From Superhero to Superdad: Reed Richards’ New Journey

Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a glossy, nostalgic look at one of the company’s first superhero teams. The film has a high quotient of solid performances, particularly from Pedro Pascal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. But though the movie has style and heart, it has little in the way of suspense or build-it-up stakes.

Producer Kevin Feige said that the movie is “a no-homework-required” entry in Marvel’s cinematic universe. That’s to say, this new Fantastic Four doesn’t feel much like homework for fans either. For viewers weary of keeping track of every multiverse permutation, post-credit cameo, and peripheral spin-off, First Steps is a return to the “standalone story” pitch that Marvel movies used to advertise. This one reintroduces Marvel’s first family—Reed Richards (Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (Moss-Bachrach)—without getting tied up in the continuity of previous adaptations. The film is simple in execution—and, often to its detriment, in its ambitions as well.

First Steps opens with a talk show hosted by Mark Gatiss, who serves as the movie’s handy-but-cheesy frame for a character-driven retelling of how the Fantastic Four became the Fantastic Four. Four years ago, the four (Richards, Storm, Storm, and Grimm) were astronauts on a mission to outer space. A miscalculation during the trip left the four of them exposed to high levels of radiation, which gave them superpowers and altered their DNA. Pascal’s Reed Richards acquires the elasticity of a rubber band, Kirby’s Sue acquires the power to turn invisible and project force fields, Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm can light himself on fire and fly through the air, and Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm is permanently transformed into the brawny rock-covered brute known as The Thing.

As befits their superhero status, Reed and Sue live in a commune-like house with the other two. The set design is cozy and bizarrely retro. Flying cars abound, blackboard equations line the walls, and a toddler-sized robot named H.E.R.B.I.E. brings Reed’s daughter snacks. In the world of First Steps, everything is square television screens and atomic-age geometry. Cell phones are nonexistent, and everyone wears clothes that could have been cribbed from vintage science fiction magazines. The film’s future is the exact opposite of The Matrix: no black leather or dystopian grunge, just a soft, pastel-filtered version of the 1960s.

Despite the agreeable aesthetic, there isn’t much tension in the film’s plot. Family is the central theme of First Steps. Sue is early in her pregnancy, and Reed’s reaction to the news is appropriately panicked and paternal. In one sequence, Reed has H.E.R.B.I.E. baby-proof their home as well as their science lab, which causes some comic friction between Reed and Sue. Johnny and Ben fill the roles of irritating siblings and comic sidekicks, but both seem to be relishing their future status as uncles.

The leisurely pace is interrupted by an intergalactic threat. Galactus, a giant armored being with large glowing eyes, is on a direct path to Earth, and its intended destination is, of course, to devour the planet. (As a young Reed quips at one point, “eating planets is what he does best.”) Before he arrives, Galactus will send a herald, who goes by the name of The Silver Surfer and who will be played in motion capture by Julia Garner. The Surfer has a silver-skin, humanoid form and a surfboard-like board. At first, the Silver Surfer is a sleek threat, though she also attracts the curiosity—and the crush—of Johnny Storm.

Galactus and the Silver Surfer feel like filler in the film, and to some extent, they are. First Steps is a movie about the strong bonds between the four central characters, but Galactus and the Silver Surfer have the sense of being a “big bad” added in a last draft. As the Fantastic Four chase Galactus through outer space, dodge attacks from the Surfer, and race back to Earth, the action is serviceable but unspectacular. The bursts of light, flames, and fiery trails are all in service to the retro look of the film. Most of the sequences have a brightly colored, choreographed vibe to them: the punches and kicks are cartoony, as are the explosions. This aesthetic extends to the climax, in which Sue goes into labor on a mission to return to Earth. The idea of childbirth taking place during a planetary cataclysm is…strange. But it’s also hard to get too invested in anything in First Steps, as there are no palpable stakes in the way there usually are in Marvel’s biggest films.

In its milder moments, First Steps finds something of a nice tone between sincerity and silliness. There are some good emotional beats in the movie, but they are often undercut by the wan pastel look. The stakes never feel like they are high, even when, well, the end of the Earth is in danger. First Steps has the feel of a children’s adventure story rather than a superhero action movie.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a fun and well-acted film, but it just doesn’t pack the dramatic punch that Marvel’s best movies do. The film is more accessible, retro, and earnest—and, well, less thrilling—than other recent Marvel releases. If you’re in the mood for something less serious than the end of the world, you might find First Steps satisfying. Otherwise, it’s like an Easter egg that’s cute to look at but not so much to open.