After restructuring its next chapter, Marvel is ready to kickstart its cinematic universe with the long-awaited Fantastic Four: First Steps. Arriving weeks after James Gunn’s Superman set the domestic box office ablaze, the Pedro Pascal-led project has uphill climb. Battling fatigue among a portion of its viewer base and poor reviews of its recent films from some critics, Marvel is looking to get thing back on track as it sets the stage for the next crop of Avengers. Will Pascal and the crew get things going or will they fall short? Check out what everyone’s saying about The Fantastic Four: First Steps or head to theaters to see it for yourself.
The Basics
Where To Watch: In Theaters
Release Date: Friday, July 25, 2025
Cast: Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser
Synopsis: Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Ben Grimm/The Thing as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Critics’ Chatter
“Though the story has an irritating habit of skipping lightly over the hardest bits—the characters keep erasing intractable difficulties with thrown-together schemes, and for a planet destroyer Galactus proves surprisingly easy to push around—it sometimes illustrates big ideas with panache, such as when it suggests (à la the magnificent 2016 sci-fi film Arrival) that the strongest force in the universe is shared language. Or maybe the second-strongest: What’s thrilling about the climax is not the clash and clatter of urban destruction but how it suggests that nothing can top the strength of a mother protecting her newborn. Reed loves to quote Archimedes, who said something like ‘Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I can move the world.’ Motherhood is that lever, and acknowledging this is a fantastic idea for a blockbuster.”
-Kyle Smith, The Wall Street Journal | Read The Full Review Here
“A nagging feeling begins to grow early on in The Fantastic Four: First Steps that rather than the first film in a shiny new franchise reboot of the superhero quartet, we have actually been plopped into a sequel. That’s both a strength and a drawback of the audacious approach taken by a movie that represents Marvel’s most earnest attempt at something daring in years, bumpy as it may be.”
-Brandon Yu, The New York Times | Read The Full Review Here
“Even as someone who’s loved the MCU since Iron Man first released in theaters 17 years ago, and was a superhero movie fan before that, I found myself going into Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot with quite a lot of pessimism, not expecting to enjoy the film very much. However, I’m happy to report that The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a lot more fun than I was expecting, with great dynamics between the characters and plenty of banter that kept me laughing throughout the film. The central family in First Steps is well-developed, while each character has moments to shine, individually and as part of the group.”
-Molly Freeman, ScreenRant | Read The Full Review Here
Timeline Talk
