Marvel’s ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ MUST be perfect instead of passable
Too much depends on the success of ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ for it to just be a good time at the movies.
Last week, Marvel Studios hosted a flashy launch event for The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer, and so far, reactions have been mostly positive. But given Marvel’s recent track record — on top of the fact that its Fantastic Four reboot will kick off Phase 6 of the MCU — it’s essential that it hits all the right notes.
A killer theme song and an A-list cast is all swell and dandy when it comes to blockbusters like The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but the upcoming superhero flick has a unique challenge: drawing disillusioned fans back to the MCU. Like me, you may have enjoyed, or least been O.K. with Marvel’s Phase 4 slate, which included releases like Black Widow, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the Disney+ WandaVision miniseries. But with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon, I think it’s safe to say that the whole Multiverse thing has lost its luster — at least, for some.
I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves; in terms of box office returns, Marvel’s Phase 4 saw a notable dip from 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and from the looks of it, Phase 5 could follow suit. While it was only inevitable that Marvel would struggle to replicate the magic of the Infinity Saga, ticket pre-sales for this month’s Captain America: Brave New World are nowhere near as high as even the ill-fated Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Disney+’s Daredevil revival and May’s Thunderbolts* have all the right ingredients to succeed, but based purely on the marketing alone, I’m willing to bet that Marvel is placing all its eggs in Fantastic Four: First Steps’ basket — a decision that could either make or break the future of the studio.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps marks a necessary turning point for the MCU
The Fantastic Four is widely recognized as the crowning achievement of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s partnership, with Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Ben Grimm (The Thing), and Johnny Storm (Human Torch) earning the moniker of “Marvel’s First Family.” Yet, Marvel Studios has yet to pump out an onscreen adaptation worthy of the name. So even though I’m a sucker for Fox’s Ioan Gruffudd-led Fantastic Four movies of the early 2000s, a reboot is imperative.
I got to see a short snippet of First Steps at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, so I mostly knew what I was getting into when the trailer dropped. Director Matt Shakman is going all-out with the ’60s retrofuturism aesthetic, something myself and other Marvel comics fans have long rooted for. Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach seem well-cast enough, but really, Ralph Ineson’s Galactus is the one I’m most stoked about.
The teaser left many things open-ended, including the introduction of Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom, Reed Richards’ powers in their full, sticky hands glory, and how the team will end up in the main MCU timeline, a.k.a. Earth-616. Clearly, this is intentional; First Steps won’t arrive in theaters until July, and you’ve got to maintain some level of suspense with these things. Still, everything I just listed just proves my point – getting a Fantastic Four story right is a tall order, especially since it’ll pave the way for the remainder of the Multiverse Saga.
If The Fantastic Four: First Steps tanks, the MCU goes down with it
First Steps isn’t just an origin story, it’s the building blocks for the MCU’s future. We have another super-team waiting on the sidelines (cough cough, the X-Men), but it’ll be quite some time before the Mutant Saga is upon us. Until then, the Fantastic Four are likely going to be the de facto leads of Doomsday and Secret Wars now that the O.G. Avengers are out of the picture. For now, we need leaders capable of “replacing” the 616 Avengers. Like Superman is for the DC Universe, these are heroes who could make or break the subsequent wave of films. So what does First Steps need to be a home run with audiences?
Well, for one, better than decent visual effects. CGI-related nitpicking aside, The Thing’s character design recalls the ’60s Kirby art, which makes me hopeful that the film’s other elements will follow suit. Capturing the team dynamic of the Fantastic Four is also crucial here. Additionally, a showy post-credits scene that connects the dots between the Fantastic Four’s universe and Earth-616 would be helpful, so long as it doesn’t overly rely on the Doctor Doom of it all. And lastly, Galactus has to be a genuine threat — not just a goofy, anthropomorphic cloud.
I trust Kevin Feige & Co. to deliver a campy, fun revival of Marvel’s First Family, but I can’t help but wonder: Is that enough? It has to feel important, with real, consequential stakes. This isn’t an Eternals situation where moviegoers probably aren’t too familiar with the characters. The Fantastic Four is Marvel’s defining team, and the studio simply can’t afford to mess this up. We’ve waited a long time for a great Fantastic Four film, and knowing that this project has been in development for several years, there’s no excuse for it not to be a good story given the treasure trove of comics it has to pull from.
People have a right to be skeptical about the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot after the onslaught of Marvel content we’ve received in recent years, but I think there’s a lot to be hopeful about here. As long as First Steps sticks the landing with a solid story that paves the way for future MCU entries, I think the franchise’s future is in good shape. Only time will tell, so on and so forth.
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