"Four the Culture!! How does Marvel’s Latest Fantastic Four Finally Fixes the Franchise"

Let’s be honest: Marvel’s First Family has never had it easy on screen. Since the early 2000s, the Fantastic Four have been passed around like an awkward group project—rushed, underwritten, and spectacularly misunderstood. Even with a lineup as iconic as Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm, previous attempts have failed to stick the landing. Until now. With The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), Marvel Studios has finally done what three previous tries could not. Make the Fantastic Four feel fantastic. It’s not just a good film—it’s a long-overdue course correction that exposes exactly why earlier versions flopped, and how a little vision (and a lot of Kirby energy) can redeem even the most battered corner of the Marvel IP vault. 

2005: Bland, Bright, and Forgettable 

When Tim Story’s Fantastic Four dropped in 2005, superhero films were still figuring themselves out. We were a year removed from Spider-Man 2, and the MCU didn’t exist yet. That film, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis, was colorful and earnest, but it never rose above “Saturday morning cartoon” vibes. It was a film where characters constantly explained the plot out loud and Reed Richards used his stretchy powers

for party tricks instead of high-concept science. Even at its best, the film failed to truly explore what made the Fantastic Four unique. They’re not just superheroes—they’re a family of explorers, shaped by their relationships as much as their powers. The 2005 version barely scratched that surface, defaulting instead to a hammy Doom and an abundance of lab coats. 

2007: Rise (and Immediate Fall) of the Silver Surfer 

The sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), was supposed to be an evolution. It introduced fan-favorite cosmic elements, promised higher stakes, and flirted with themes of sacrifice and identity via the Surfer himself. But let’s be real—it gave us Galactus as a literal cloud. The character that once heralded the end of worlds was reduced to glorified weather. It was like watching a Shakespearean actor be cast as “fog machine technician.”While Chris Evans’ Johnny Storm had his moments and the Silver Surfer looked impressive for the time, the film lacked emotional weight, thematic depth, and any reason to care beyond the visual effects. It was a film that tiptoed toward cosmic wonder—and then slipped on its own tonal banana peel.

2015: Grimdark and Gloriously Bad 

The 2015 Fant4stic reboot deserves mention only as a cautionary tale. Josh Trank’s gritty retelling attempted to Nolan-ify the FF: somber tones, joyless characters, and endless exposition in labs with poor lighting. It was a Fantastic Four movie that seemed to actively resent the concept of fun. Worse still, it felt embarrassed by its source material. The Fantastic Four didn’t become a team until nearly 90 minutes in. There were no iconic costumes, barely any adventure, and the film’s climax felt like a PowerPoint presentation in the Negative Zone. It's the only superhero film that made having powers look like a slow and painful illness.

2025: A Reboot With Heart, Humor, and Actual Vision 

Enter First Steps. Set in a 1960s retro-futuristic Earth-828, the new film directed by Matt Shakman finally understands the assignment. From the moment the Baxter Building hovers into frame, you know you’re in a world where imagination is king and science is sexy again. Gone are the lab coats and origin story tedium. The team is already established when we meet them, and thank Galactus for that. The film wastes no time introducing Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) as fully formed people—with distinct relationships, emotional baggage, and banter that feels lived-in, not forced. 

More importantly, First Steps embraces what earlier films rejected. Tone and style rooted in Jack Kirby’s cosmic weirdness. It's vibrant without being silly, emotional without being grim, and unabashedly nerdy in its love for multiversal theory, celestial threats, and family dynamics. And yes—Galactus is finally done right. No clouds. No metaphors. A towering cosmic being voiced and performed by Ralph Ineson with bone-chilling gravitas. Paired with Julia Garner’s enigmatic Silver Surfer, this reboot treats the FF’s rogues and mythology with the scale and respect they’ve long deserved.

What sets First Steps apart is how much it centers the Fantastic Four as a family, not just a collection of superheroes. Sue’s pregnancy adds emotional stakes that feel refreshingly grounded. Reed’s neuroses are no longer just “smart guy guilt”—they’re rooted in fears about fatherhood and legacy. Ben’s pathos is given real weight, not just quips about being “the Thing.” And Johnny? Still fiery, but now tempered by real brotherly affection. Compare that to 2005, where family dynamics mostly amounted to awkward flirting between Reed and Sue, and Johnny being a prankster for comedic relief. Those earlier films rarely captured the tension, love, and dysfunction that make the FF’s relationships compelling. First Steps doesn’t just capture it—it builds the whole story around it.

The new film also refuses to look like anything else in the MCU. Instead of gray rubble and interchangeable CGI skylines, we get vintage spacecrafts, cosmic cities, mod-inspired costumes, and music that sounds like John Barry and Sun Ra had a baby. It’s stylized, specific, and bold. The early 2000s films, while colorful, looked like they were filmed in vaguely European malls and empty soundstages. First Steps looks like an art director’s fever dream come to life—and that’s a good thing.

That’s not to say First Steps is flawless. I have noted pacing issues, and Sue Storm’s pregnancy arc could have given her more autonomy beyond maternal symbolism. The third act also leans heavily into MCU-style exposition and spectacle. But even with those stumbles, it’s a movie made with genuine affection for its characters and their comic book roots. Where the early films played it safe, the new Fantastic Four dares to be strange. Where past iterations downplayed the family angle, this one puts it front and center. Where Fox once feared the cosmic scale, Marvel now embraces it with arms wide open.

The Fantastic Four were Marvel’s first big superheroes. They launched the Marvel Age of Comics. And yet, for years, their film adaptations felt like the MCU’s most cursed franchise. First Steps changes that. It’s not just a good Fantastic Four movie—it’s the first one that understands what makes the team matter. And after two decades of blandness, camp, and cosmic clouds, that alone feels heroic.