Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. But this week, a new movie came out! It’s Fantastic Four First Steps.

Let’s face it, a Fantastic Four movie is something of an uphill climb. To begin, these characters are a lot of things at once. They’re superheroes, scientists, adventurers, astronauts, etc. But they’re also a family full of comedic family sitcom antics. Oh, and they’re famous celebrities, with all the excitement and drama that brings. Also, a lot of comics readers feel the FF are outdated, relics of the ‘60s who lack the coolness of the X-Men, the Punisher, or (I’m gonna say it) Deadpool. Therefore, the goal of a Fantastic Four movie is to establish not just who these characters are, but why they’re a big deal.

I’m happy to report that First Steps goes a long way in doing just that.

SPOILER WARNING!

SPOILER WARNING!

SPOILER WARNING!

Despite this being an “MCU film,” we’re not in the MCU at all. In an alternate Earth, the FF are the only superheroes (that we know of). We run through a brief prologue summarizing the origin story so we can get right to the good stuff. The FF are living in the Baxter Building, and they are famous for saving the world on a regular basis. Again, we’re seeing the FF as being a big deal, the top dogs of their world. This gives the movie freedom to jump directly into the plot. Reed and Sue are apprehensive yet excited about becoming parents. Their feelings run parallel to a threat from space that’s far beyond than anything they’ve experienced.

Like the FF as a whole, it’s hard to get Reed right as a character. There are way too many “Reed is a jerk” stories throughout Marvel comics, although the better stories make him so much more than that. Yes, he has smartest-guy-in-the-room syndrome, and he has a habit of concentrating more on his science than on his marriage. But then, the better stories have him overcome that and grow into being a loving family man. In one of the movie’s best-acted moments, Sue puts Reed on the spot for always preparing for every outcome, including the worst ones, and what that means.

Sue is also portrayed nicely in the film. Despite being pregnant, she’s never sidelined. She gets to demonstrate her role as the heart of the team in a big speech where she pleads her case for doing the right thing not just in front of her teammates, but in front of a whole crowd of New Yorkers. This speech could easily have been an eye-roller, but Vanessa Kirby goes for it, making it work.

We see so little of Johnny in the movie’s marketing that I feared he would be the weak link. But I really dug what actor Joseph Quinn is doing here. He gets the youthful “hothead” part of the character down pat, but he’s shown to be intelligent and capable in his own way. He helps fly the FF’s spaceship, and he figures out a science problem of his own rather than turning it over to Reed. The movie asks questions about sacrifice, and whether one should make a huge sacrifice for the greater good, or if there’s another way. Johnny’s willingness to make that sacrifice was an interesting aspect of his character, and I wonder if that’ll be explored more in upcoming movies.

Ben doesn’t have as much of a character arc in this film as the other characters. Instead, he’s here to be – for lack of a better word – a rock. No matter what, he’s got their backs. We get some nice character stuff with him wandering around his old neighborhood interacting with the locals, where we see him filling the “monster with a heart of gold” role. The movie only hints at him longing to be a normal human, but I liked that it didn’t bring things down by dwelling on that. I don’t know that Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s voice fit the character design, but he had some nice comedic timing that managed to shine through all the CGI.

A few miserable people complained online about the movie having a female Silver Surfer. But as the movie progresses, it’s evident why the filmmakers made that decision. Galactus makes for a gigantic, imposing figure, and Ralph Ineson’s voice (with a lot of digital enhancement, I’m guessing) served the character well. And, as usual, New York City is a character. This retro future is a lot of fun. It’s steeped in 1960s style, but with all kinds of far-out tech. It’s what we all wanted that Tomorrowland movie to be, but that we never got. A lot of fans argue that the movie should’ve been set in the actual ’60s, but I disagree. Not only would that have broken MCU continuity, but it would have gone back to the characters feeling old-fashioned rather than contemporary.

Did anything in the movie NOT work for me?

• Galactus is introduced as being an all-powerful god, but then the final battle is only about his size, with the heroes’ plan involving nothing but pushing him over.
• If the opening montage established what Sue’s powers are, I must have missed it. Hope people weren’t confused the first time she turned invisible.
• I actually didn’t hate H.E.R.B.I.E. in this, but they cut to him a little too often. And Griffin Newman really should have done the voice.
• A whole bunch of other FF villains are mentioned but not seen, worrying me that this is all we’ll get of those characters on the big screen.

So, yeah, I enjoyed the movie. It did what it had to, informing audiences as to why they should care about the FF. It’s not as thematically rich as, say, Black Panther or Captain America: Civil War, but it’s also not as weightless and airy as The Marvels or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Mostly, it’s great fun to see these characters on the big screen in a way that’s closer to how I know them after reading their adventures all these years.

Consider this a recommend. A fantastic one, even!

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Want more? Check out my novel MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF. It’s a comedic/romantic/dramatic superhero epic! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XPXBK14.