The Fantasy Review‘s review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).
Fantastic Four: First Steps does everything it possibly can to be the opposite of all the live-action Fantastic Four movies done before, and it succeeds. Considering how bad some of the recent MCU movies have been recently (I’m looking at you, Brave New World), this was a great first step towards something awesome.
Spoiler-Free Review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
This is not your typical superhero movie. I’ve been asking for a long time for Marvel, DC, or absolutely anyone to give us a superhero movie that does something different. The Fantastic Four: First Steps finally gives us that.
This is not a massive action flick. It’s a family drama, with a colossal incoming threat (see what I did there?) and they have to stick together and work out how to stop it, save their family, and save the planet.
The strongest element of First Steps is the central family. Richards, Ben, and the Storms are all cast perfectly. They have great banter, and a lot of love.
Unlike previous adaptations, the tensions between the characters are light and come from a place of love. There’s no toxicity, no 90’s or 2000’s bravado. It’s refreshing to see.
When it comes to the plot, I struggle a little. This is certainly an incredible adaptation of Galactus, however I have never had any personal love for these kinds of villains. They are too big, and I struggle to engage with the plot.
First Steps, however, manages to ground the large narrative in the family and feel-good vibes, creating an enjoyable viewing experience.
The final spoiler-free thing I want to mention in this review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps is how it looks. I mentioned Galactus being amazing – this is 95% the look of the thing.
I was absolutely blown away by everything, from the costumes, to the set design, the big fights, the flights through space…. everything was beautiful, purposeful…. I could have stared at some of those shots for hours and never gotten bored.
They turned a Marvel movie into a work of art.
Overall, The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) is a highly enjoyable movie that does something different in the MCU. It centres family and skips the endless action sequences, prioritising human interaction and brains over brawn.
Now they have proven they can do something different, something special, Marvel Studios need to keep it up.
