Review: Fantastic Four – First Steps (2025)


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🎥 Official Trailer Gallery: The Road to First Steps

Before anything else, let’s relive every teaser, trailer, and hype-reel that brought us here.

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🟦 Blue Carpet Buzz

From awkward handshakes to chaotic cast chemistry—here are eight moments from the blue carpet that prove this team might be just as entertaining off-screen as they are on it.

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🎮 Loserfruit Plays with the Fantastic Four

Because why face Galactus when you can game? Watch as Loserfruit joins the cast in a Marvel Rivals session that includes more banter than battlefield strategy.

🧸 Retro Stylin’ with Funkos

Before we get into the cast, enjoy this perfect fusion of vintage merch vibes and comic-accurate toyline madness. Also here’s the popcorn bucket reveal.

Also to show y’all how big this Fantastic Four film is, yesterday Marvel and Fortnite teamed up and released Fantastic Four skins.

Also before this film was released we got some animated YouTube short episodes of Fantastic Four introducing the new Fantastic Four to the public (meaning us the audience)

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📅 Why This (and Superman) Hit Different

Maybe the reason Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman (2025) hit so well is because they remembered the one thing modern blockbusters seem to have forgotten: people are exhausted. Emotionally, spiritually, MCU-phasically exhausted. This movie, like Superman, opts for something refreshing—a retro, weird, funny, heart-filled adventure that goes full camp in all the best ways.

Does Feige Hate the Fantastic Four or…?

Okay, real talk — is Kevin Feige holding a personal grudge against Marvel’s First Family? Like… did Reed Richards accidentally run over your dog in another universe or something, Kevin? Because before this new Fantastic Four film finally dropped, the disrespect has been loud and weirdly specific.

Let’s rewind the carnage, shall we?

In Multiverse of Madness, we got John Krasinski as Reed — and people lost their damn minds… for four minutes. They hyped up The Smartest Man Alive only for Wanda to turn him into string cheese and floss her teeth with his spine. Man got turned into fettuccine and exploded like a wet noodle. That was Feige’s first warning shot.

Then Deadpool & Wolverine comes out last July (yes, last July, don’t “from what we know” me — I saw it). And boom — Chris Evans shows up as Johnny Storm for a big multiversal cameo and once again, he’s alive for maybe five minutes before being flayed like bacon and left as a pile of smoking meat. What did the Fantastic Four do to deserve this serial butchering?

Oh, and you thought that was it? Wrong. Let’s talk about Fortnite. That Marvel season? Doctor Doom came back. And off-screen, he apparently clapped the entire Fantastic Four like they were made of Play-Doh.

Reed? Curled into a ball and shoved into a containment cube like a Go-Gurt.

Ben Grimm? Turned into a literal stone throne. So Doom can sit on him. Sit.

Sue? Reduced to a creepy invisible corpse statue — like she’s posing for a horror museum.

Johnny? His heart is used to fuel Doom’s fireplace. What the actual hell?



Feige. Disney. Do you have something you wanna tell us? Blink twice if the Fantastic Four insulted you at a Comic-Con once. Because the way y’all have been treating them is not just shady — it’s a public execution. Over and over. In different media. I’m honestly surprised the Lego Marvel games didn’t feature Doom using Reed as a slinky and Sue as a paperweight.

So yeah — forgive me for being hesitant walking into this film. After years of spaghetti deaths, meat piles, and Doom furniture, I half expected Ben Grimm to get turned into gravel again before the second act.

🌀 The “Once a Decade” Curse

It really seems like every ten years, the universe tries to make a Fantastic Four movie happen. Well… kinda.

First, we had The Fantastic Four (1994) — the one that never officially released, but lives on in bootlegs and fan convention fever dreams.

Then came Fantastic Four (2005), with its early-2000s charm, shiny CG, and peak-era Chris Evans.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) followed right after — and while it gave us some cosmic weirdness, it also gave us… cloudy smoke Galactus.

Then there was Fant4stic (2015)… yeah, we don’t talk about that one. Studio interference, grim tone, and a plot so joyless even Doom walked out halfway through.

And now, here we are in 2025 with Fantastic Four: First Steps — a film that finally embraces what this team is supposed to be: retro, weird, smart, heroic, and fun.


Fifth time’s the charm?



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🔄 Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

Set in a stylized, retro-futuristic world that feels like the Jetsons met The Incredibles on a cosmic road trip, First Steps doesn’t take place in MCU’s Earth-616. Instead, it exists in a pop-art alternate Earth where the Fantastic Four are adored celebrities. They’ve got action figures, theme songs, cartoon shows, costumes in stores, and a flying car. They’re basically Marvel’s Beatles.

This film takes place on earth 828 if anyone is curious and it takes place 4 years into the Fantastic Four being the Fantastic Four.

The team dynamic is strong. Sue Storm is secretly pregnant (revealed early on), Ben Grimm has a side love interest that goes nowhere, unfortunately, it’s not Alicia. Johnny is his usual fireball self, and Reed’s obsessed with solving cosmic problems using massive machines. They get a visit from the Silver Surfer (Shalla Bal), who warns them that Galactus has marked their world for consumption.

Along the way, we get appearances from niche characters like Mole Man, references to Red Ghost and his evil monkeys, and an abundance of stylized visuals like HERBIE robots, cartoon interludes, and one very unexpected rock beard. Yes. Ben grows a beard. Out of rocks.

There’s a long-running gag where everyone begs Ben to say “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” like he does in the cartoon. He refuses… until the final battle, when Johnny saves him from orbit and Ben finally delivers the line mid-fall. Perfection.

Also, one of my favorite scenes was in the beginning where we see Reed teaching mathematics to a group of kids and they start yawning, so he turns and says Who wants to see an explosion?

Then they all start steering and he activates a get engine thrusters.

Another favorite scene of mine comes later on in the fikm.when Reed is holding his baby and just coddling it.

“If you’re an all-powerful god, now’s the time to tell me.”
(sniffs)
“Nope. You’re too busy peeing.”

Lolololo

Also, another scene of dialogue occurs when they fly back home and get shaded by the Surfer and Johnny has to shoot lasers at her to kill her, and misses. That’s because they are in warp, so the lasers curve, that’s actually clever.

Side note, this scene reminded me heavily of that scene in Star Trek Into Darkness where the USS Enterprise goes through warp and the USS Vengeance goes through warp chasing the team, here it’s the Silver Surfer doing that. I found that cool. Anyways here’s the line.

Ben: Johnny stop screwing around!

Johnny: I don’t tell u how to ride! So don’t tell me how to kill sexy aliens!

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🎥 First Look Clips

To give you a feel for the tone and pacing, here are two early, spoiler-free moments that set the stage:

🍽️ Clip 1: Dinner at the Baxter Building – A lighthearted sit-down where Johnny and Ben realize Sue is pregnant.

🌌 Clip 2: Shalla Bal Arrives – The Silver Surfer descends into Times Square alongside falling asteroids and delivers a cold warning: Galactus is coming.

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👥 Character Rundown

Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal): Surprisingly grounded. Brings a unique calm and weathered charm to Reed. Less arrogant genius, more “haunted problem-solver dad.”

Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby): Might be the best on-screen Sue ever. Strong, smart, and the emotional anchor of the film.

Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn): He’s good! Quinn gives Johnny youthful energy and sarcasm. Chris Evans is still my favorite, but Quinn holds his own.

Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach): Nailed it. Voice, posture, look—he’s comic-accurate with that classic thick brow and New Yorker charm.

Shalla Bal / Silver Surfer (Julia Garner): Cold, calculating, but complex. Her backstory comes later.

Galactus (Ralph Ineson): Intimidating design with muted purple and blue, tubes running along his back, and a throne that screams celestial menace.

Mole Man aka Harvey (Paul Walter Hauser): Perfectly weird. I mean come the third act when they ask Mole Man for help and bring him up to the Baxter Building, he says to Sue I wanna hear it from Reed. I want him to butter me up.

Butter me up!? I wanna see more Mole Man!

HERBIE (voice: Alex Borstein, fan-cast): Delightful and used just enough.



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🕑 Pacing / Episode Flow

The movie moves fast without rushing. It balances weird camp with high-stakes cosmic doom surprisingly well. The tone never feels like a joke, but it’s also never so self-serious it forgets it has a flying car named HERBIE.


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🎥 Retro Rewind: Behind-the-Scenes

Peek behind the curtain of Baxter brilliance and Silver Surfer FX wizardry.

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✅ Pros

Gorgeous, stylized setting

Retro suit designs (baby blue & white!)

Mole Man and Red Ghost references

Vanessa Kirby as Sue is perfect

Great Silver Surfer intro

HERBIE is real and fabulous

Ben’s rock beard

Also Pedro Pascal as Reed, I am getting sick and tired of seeing Pedro Pascal in everything but here? Man, he nailed Reed Richards, that anti social behavior.

Julia Garner gets a lot to do in this film, heck she has an emotional scene, also she gets some really cool scenes like her surfing on a wave of lava.

Galactus design = terrifying + respectful of comics, I mean when he’s sitting in his throne he has rules coming out of his back.

Flying car!

Also for this film it’s so isolated that u don’t have to have watched the previous MCU films to have seen this film, u can go in with no knowledge.

Also, this film is the start of phase 6.



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❌ Cons

Reed’s stretching powers are visually boring

Ben and Johnny don’t get much to do

Galactus isn’t tall enough (he’s only as big as the Baxter Building)

Weak post-credit scene (more below)

Also we need to talk about their suits.

🧱 Ben Grimm / The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach)

On Ben Grimm (a.k.a. The Thing):

Look, I’m gonna be honest — I’m not sold on Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s version of Ben Grimm. Is he comic-accurate in terms of origin and loyalty? Sure. But does he actually do anything memorable in the movie? Not really. He’s just kinda there. It feels like someone told him, “Just stand in the corner and scowl occasionally,” and that’s about the extent of his role.

And let’s talk about his voice. Ben Grimm is supposed to sound like he chews on bricks and yells at cab drivers. A real gravel-throated, Brooklyn-born wisecracker with attitude. Instead, Ebon’s Ben sounds like he’s reading bedtime stories through a humidifier. It’s too soft. Too low. Too… gentle. Where’s the grit? The bite? The “It’s Clobberin’ Time” that rattles the theater?

Michael Chiklis nailed the voice — you believed that guy was a former pilot who’s seen some sh*t and still has the heart of a teddy bear. Ebon’s Ben? Feels like he’s on a daily dose of lo-fi beats and chamomile tea.

Oh — and while we’re here: I’m kinda eh on the full CGI Thing. I get that tech has advanced, but honestly? I miss the practical suit. Chiklis looked tactile. Real. Present. This new CGI Thing? He looks like a video game boss rendered in Unreal Engine with motion blur turned off. Somehow — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — the CGI model for The Thing in Fant4stic looked better. Not the character. Just the CGI. Because at least that model had weight, texture, something that looked semi-polished. This one? Just looks off.

📉 Pacing and Plot Focus Issues
Here’s the thing — I didn’t mention this earlier because I couldn’t quite pin it down, but something about the story structure just felt… off. And I realized why.

For a film about Marvel’s first family, this is not how I’d want a Fantastic Four story to unfold.

Out of a nearly 2-hour runtime, we get two real action sequences. The rest of the movie? The team is mostly cooped up in the Baxter Building, staring at holograms and debating Galactus like they’re in a science fair.

It’s not that I need mindless action — it’s that this structure turns what should be a cosmic-scale superhero adventure into a boardroom think piece with occasional laser pointers.

This is the Fantastic Four. I want them out there. In the streets. In the sky. In space.
Not stuck in a lab like they’re on a group project and someone forgot to bring the PowerPoint.

Now let’s talk about each of their outfits.


Material: His suit is visibly thicker and padded compared to the others — likely for durability and comfort over his rocky hide.

Design: The torso is ribbed and darker blue in tone, giving texture against the flatness of his orange rock skin. His arms and legs are bulkier, but the suit is snug, emphasizing his mass.

Gloves: He wears fingerless gloves built into the sleeves — the white cuffs are wide to accommodate his rocky wrists.

Boots: He has reinforced boot cuffs integrated into the leg section. No visible sole detail, but the bulk implies functional tread.

Logo: Centered in a classic circle on the chest, surrounded by ribbing.

Color Split: The sleeves are white with a white neckline, which contrasts sharply against the blue torso and legs, drawing attention to his chest insignia.

Unique Element: He’s the only one with visible skin, which makes the bright blue stand out even more against his orange hue.



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🧪 Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal)

Material: Sleek, high-collared turtleneck style with a ribbed chest and arms — slightly more structured than the others, reflecting his leadership and meticulous nature.

Design: His suit is the most “uniform officer” looking of the bunch. It’s clean, symmetrical, and minimalistic.

Sleeves: Feature white cuffs with black gloves. The gloves are clearly detachable and technical-looking.

Belt: The most detailed of the team, including buttoned pouches and a communicator piece on the right hip.

Logo: Classic circle with a “4” centered on his upper chest.

Color Split: Bright blue torso with a white turtleneck collar and white cuffs.

Unique Element: He’s the only one with both white gloves and a high turtleneck, giving him a slightly more formal, “father figure” look.



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🌫️ Sue Storm / Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby)

Material: Her suit appears thinner and sleeker — almost like a hybrid between tactical gear and a vintage flight suit. It has more curvature in the waist, indicating tailoring.

Design: She has a structured belt like Reed, with subtle chrome accents. Her gloves match her suit color rather than being black.

Sleeves & Collar: White shoulders and collar, echoing the men’s designs but softer. Her collar is folded lower and wider than Reed’s, making it look more open and less rigid.

Logo: Centered with the same circle “4,” but placed higher to match the suit’s proportions.

Color Split: Follows the same white shoulders/blue body template, but with sleeker lines.

Unique Element: Her suit subtly emphasizes utility and grace — she looks both ready for battle and like she belongs on a 60s fashion runway. The blend of practical and elegant is strong here.



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🔥 Johnny Storm / Human Torch (Joseph Quinn)

Material: The most fitted of the group — almost like a modern racecar suit. It hugs his frame, suggesting agility and speed.

Design: Slightly more minimalist than the others. His gloves are white, like Reed’s, but less bulky. His belt is streamlined and may include heat-resistant material (in-world logic).

Sleeves & Collar: White shoulders and collar, same as Sue, but his collar is even lower. The clean white/blue split makes the flame in his hand pop even more.

Logo: Slightly off-center, positioned just right of his sternum due to his pose, but likely centered when standing straight.

Unique Element: His suit lacks the extra padding or compartments others have. It’s built for movement and flaring up at a moment’s notice. He also carries the least equipment — fitting for a hothead who dives in without a plan.



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🔁 Shared Elements Across All Suits:

Color Scheme: Muted, powdery “baby blue” with crisp white accents — retro and refreshing.

Belts: White utility-style belts with silver clasps and the “4” insignia dead center (each belt has slightly different side features).

Logos: Large circle “4” symbols that are uniform in style but adjusted in placement depending on the suit cut.

Texture: Ribbed detailing across the chest and sometimes legs — adds dimensionality and echoes 60s/70s sci-fi suits.

Gloves: All have gloves, but they differ slightly per character (Ben has built-in cuff gloves, Reed has white ones, Johnny has sleeker heat-tolerant ones, Sue’s match her suit tone).

Style: The entire look screams Jetsons meets Silver Age Comics, and it’s glorious.




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😐 Final Thoughts

Fantastic Four: First Steps does what most modern Marvel films don’t: it has fun. It doesn’t run from the comics, it embraces them. It goes all-in on camp, color, and cosmic weirdness, and honestly? That’s what makes it great. Not perfect. But fun, wouldn’t say it was the best thing I saw, this film had some paci

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⭐ Rating: 8/10


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⚠️ Spoiler Warning!


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💥 Spoilers Ahead

Sue’s water breaks aboard Galactus’ ship. She gives birth mid-flight with a HERBIE robot assisting.

Galactus demands the child. The world freaks out when the team refuses to give him up.

Heck Reed even thought maybe it would be best to give the kid up, because he thinks of every outcome, yes he’s insensitive.

Reed and the whole planet begin building massive machines called “Bridges” to teleport the planet.

To power the system, Earth undergoes a coordinated global blackout.

Ben grows a rock beard during the blackout (still amazing). Also slightly goofy because I prefer him without a beard.

Silver Surfer wipes out the tech. Johnny confronts her, revealing he knows she’s Shalla Bal. And that he also knows she gave herself to Galactus in exchange for Galactus sparing her planet.

This is the only thing to me that felt off, like why does Johnny now have brain kevel smarts like Reed?

Galactus arrives. Chaos. Mole Man evacuates civilians underground. There’s not much to say about Mole Man, he’s there. But I do like the actor Paul Walter Hauser I like, I was first introduced to him thanks to Cruella.

Surfer betrays Galactus to save Johnny, hurling both herself and Galactus into the void.

Sue dies from strain. Franklin miraculously heals her.

BTW this feels like a better version of Rise of The Silver Surfer, I mean here we got similar space shot of Johnny in space with the Silver Surfer, we got Silver Surfer and Galactus in this film, but then furthermore we get Sue dying again.

Happy ending, now the 5 of them go live on TV but as they are about to be presented on TV, they get a distress call and they head out and we get the 3 of them struggling to put in a baby seat, which might be the most parent thing.


Post-Credit Scene:

Four years later. Sue reads to Franklin. She then gets up to get a new book for them, as she comes back.

She senses someone nearby.

She turns the corner.

Doctor Doom is kneeling before Franklin.

Doom’s mask is off. Franklin gently touches his face.


About That Delay… Avengers: Doomsday got pushed to December 2026. That’s a 500-day wait with only Daredevil and Punisher shows to fill the void. The Fantastic Four will return—eventually. Until then, all we have is a nameplate, a shadow, and Doom’s goth-Cinderella cameo.

Also, there’s a second end credits scene where it’s a montage of moments of the Fantastic Four fighting enemies in cartoon form.

Even after Fantastic Four: First Steps, it still feels like nothing is really clicking into place for Avengers: Doomsday.

Let’s rewind. First, we got that vague post-credits scene in Captain America: Brave New World, where The Leader is just… chilling in a cell, ominously telling Sam, “You think you’re the only one who cares about this planet? Wait till the others come.” Cool. Mysterious. Zero clarity.

Then Thunderbolts drops an end credits stinger showing a strange shuttle — the “Excelsior” — flying into Earth-616 orbit, while the Thunderbolts watch via their Avengers Tower satellite. We all assumed that meant the Fantastic Four were arriving from Earth-828, fleeing a doomed planet. Right?

Except nope. In First Steps, their planet doesn’t get destroyed. In fact, they literally save it from Galactus, and the mid-credits scene jumps ahead four years to Sue reading to her son Franklin, only for the vibe to take a hard left turn when she finds Doctor Doom, unmasked, kneeling in front of her child.

So… what was that shuttle in Thunderbolts then? Because the one in Thunderbolts had four rockets, but the Excelsior ship in First Steps has three. Are we dealing with multiple versions of the Fantastic Four now? A variant team? Multiversal doppelgängers? Skrulls with a flair for symmetry?

None of this is making a lick of sense.

And just to pile on, Feige confirmed Avengers: Doomsday will have the Avengers bouncing between Earth-616 and Earth-828 — meaning the team will literally hang out in the Fantastic Four’s Jetsons-meets-Kirby retro universe. So again: huh?? We’re already time-jumping and earth-hopping before we’ve even nailed a proper setup.

Now I’m concerned for the Fantastic Four’s future. Because post-Secret Wars, Feige said the MCU will soft-reboot — which raises one major red flag: is that retro-1960s sci-fi vibe getting tossed out? Because if you’re merging them into a standard 2025 modern Earth and stripping away their stylized aesthetic, then congrats… you’ve just made them feel generic again.

That Jetsons-with-danger vibe? That Kirby-flavored optimism? That’s what made this version unique. You can’t just plop them into our world and expect the magic to stick. You’re not just shifting geography — you’re gutting the vibe.

And if that happens? Then maybe we’re the ones who are doomed.

And here’s yet another looming question: which version of Doom are we even looking at in the post-credits scene? Is this the Doctor Doom—RDJ’s version—the main threat of Avengers: Doomsday? Or is this just some variant who exists solely on Earth-828? Because let’s not forget: Latveria was confirmed to exist on this version of Earth. So does that mean RDJ Doom also comes from Earth-828? Or is that Doom from another universe entirely? The ambiguity is so thick you could cut it with a Vibranium spoon. And if it is a different Doom, then what was the point of teasing him here?

Also I worry we might not get any closer on Kang, because recently when asked about Kang, Kevin refereed to Jonathan Majors as.

“Oh that Kang actor” Yeah if that’s not telling enough then idk what does.