The first look at Fantastic Four took a while to get here, but it appears it was worth the wait. Marvel Studios is taking us somewhere we haven’t been before in the MCU, which is the swinging sixties. The Fantastic Four: First Steps gives us a retro-futuristic world, complete with floating robots and sleek, space-age architecture. Will this work to bring Marvel fans back to the MCU franchise, though?
Leading this new reboot of Marvel’s First Family is “internet daddy” Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, joined by Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing. For characters who haven’t appeared on the big screen in nearly a decade, I’ll give it to Marvel for selecting a great ensemble cast.
Like the films before it, First Steps sees our heroes start as experimental test pilots who gain their extraordinary abilities after exposure to cosmic radiation during a spaceflight. However, this reboot seems like it will speed things along as the team will be going up against one of Marvel’s most formidable cosmic entities: Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds.
In the 2007 film, the Silver Surfer was portrayed by Doug Jones (with Laurence Fishburne voicing the character), but now Marvel has chosen to go with Julia Garner as a reimagining of the herald of Galactus. The 31-year old actress who gained critical acclaim and recognition for her role in Netflix’s Ozark will have big shoes to fill, but I’m betting she will prove her detractors wrong.
The best part about the first impression of The Fantastic Four: First Steps is it appears to be taking a delicate approach between spectacle and heart. Scenes from the trailer show that the story is emphasizing the strength of the bonds in the team, and Marvel has somehow restrained itself from littering the film with dumb, unnecessary quips and jokes. This has been my biggest gripe with the studio ever since they began the cinematic universe.
Still, this is only a minute of what is supposed to be a two-hour film, so let’s calm down. Marvel has a chance to finally do justice to these pioneering characters who helped launch the Marvel Comics universe. There is certainly a lot of pressure on First Steps to perform well at the box office, given how it leads into other bigger films like Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Director Matt Shakman will be hoping that he will replicate his success with WandaVision in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which will arrive in theaters on July 25.
