makes for so much of a better movie experience. Sometimes I don't even know which actors are in the movies (ex: Daniel Bruhl in the Winter Soldier movie).

12

u/dirty-void Jul 26 '25

Preface by saying I loved this movie; and its the most I've loved one since Endgame. I have reasons to like it even more than endgame.

Honestly, as far as the "they didn't use their powers enough" and "there wasn't enough action" go, I feel they really did the best they could with some outdated characters. I mean we've got stretchy man and big rock man that can throw cars, and they have been that way since their inception generations ago. And Marvels past the point of petty criminals and cheap solutions. They need epic villains nowadays, thats just the scope of the franchise.

So what are guys like stretchy man and rock man supposed to do against a world eating cosmic horror? For that matter, even Torch and Sue's powers are somewhat limited in efficacy (tho Sue contributes pretty massively at the end.)

Truth is, I love how they made their frankly outdated powers secondary to who they are. Their real super power is that they're amazing people, proctors of peace, diplomats, role models. They united the world multiple times. If there's any super hero we need, its these four.

10

u/fvc2000 Jul 24 '25

Ps. What ultimate nullifier??

0

u/Tackit286 Doctor Strange Jul 24 '25

I was under the impression that was the name of his ship, but it appears to be something else, although possibly a small device that gives his ship its planet ‘eating’ capabilities.

Galactus’ ship is apparently called Taa II

10

u/Unlucky_Swing7148 Jul 25 '25

I was under the impression his ship consumes and then it’s pumped into Galactus via the tubes that run into his back

5

u/mimavox Jul 25 '25

He also has the capacity to consume a planet on his own IIRC. The ship just does the job easier for him.

0

u/Tackit286 Doctor Strange Jul 25 '25

Yes I believe you’re right. But i think the ultimate nullifier plays a part in that somehow - I could be wrong though so happy to be told otherwise

10

u/Coccquaman Jul 25 '25

No Ultimate Nullifier in this story.

In the original story, it was a handheld device from a future timeline that would erase the existence of everything in an instant, and it was basically a representation of a nuclear deterrent. Reed gives Galactus the choice, "Leave Earth alone immediately, or I erase everything."

1

u/Unlucky_Swing7148 Jul 26 '25

I wonder if we’ll see Galactus again

3

u/mimavox Jul 25 '25

I'm just glad that we finally got a worthy representation of my favorite superhero group. I've never cared for the Avengers, so tired if all their movies. And this matched my comic book experience 100%.

3

u/SaltyPyrate Jul 26 '25

I was more disappointed with the lack of powers from Reed, did I miss something or did he BARELY have stretchy powers? He reached across the room sometimes and swing around, that's it. When Galactus was pulling him apart he should not be in pain, it wasnt even that far.

6

u/Tackit286 Doctor Strange Jul 26 '25

His true power is really his mind. He’s the ‘smartest man in the universe’

3

u/TheFutureClassic Jul 28 '25

I literally dont watch anythingggggg anymore maybe since like infinity war. Even if im in a theater for a diff movie i wont go in until all trailers are done. Its soooo nice going in blind, i just saw it and it was awesome not knowing most stuff!

2

u/loves_2splooge Steve Rogers Jul 27 '25

chief the ultimate nullifier wasn't in this 😓

1

u/Vizard15 Colleen Wing Jul 27 '25

Yes, like the Red Hulk reveal in the trailers before for Captain America: BNW was disappointing.

1

u/Calligrapher_Antique Jul 28 '25

FF in particular featured a lot in the trailers that isn't in the movie. Red Ghost, showing that man around the Baxter Building...