Directed by: Matt Shakman
Written by: Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer, and Katt Wood
I’ll admit, I walked into Fantastic Four: First Steps hoping Matt Shakman’s retro-futuristic 1960’s world would give the Fantastic Four a fresh spin—and on that front, First Steps delivers in spades. The production design, the period-piece charm, even H.E.R.B.I.E. popping in to baby-proof the Baxter Building, all hit that sweet spot of nostalgia and novelty. But underneath the gleaming chrome and gleeful gadgetry lie a couple of glaring missed opportunities to take this film to truly stellar levels. Mainly, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm both deserve more breathing room than this script allows. There have been several Fantastic Four films, some better than others, but this one has plenty of life in it, and I think it is a solid addition to the MCU in spite of a few missed beats by five writers.
Here comes the spoilers…
We open on Earth-828 in 1960: Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny blast off, bask in cosmic rays, and return four years later as the world’s first superhero family. Sue’s “I’m pregnant!” reveal kicks off the Future Foundation-led global peace, and Ben’s rock-like transformation is already old news by the time they’re celebrities. It’s an efficient setup—no origin-story slog—but it trades off emotional grounding, especially for Ben and Johnny. The opening montage is excellent to get the audience quickly up to speed and into the story right away. More of these montages, Marvel!
Ben Grimm goes from space hero to schoolyard champ when he obliges kids by hoisting a car—only to lock eyes with their teacher, Rachel Rozman, and get that unmistakable “heart of rock” flutter. Meanwhile, Johnny chases the Silver Surfer through Times Square, only to be knocked off her board after she tells him to “Die with yours” in her native tongue. Back on Earth, protests erupt over Sue’s unborn child after Galactus marks the planet for destruction—Reed’s teleport-the-world-away plan launches the team into cosmic engineering, and this montage is also solid to show the passage of time and the plan coming together. Yet in that montage, no scene takes a moment to show a developing relationship between Ben and the teacher, which is a missed emotional opportunity.
As teleportation bridges light up, Shalla-Bal returns to obliterate them—until Johnny deciphers her planetary recordings and lays bare her tragic past. She flips, saves him from a sacrificial kamikaze run, and shoves Galactus herself through the last portal, atoning for centuries of planetary feasts. That deus ex machina moment is cheap and discards the reality that the Silver Surfer would’ve been with Galactus and fending off the Fantastic Four while he made his way to the baby.
Johnny has a deep desire to be taken seriously by Reed, and he’s cracking the Silver Surfer’s language as if it’s his magnum opus, yet we see exactly two lines of him fiddling with records. His craving to be taken seriously as a scientist is never fulfilled completely, and this is also a missed emotional opportunity. Now, Shalla-Bal’s sudden redemption and last-second save doesn’t feel emotionally earned. It arrives as a narrative jump cut rather than through real buildup, where I would’ve had Johnny playing the messages and save the last message of the Silver Surfer’s daughter’s voice saying, “Mommy, come home,” until the last moment. One mother witnesses the other trying to save her child, which prompts her change of heart, and subsequently, she takes action against Galactus.
Despite these missteps, First Steps still soars on a breezy, entertaining story that rarely plays it safe. With a few more human moments to build more emotional depth for Ben and Johnny, this could’ve rocketed to more repeat viewings. Still a solid film, and Marvel needs to keep following up with better writing.
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