The Fantastic Four: First Steps Review - Phase Six begins with fantastic results

Chase Gifford
23 hours ago
6 min read

“The important thing is that we stick together!” - Buzz Lightyear

I think what worked so well with the Infinity Saga is a more linear series of story hopping between characters. It was easier for people to digest the more familiar characters like Iron Man and Captain America. The weirder, lesser-known characters didn’t really show up until mid phase two with James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. It was a huge risk introducing these characters to anyone outside the comic book sphere. Of course it worked out quite well creating arguably the best trilogy of the entire saga. However different these movies were, the connective tissue between them all was Thanos and the Infinity Stones. Whatever happened between points a and b was up for discussion just as long as it always led back to the promise of an ultimate showdown with The Mad Titan. How does each story add to the mythos of Thanos threatening our very reality?

Thanos lost and Earth was redeemed. Tony Stark made the ultimate sacrifice fulfilling his character arc of selfish rich kid turned selfless hero of the universe. The saga created a demand to see these characters finish what they started. Infinity War destroyed that possibility and Endgame restored it. It was an emotional roller coaster taking all the things we’ve come to learn of these characters, their losses, their victories, their love stories, and their incredible sacrifices and using this knowledge to raise the stakes and to repeatedly leave us wanting more. When Thanos perished it would seem he took with him any sense of cohesion that made the Saga so wonderfully interwoven.

Now we are in the beginning stages of Phase Six, the final phase of the Multiverse Saga. While there has been much to still celebrate about the current slate of MCU movies, there is much to dislike and even downright loathe. So much of what isn’t working is a linear story point that can connect everything not just through its characters but its smaller storylines catering to the bigger picture which will ultimately be Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. What is it all building towards? In the beginning it was the creation of the Avengers. Once established they were on a collision course with Thanos. It’s hinted all throughout Phases one, two, and three. It’s a giant puzzle, each new film a perfectly placed piece culminating the finale of phase 3.

The Multiverse Saga has felt disjointed, pushing towards an unknown finale with a kind of meandering lack of focus. It has its smaller triumphs but I think when phase six is officially done, no matter how epic the final two Avengers films end up, it will pale in comparison to what can only be described as a far more cohesive, linear, and more focused first saga. Multiverse feels like we’re trying to find our glasses in the dark. We’re making progress but glacially and less convincingly.

It’s why every recent release has put everyone into a kind of defensive position. Shoulders up, muscles tense just waiting for the impact of another mediocre (at best) addition to the MCU. It’s also why everyone has a kind of relieved, exhale of tension release when the movie is actually really good. Guardians vol. 3? Best of the trilogy if you ask me. Ant-Man 3? Horrendous. Doctor Strange 2? One of my favorites. (Yeah I said it! I’m tired of pretending Doctor Strange 2 isn’t great. It’s got Sam Raimi horror integrated throughout and it’s wonderful because of it.) Thor: Love and Thunder? I don’t hate it like most but I can see their point.

Captain America 4? If it were anymore middle-of-the-road it would be going the wrong way. But then there’s Thunderbolts*. Excellent team of characters proving their naysayers wrong and saving the day in the process. And now here we are at the beginning of the end. Phase Six.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

We can only hope this, in its final turn towards the finish line, is a turn in the right direction. While noticeably sloppy at times, having to establish so much for what’s to come in the next couple of years, First Steps is a resounding success. I think most prominent about what works is its identity providing a new, ultra-cool retro-world set in an alternate 1960’s New York. Its fascinating combination of old school and future tech makes for an unrealized hope for what our future may have looked like as a result of the Space Race. The similarities provide a tether to what we know of that era but deviates when necessary to create a wonderful vision of innovation and ingenuity coming together. At the center of it all is The Fantastic Four. Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic. Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman. Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch. Ben Grimm, aka The Thing.

Bound by love, loyalty, and family, forever connected through extraordinary circumstances. Despite such insurmountable odds with galaxy sized implications, a major theme throughout is the importance of family and sticking together no matter what. For all the grandiose theatrics, their unity is at the forefront of everything they do. To fail, to succeed, to live or to die, they choose to do it together. It is their greatest strength as a unit. Individually they are as unique and fantastic as their namesake. Richards with extreme elasticity and malleability. Not to mention he is one of the smartest in all of the MCU. Sue Storm can turn herself or anything she comes into contact with, invisible on top of which she can also generate force fields. The wild man, Johnny Storm, brother of Sue, can fully engulf himself in flames and harness its power to fly as well as endure extremely hot temperatures. And there’s The Thing. Superhuman strength, durability, stamina and an outer layer of rock granting him almost complete invulnerability.

But where First Steps utilizes these characters best is by never forgetting who they were before the incident that changed them forever. They were and are scientists. As their greatest threat begins to unveil itself, they use their intelligence and understanding of the known universe to aid in their attempt to defeat the newly acquainted and hopelessly formidable planet eater, known as Galactus. But before his debut, we are introduced to his herald, a fearsome presence in her own right, the mysterious Shalla-Bal, the Silver Surfer. And a desirable date for Johnny? Time will tell on that one.

Finding proof that Galactus is exactly what Shalla-Bal describes, the core four must combine forces to stave off extinction by mass relocation. Whether that means Galactus or planet Earth is all dependent on what happens when he finally arrives. And when he arrives, his sheer size is indescribable. Dwarfing Earth as if it were a marble he intended on collecting, Ralph Ineson, with his gloriously gravely and low voice, as Galactus demonstrates a cold indifference to his insatiable desire to devour planets. He is pure terror on a scale not seen in the MCU. So how do they stop him? Good question.

Spectacular visuals, a strong central storyline with highly creative settings like the Richards’ lab or the vibrancy of a modernized 1960’s New York all the way to unfathomable distances across space and time including the boarding of Galactus’ ship. An adherence to the characters’ true nature as scientists determined to solve their problems and delivering a beating to any and all villains to ensure victory is a constant throughout. It’s repeatedly emphasized what the four are fighting for, to never forget their humanity, however superhuman they become.

There is a stirring speech given by Sue Storm to a riled up and scared public that not only eases their tension but solidifies the four’s oath to protect their home and all those who live there. It’s a highlight of the film and Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, a new mom, portrays a ferocity that is impossible to ignore. She is electric. Though they put on a confident front, they are always honest with one another, faults, triumphs, and shortcomings alike. There is a relatability to them despite such superhuman abilities. It connects us to them. It makes us concerned for them when they combat the epic forces of a comic book world gone crazy. It’s a promising start to what will hopefully be an epic finish to this saga, however imperfect it may be.