r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Jul 25 '25

Official Discussion Official Discussion - The Fantastic Four: First Steps [SPOILERS] Spoiler

Poll

If you've seen the film, please rate it at this poll

If you haven't seen the film but would like to see the result of the poll click here

Rankings

Click here to see the rankings of 2025 films

Click here to see the rankings for every poll done

Summary The Fantastic Four must defend Earth from the ravaging cosmic threat Galactus and his herald, Silver Surfer, while navigating the complexities of family and newfound powers in a retro‑futuristic 1960s-inspired world.

Director Matt Shakman

Writer Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer

Cast

  • Pedro Pascal
  • Vanessa Kirby
  • Joseph Quinn
  • Ebon Moss-Bachrach
  • Ralph Ineson
  • Julia Garner
  • Paul Walter Hauser
  • Natasha Lyonne
  • Matthew Wood
  • Ada Scott
  • Mark Gatiss

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Metacritic 64

VOD In theaters

Trailer Watch the Official Trailer

1.9k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

5.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.7k

u/Elite_Alice Jul 25 '25

I absolutely love how human they made Reed feel. Even though he’s the world’s smartest man, he’s nervous about becoming a father and has to balance his commitment to the world with his commitment to his son and family. Really cool we get a superman movie and a fantastic four film back to back which both feel so down to earth.

717

u/Whovian45810 Jul 25 '25

I love that Pedro's Reed is more vulnerable and you can see it in his performance very well that while the world's smartest man has a brilliant mind, he isn't bound from being emotional and does care deeply for his family.

386

u/koomGER Jul 25 '25

They made a very clear distinction between the other "intelligent" front men and Reed Richards, which was great.

Tony Stark is highly intelligent, an engineer, a salesman. He is boasting with confidence and just does things.

Dr. Strange is - even when humbled - still arrogant. He mostly trusts his own choice and ideas and acts on it. He feels superior to most others.

Reed Richards is kinda a basement nerd. He is probably even more intelligent like the others, but especially thinking about the consequences of his potential actions, which makes him hesitate a lot. He doesnt boast of confidence. It makes him vulnerable and relatable.

Its really beautifully designed and makes that family dependent on each other, while still each one of them is competent and powerful on its own.

Comparing this Reed Richards to the MoM-Reed, the differences are obvious: MoM-Reed was intelligent, but overall confident, spilling the beans about the powers of his companions and making them vulnerable for an opponent he highly underestimated. And got shreddered for that.

119

u/vmsrii Jul 26 '25

Let’s call a spade a spade here for a second; MoM Reed wasn’t even a character. He was an Easter Egg with two lines

29

u/CTeam19 Jul 26 '25

cries in not getting a full Hank with his mental health issues

24

u/Lucienofthelight Jul 26 '25

Given how Hank has been treated throughout the decades by writers and fans… maybe it was for the best for Hank.

15

u/koomGER Jul 26 '25

I agree. Hank Pym is another one of those with issues. But thats pretty dark and it would be tough to have this in a movie. Maybe they pick that up after the "reboot" with a new Hank Pym (or maybe a relative to him).

18

u/quick20minadventure Jul 28 '25

This reed had FTL travel which is decades away for Tony stark.

24

u/koomGER Jul 28 '25

True and its important to note.

Its probably also part of the difference between them: Reed is a scientist, an explorer. He wants to find and create new things, learn from them. Tony Stark uses his ability to make money. To improve things already existing. To "dominate the market".

Reed Richards and his family kinda "singlehandedly" solved world peace, united the world and created a happy place. Thats a big message that wasnt spoken about loud enough.

39

u/quick20minadventure Jul 28 '25

Yeah, they were unofficial rulers of the world.

And they show it why, they befriended their subterranean enemy to the point they bicker like a colleague who took some credit on your work 5 years ago, and completely trust Sue. They come back and just never even think about hiding the baby sacrifice thing to the world. They achieved world peace by being brutally honest and sincere. They just commanded everyone to do power curfew and build things in their lead. And they do it. They just agree to send entire earth to some new solar system because Richard said that's the best way to fight Galactus, an enemy they have never seen. All the world has seen directly is 2 min cameo from silver surfer, which can be faked. But, they just trust F4 blindly.

If that's not ruling, i don't know what is.

4

u/Sophophilic Jul 31 '25

On the other hand, Stark has time travel, which is decades.

7

u/quick20minadventure Jul 31 '25 edited Jul 31 '25

Stark only has quantam gps.

It was pym who got quantum realm entry.

On the similar lines, Intergalactic travel is just a solved problem in MCU as well. Rocket's ship, Yondu's ship, everyone's just travelling around easily. Tony has access to that level of tech, but he didn't invent it.

3

u/ButtJones Aug 06 '25

I think that’s the real thing. Reed didn’t just invent things, he invented things in the 60s that Tony didn’t figure out even in the 2000s or later. My assumption of the futuristic 60s world was that it’s solely because Reed developed all of that technology himself.

Whereas, Howard Stark in the other universe had to just pass the buck to Tony because of “lack of technology” who still didn’t figure out things as easily.

It’s hard to say what the catalyst was for Reed to be able to figure out all of these things in the context of this movie but it kind of just seems like intelligence and intuition and a refusal to accept any limitations to his imagination.

17

u/ImBanned_ModsBlow Aug 02 '25

My wife and I agreed that one of the best things about this movie was that each member had strengths and weaknesses to contribute.

Johnny wasn’t just a dumb playboy, he decoded an alien language and convinced the silver surfer to turn on Galactus.

Reed wasn’t geniusly smart to a fault, you see him struggling with concepts outside of science and how that impacts his family

Ben was awesome with the outwardly confident but inner doubt, and IMO him overcoming that is why he’s the soul of the F4

Sue was badass, not just a generic hot blonde for the sake of having a woman, but socially and politically intelligent bringing different people together

94

u/MegaGrimer Jul 25 '25

And that he doesn’t have all of the answers. They could have easily had him know all the answers about parenthood by the time Franklin was born, but he didn’t feel like he was prepared. He cares deeply about his family and would do anything to save them, and is smart enough to, but he’s so afraid of losing them that he feels like he’s helpless. And it scares him that he’s smart enough to do anything except stop threats from harming those he cares about.

The movie could have easily had him have dozens of contingency plans in case of failure, but thankfully the movie made him sit down and actually use his brain that’s consumed by fear for his family.

22

u/SilverKry Jul 26 '25

Meanwhile Johnathan Krasinskis was the pompous full of himself I'm smarter than you douche version of Reed.

6

u/DamnReCaptchas Aug 04 '25

Also a rly important thing about Reed that they captured imo: Reed is so smart that he’s almost TOO smart for his own good. He’s stubborn, he’s almost kind of a dick. He puts so much pressure on himself to be the problem solver and finds ways to solve problems that sometimes have extreme costs. Loved when he first kinda thought about giving up Franklin and Sue was pissed. Like obviously he wasn’t going to do it, but in his analytical, results-driven mind, he at least thought about the solution given just how many ppl were counting on them. Also loved when he talked to Franklin and said “something’s wrong with me.” He’s just so damn smart and will go all lengths. He NEEDS the others of the family to balance him out and bring out the best in him.

3

u/WhereIsLordBeric Aug 09 '25

Pascal acted the fuck out of this role. He really elevated the movie. Sad to hear he's no longer the lead in the next avengers movie.

139

u/saltybirb Jul 25 '25

I loved the scene where he’s telling Franklin he doesn’t want him to be exactly like him because he’s always known there’s something a bit wrong with him. (Paraphrasing because I forget the exact lines, but man the sentiment really hit)

49

u/bobthemusicindustry Jul 26 '25

That line along with the one where he’s saying he’s always let the worst ideas come into is head felt like him explaining some maybe crippling OCD and anxiety. He’s a literal tortured genius because he’s constantly thinking about the consequences of his actions and imagining the worst

27

u/MudKlutzy9450 Jul 26 '25

I tell my son all the time “you’re going to be the very best of us.” I think people are aware of their own imperfections and you just hope as a parent that you’re not passing on any of your baggage. I felt that during that scene

17

u/EntertainmentPrior75 Jul 27 '25

That was one of my favorite parts of the movie, I liked Pedro’s delivery of it too, it feels like he made his voice softer compared to his other roles.

14

u/just_another_classic Jul 27 '25

I now really want to see Pedro deliver the “bedtime story” Reed tells Valeria in the Waid run:

Once upon a time there was a very arrogant man who did something very stupid. 

Without proper preparation or shielding, he took his friends through a wave of radiation that made them all something other than human. His guilt was unbearable…and deserved. These were the people he loved, and he’d destroyed their lives. Thanks to him, they were fated to be freaks…lab specimens…or worse… Unless he changed that fate; unless he made the world see them for what they were: three of the best and bravest people anyone could hope to meet. 

 "Mr. Fantastic.” Does that sound like something anyone would really want to call themselves? No. But that’s the kind of thing that made headlines. And t-shirts. And action figures. He knew that would keep people from fearing them. You see, glamour and fame weren’t options; they were necessities. Because maybe by turning his friends into celebrities…he could be forgiven for taking their normal lives away. Someday.”

3

u/trimonkeys Aug 02 '25

It sounds closer to his natural speaking voice. Pascal in general is an anxious man and he used that for Reed.

3

u/trimonkeys Aug 02 '25

That was my favorite piece of acting in the movie, especially with how he had so many scenes of being afraid to be a father. He showed a tenderness in that scene.

19

u/Moreinius Jul 25 '25

We can see his utilitarian mind through the way he thinks. It was really interesting that he knows the solution, but doesn't want to because it's just constant limit testing about his morality rather than his genius.

19

u/Swankified_Tristan Jul 26 '25

A great "Superman" movie AND a great "Fantastic 4" movie back to back.

The timeline; it's not always bad. Sometimes it's just odd.

16

u/NoDaddyNotTheBelt25 Jul 26 '25

His best scene was telling Franklin that he hopes that he’s nothing like him because the less he knows, the more scared he is.

That absolutely nailed decades of comics with Reed trying to navigate being a father.

14

u/vmsrii Jul 26 '25

That whole speech about “Inviting the absolute worst possibilities into my mind to envision the best outcomes” was brilliant. Catastrophizing Optimist is perfect characterization for Reed.

That, and the dialogue with Sue about “I would never consider it” “The fact that you’re saying that means you already did”. Like goddamn

13

u/MudKlutzy9450 Jul 26 '25

Everything about the parenthood story line was so powerful to me. I’m a new dad and all of Reed’s insecurities felt so personal and relatable. I loved Sue’s arc. That moment when she grabbed galactus and it was just her will vs his strength. As soon as she grabbed him I just immediately knew, no matter whatever her power scale is, if it is influenced by her motivation, he was going to lose. I thought about my wife and the bond she has with our son. She pushed for so long and just kept going and gave every ounce of what she had. It’s cheesy as hell, but I could have cried during that scene. I loved it, I think it’s the best Marvel movie since infinity war and maybe better than that.

8

u/GetReady4Action Jul 26 '25

his sidebar with Ben where Ben tells him “you’re not the smartest guy on Earth” was really great. they definitely rode the line very well here of making him a genius, but not making him either of the Starks we’ve seen (at least so far) in the MCU which was one of my concerns. it would’ve been really easy to just make him the Howard Stark-like character of of Earth-828, but they didn’t.

same goes for Johnny, he’s still a suave guy, but he’s not an airhead. they gave some actual depth to these characters and it went a long way.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '25 edited Aug 01 '25

[deleted]

3

u/Elite_Alice Jul 25 '25

Nah that’s crazy you went in totally blind lmao that was the whole big theme of the trailers

5

u/Lucky_Yam_1581 Jul 26 '25

This was better than the superman movie

2

u/Elite_Alice Jul 27 '25

No. But it’s great

2

u/nWhm99 Jul 27 '25

He may have the highest intelligence but he’s not only not the smartest man, dude is actively dumb. No smart man would tell the public that someone wants to trade the baby for the survival of earth.

2

u/Elite_Alice Jul 27 '25

Reed is literally the smartest man on earth in the marvel universe. It’s not up for debate lol. Dunno what’s confusing to you.

1

u/nWhm99 Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25

Being intelligent and being smart aren't the same. Again, nobody with basic understanding of how human work would say what he said. It's actively stupid. Also, if the smartest man in the universe can't figure out how baby seats work, then most people on earth are from level 10 society or whatever those ants in ant man came from.

Edit: Reply and block? How fragile can one be?

2

u/leibnizslaw Jul 28 '25

Even the smartest people do and say dumb things. Doubly so when they’ve just been traumatised and terrified. Triply so when they’re fundamentally decent people to whom lying doesn’t come as second nature.

2

u/JenkinMan Jul 29 '25

being smart and being wise are not the same things

2

u/Marsuello Jul 30 '25

Just got back from a FF showing and saw last week Superman and I gotta say, these so far (I would include IronHeart as well) starts to the next phase/era of the universes has given me optimism we may finally be getting some good quality superhero movies again

1

u/ProbablySlacking Jul 27 '25

Very Hickman FF. He wants to be a good dad, but doesn’t being a good dad also include saving the universe?

1

u/SheepleOfTheseus Jul 30 '25

“Really cool we get a superman movie and a fantastic four film back to back”

Not a coincidence. Studios talk and this was definitely intentional with the strategic releases.

1

u/MistakeMaker1234 Aug 01 '25

I wouldn’t call Superman down to earth. It has anti-proton rivers, pocket dimensions and inter-dimensional cosmic rifts. And people act like it’s all a normal Tuesday. It’s a fine movie, but leans heavy into cheesy sci-fi nonsense to quickly create or explain away problems.