STARRING: VANESSA KIRBY, PEDRO PASCAL, JOSEPH QUINN, JULIA GARNER, JOHN MALKOVICH, RALPH INESON, PAUL WALTER HAUSER AND EBON MOSS-BACHRACH
DIRECTED BY: MATT SHAKMAND
RELEASE DATE: JULY 25, 2025
“It’s clobbering time!” The Fantastic Four: First Steps brings Marvel’s first family into a new era that further expands the timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) universe. The film is set in the 1960s with a more retro-futuristic style, kind of like what you’d see in ‘WandaVision’ which was a limited series that came out in 2021 that was also directed by Matt Shakman. Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing face their biggest challenge when told to make a huge decision in a ploy to defend Earth 828 from Galactus and the Silver Surfer. Produced by Marvel Studios, it is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the second reboot of the Fantastic Four series. The movie had a budget of $200 million and has earned over $500 million worldwide. Prior to this film, the Fantastic Four franchise’s highest earner was the 2005 movie, which grossed $154 million globally, while the 2015 reboot grossed $65 million worldwide.
The film is separate from previous Fantastic Four films by avoiding the team’s origin story. Instead, they move ahead in time to 1964 where the world celebrates the fourth anniversary of the team becoming the Fantastic Four who have become celebrities fighting the supervillains of the world. When Reed and Sue reveal they’re going to have a baby, that’s when all heck breaks loose because the Silver Surfer and Galactus are trying to destroy the Earth and he wants the baby in exchange for the safety of the planet.
I thought it was interesting because it was the team trying to find a way to save their baby and save the city at the same time. I mean, I get it, I don’t think I’d give up my baby either. Let me ask y’all, if you had to choose, would you give up your child to save the world or would you keep your kid and try and find another way to save the world? I did think it was stupid that they told the entire world at the conference what Galactus wanted in exchange for the Earth’s safety. Personally, I would’ve just told them “No comment” or I would’ve lied until we came up with a plan. Overall, it was a good movie that was more family-oriented because you could definitely tell the writers and directors tried to steer away from the action-packed movies that the MCU loves to do. As always, there will be a follow up movie because you know Marvel loves to add to the timeline. Until next time, we continue to wait for the rest of the story to unfold.