On screen the Fantastic Four have had a bit of a difficult run to say the least. From the infamous 1994 unreleased film, to the average, at best, 2000s films, or the abysmal attempt at a reboot in 2015, nobody quite managed to replicate the comic book magic that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby captured in the 1960s. It certainly did not help that the Fantastic Four was one of those Marvel properties that was essentially held hostage when it comes to rights. Because of the comic popularity, it has been a sought after license and retaining that license has been part of the reason most of the past films just felt like churned out rubbish. The unreleased 1994 film was famously made quickly and cheaply on a $1 million budget, just so Bernd Eichinger, founder of Constantin Films, could retain the license. Constantin Films still hold this license today, but they have a production and distribution agreement with Fox, which, as of 2019, is obviously now owned by Disney, and Marvel Studios by default. So after all these years of Marvel’s first family not even being held by Marvel Studios, they are finally home and have been brough into the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Pre-production began as soon as they got the rights in 2019, with direction changing hands from Jon Watts to now Matt Shakman. Titled The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it has finally made its way to our screens and, though not quite worthy of being called fantastic, it is certainly a great hit for Marvel.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set in a different universe to the main MCU continuity and instead we have a 60s inspired retro-futuristic world with our four heroes at the centre of it: Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby) and Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal). As Earth’s protectors, they are massive celebrities and they are constantly in the spotlight for all their heroics. An opening montage shows them beating lots of smaller scale villains and saving people as superheroes should. But before any of this, the opening scene is much more intimate and less in your face. It is simply Sue and Reed finding out they are going to be parents, after two years of trying and accepting it would not happen. This immediately sets this film up as more of a character driven family drama than your standard superhero flick. Still, there is plenty of comic book wackiness to be had, and that goes beyond the weird and wonderful family or anything on Earth for that matter. After ‘baby-proofing’ the world for coming danger, a threat from space comes down in the form of the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). She heralds Galactus (Ralph Ineson), a hungry Space-God that literally eats planets, and Earth is next on the list. The Fantastic Four try to negotiate and it becomes clear that fulfilling his appetite is not his main goal and in exchange for sparing Earth, he will accept a being of infinite power, which just so happens to be Sue and Reed’s unborn child. Their refusal not only angers him but the people of Earth as well, who cannot believe their heroes will not save them, despite having the means to do so.

The family drama this film approaches, mixed in with a superhero adventure, is exactly what was needed to make a good Fantastic Four film. They are a family first and a group of superheroes second and that has always been key to them and how they act. But before anything, the cast has to be up to the task to relay convincingly that family dynamic. Everybody’s chemistry is impeccable in this film and they do feel like a family. Quinn and Moss-Bachrach are the perfect, loveable, cool uncles that wind each other up constantly, but their humour bounces off each other so well thanks to them just feeling so authentic in them roles. Quinn, in particular, I was not convinced by in the trailers, but he does feel like Johnny Storm should, full of that cheekiness and boisterousness. Pascal and Kirby are obviously acting as the wiser half of the family, but they do not feel disconnected from the rest of the family at all. Every single actor gets a good chance to shine and when you are having to juggle so many big actors, that is a great result to have. Garner and Ineson are fantastic in their antagonist roles with them both offering something different but complimenting each other well. Garner has this robotic, matter of a fact voice that works well for her character and backstory as this tired doomsday herald whereas Ineson’s deep and booming voice is perfect for Galactus’ few interjections. They have a proper presence on screen, as do all the actors for that matter.

The writing in this film is one of its strongsuits, showing lots of soul and depth in its story. I have already mentioned to death the idea of this family dynamic working well, but that is also at the core of the story. They all have their own conflicts and troubles, all of which are shown in a really subtle way. For example, Ben’s drive to help people by being this big strong golem is shaken by the longing to want to live a normal life again and them showing, not telling this, is nicely excecuted. Reed struggles to think emotionally a lot of the time because of his constantly science-wired brain and that is shown as both a blessing and a curse. Of course, the central conflict is the role of a superhero and how they have to save people at all costs, putting everybody’s lives above their own. Galactus’ demands for Sue and Reed’s child is the thing that really shakes this and it leaves a huge moral dilemma. Sacrificing the child to save the world would fix everything and people would be forever grateful. But the idea of this for them as parents is completely out of the question and whether the public’s anger is coming out of fear or not, they just want to be saved as they are used to being saved by their heroes. Everybody puts their faith in the Fantastic Four and now they could save them but refuse to do so, it shakes their faith in how heroic they are. All of this plays into the strong family setup that they have because there is an outright refusal, even in the face of destruction, that they will ever let one of their family members, new or old, be left behind. Like Superman has shown, the most heroic thing to do is to save every life possible and them rising above this horrible dilemma to confront evil on their own terms is exactly what superheroes should do.

Visually, this is often a delight. That 60s aesthetic is obviously an homage to the time of the Fantastic Four’s creation but it does not feel like a gimmick. It all feels natural because there is nothing out of place to ruin that immersion. Everything blends seamlessly to set this world up, from the gloriously simple, yet effective, costumes, to the look of all the tech and architecture. The sets built are wonderful and instead of shooting everything on a greenscreen, that should be the precedent for Marvel moving forward, especially because it just shows more care and attention to detail. When it comes to action there is certainly less of it than in your typical MCU film, but it has it where it counts. With only a couple set pieces to sink your teeth into, they are still well done. Even with some iffy effects, they largely look brilliant and the standout is definitely the first encounter with Galactus in space. This sequence is fantastic for its urgency and panic during the story, as well as just being very fun visually. Silver Surfer riding waves of fire, flying after Johnny to protect her master, is just one unbelievably cool example from this fight. All the powers look convincingly good too, even Reed’s which somehow succeeds in making stretching powers not look incredibly goofy. In fact, it almost should be more so because he generally does no more than just stretch a bit. To own the comic book silliness, it would have been good to see him change his shape a bit more but in fairness, that may be a nightmare to do in live action. Moss-Bachrach’s Thing is all motion-capture and it always looks perfect, to the point where it is suprising some of it is not practical. The only times the visuals do show some cracks is particularly with some greenscreens and some moments of Johnny or Silver Surfer, obviously considering in action they are mostly CGI. It is not rife with problems, but it can be noticeable, which is a shame considering how good a lot of it does look.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a joyful, summer superhero blockbuster that has everything you could want from this stage of the MCU. Perhaps the best and most refreshing thing about it is that it is not tied down by any other previous film, letting it flesh itself out on its own without reliance on audience’s prior knowledge. It succeeds at doing so too with its well realised world and, of course, a fantastic set of main characters. It is largely written intelligently and a lot more subtley than most MCU projects and that is particularly reflected in the characters. It has just enough action to break it all up too and even if it does not look consistently brilliant, it does have its moments. Considering the long road taken to get this family to where they belong, it is so good to see them finally here. I am not convinced Avengers: Doomsday will quite hit the mark but if it has more of the Fantastic Four in it, we can hope they are done justice again like they are here.