The latest adaptation of The Fantastic Four comic shines in THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS as it is one of the best adaptations of the source material. The movie is set in an alternate 1960s on an alternate Earth where the team of the Future Foundation will face their greatest challenge as the herald of Galactus informs the world of his coming to devour the planet Earth. What is the best things about this movie is the production design and the interaction between the characters along with giving an adaptation that honors the source material while also serving as a good introduction to those Marvel fans who might haven't seen any of the prior Fantastic Four movies.

The movie starts with a truncated version of events in the lives of the fantastic Four (which could have been longer, but it was cut for time) before launching into the main elements of the story. Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is pregnant with Reed Richard's (Pedro Pascal) baby. Before they can enjoy the news with Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm for too long, the herald arrives with grim tidings. The team gets their spaceship to the remote depths of space to try to bargain with Galactus, but his only term for saving Earth is if he can have Sue and Reed's baby. Reed Richards/ Mr. Fantastic works on a plan to stop Galactus while Johnny learns to understand the language of the Silver Surfer. Tension builds around the planet while Galactus gets closer to Earth.

This latest movie reboot of the FANTASTIC FOUR does draw more from the source material featuring many more elements and characters from the comics. You get Herbie, the Fantastic Car, the Baxter Building, and cameos by various Fantastic Four villains. You have great character development and a story that is good even though the action might be lacking compared to some other Marvel movies. The cast is great except some will argue Pedro Pascal isn't the right actor for Reed Richards/ Mister Fantastic, but Vanessa Kirby is perfect as Sue Storm. Hopefully, whatever flaws this movie has will be fixed in the next FANTASTIC FOUR movie. If you haven't seen it in theaters, you still have a chance to see the movie. It will be coming to blu-ray and 4K UHD soon as I hope there are plenty of deleted scenes (the director has mentioned he cut some scenes out of the early part of the movie to get the story to Galactus sooner).

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS is good Marvel movie that is a mix of superheroes and science fiction. You have a chance to see it now in the next year as you wait to see the characters again in AVENGERS DOOMSDAY (just don't miss out on the end credits scenes).

This review is ©8-28-2025 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com