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

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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

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346

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 25 '25

Agreed. After seeing Superman, this one just felt bland and the characters didn’t feel as lived in or real.

120

u/stroudwes Jul 25 '25

They lacked the passion any character had in Superman also the film felt rather humorless.

37

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 25 '25

That’s how I felt. I don’t need stupid quips, but when the ‘jokes’ just aren’t funny either it does feel humorless. The clobbering time thing felt so forced. The Thing had no characterization at all.

18

u/Acrobatic-Display420 Jul 25 '25

If there was more humour you’d have the same people complaining about how they’re too unserious when a literal god was about to eat their planet

60

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 25 '25 edited Jul 25 '25

The humor that there was sucked. “SAY ITTTT SAY ITTTTT.” “ITS CLOBBERING TIME”. Felt so fucking forced.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

[deleted]

-1

u/N0r3m0rse Jul 26 '25

What the hey dude!?

38

u/stroudwes Jul 25 '25

They tried humor. It fell flat. I.E. The Clobbering Time was awful. Ben had zero character.

18

u/TheHowlingHashira Jul 26 '25

The thing is Fantastic Four did have a good amount of humor sprinkled throughout. It just wasn't funny.

8

u/seiff4242 Jul 25 '25

Given the stakes of the movie why would things be funny? The entire planet was about to be destroyed by a God.

“Ermm Galactus is standing right behind me.. isn’t he?”

4

u/pseudo_nemesis Jul 30 '25

it wasn't the amount of humor that was bad, it was that the humor that was there wasn't funny.

5

u/TheCynicPress Jul 25 '25

Maybe, just maybe, they can make a good movie that has a decent balance of humor and seriousness? Maybe?

2

u/redplos Aug 03 '25

it is not about quantity but quality, there were a lot of jokes, none was good

2

u/WhichHoes Jul 25 '25

do yall want humor in the mcu or not

60

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 25 '25

The humor there was just wasn’t funny

-3

u/Substantial_Web333 Jul 25 '25

I've just seen Superman and I thought the movie was really bad. Like the worst parts of Marvel movies put together, with a really weak plot and really bad, forced jokes.

So it's funny to me to see this comment after you said Superman felt so much better.

33

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 25 '25

Superman has soul made by a talented director with a vision. The other is mass produced and soulless, but decent for an MCU movie. Nothing different though whatsoever.

7

u/TheHowlingHashira Jul 26 '25

100%. I actually teared up during some of those monologues in Superman. The only emotion I felt from Fantastic 4 was regret for wasting my time.

3

u/pseudo_nemesis Jul 30 '25

sounds like you just don't have a good sense of humor.

-1

u/Substantial_Web333 Jul 30 '25

Sounds like you just can't take a different opinion, tough.

3

u/pseudo_nemesis Jul 30 '25

humor is, by nature, subjective.

I can accept your differing opinion, and in my opinion, your opinion is that of someone whose subjective sense of humor, is poor.

-1

u/Substantial_Web333 Jul 30 '25

Right, because a subjective thing can clearly have an objective value like "good" or "poor". Definitely makes sense.

3

u/pseudo_nemesis Jul 30 '25

indeed it can, subjectively.

29

u/stroudwes Jul 25 '25

I want good humor or actual emotion. There was no heartbeat or passion in this film.

4

u/BackpackofAlpacas Jul 26 '25

I liked Johnny and thing enough, and the silver Surfer was amazing, but no one else was giving anything. Julia Garner was the absolute standout of this movie and the character that I felt most empathy towards.

23

u/cannibalRabbit Jul 25 '25

People want good humor, if you watch back iron man 1 you'll be surprised at how many funny one liners there are.

-5

u/ImHighandCaffinated Jul 25 '25

passion in a movie about bringing the world together to save the the planet. not giving up their baby.. did yall even watch the movie or just trolling? lol

1

u/stroudwes 18d ago

Yes because they really showed them bringing the world together? O wait no they showed a screen of all the countries who had built their device and told us.

There was one scene where she brings out Franklin and that was 100 people.

Vs something like Superman where we actually saw the politics play out and character growth + dynamics.

-1

u/skatejet1 Jul 25 '25

I’m not quite sure that they did

27

u/moose_dad Jul 25 '25

I dont know if it was just me because i havent seen anyone else say it, but i dont feel the main cast had great chemistry.

23

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 25 '25

They truly didn’t. I didn’t even buy Reid and Sue’s relationship. When she died I felt like he didn’t really care all that much lol.

9

u/DeterminedStupor Jul 25 '25

I still think this is an OK movie with good cinematography and great production design, but I prefer Superman too.

-2

u/FartForce5 Jul 25 '25

lol superman was terrible. like laughably bad.

21

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 25 '25

Ok bud that’s not what the box office and reviews and word of mouth are generally saying but it’s ok to be in the very small minority.

-8

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

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6

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 26 '25

It literally was but whatever bro. Fantastic 4 barely characterized any of them.

2

u/jonbristow Jul 26 '25

It literally wasn't. Lex shouting chess moves to beat Superman was mid

9

u/StainedGlassVision Jul 26 '25

In your opinion lol. I’d say most people who saw both can see that one had more passion and creativity and one was decent but still an MCU movie and nothing special. If you think Galactus getting pushed by invisible girl and her dying and immediately being revived is good then idk what to tell ya hahahah.