The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the 37th theatrical release in Marvel Studios’ billion-dollar franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it’s coming at a bit of a low point. Marvel has struggled in recent years to reach the heights of their initial run of films, which led up to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame in a series called the Infinity Saga.

Ever since Marvel’s first post-Endgame release in 2021, WandaVision, the franchise has been exploring its second overarching storyline, termed the Multiverse Saga. But unlike its predecessor, this saga has been an unfocused, and often messy, unfolding overarching narrative that pivoted from one villain to another more than halfway through.

The Multiverse Saga also added television into the main MCU framework for the first time, and the varied quality of both the Marvel films and shows has led to a drastic decline in interest among audiences. That loss of interest can be seen in Marvel’s diminishing box office returns, with only two of the studio’s last six movies reaching the once-easy $500 million benchmark.

All that’s to say, The Fantastic Four: First Steps has quite a lot working against it from the jump. 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.

The movie, directed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman, has a rather simplistic storyline (don’t expect a big third-act twist). But it’s a solid piece of superhero cinema that focuses on establishing the characters, giving them an impossible problem to solve, and then exploring what they do to save the world. It’s simple, but it’s fun, even if it lacks some of the Marvel magic.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Is A Completely Fresh Entry Point To The MCU

Audiences Don’t Need To Have Seen Any Other Marvel Movies

Perhaps one of the biggest drags on MCU movies in recent years is the mentality that audiences need to have done their homework to understand what’s going on. Although Marvel has worked to combat this, longtime audiences want to be rewarded for what they’ve watched before, and new audiences don’t want to have watched anything. It’s put Marvel in a difficult spot.

To avoid all of these problems, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set in a completely new universe within the Marvel multiverse. That means there are no pre-established superheroes, aside from the Fantastic Four, and there’s no prior knowledge required. It’s a relief, frankly, to go into a Marvel movie without needing to remember anything else, but there are certain pitfalls.

Although The Fantastic Four: First Steps isn’t an origin story – since that’s been done to death in previous adaptations of the Marvel superheroes – the movie still needs to introduce this universe and these characters. This is done through time skips and montages, which offer a chance for some fun Marvel Comics Easter eggs, but eat into the runtime of the movie.

The scenes spent establishing the universe are likely why the story needed to be so simple, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Superhero movies don’t need to be overly intricate to be enjoyable, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps manages to be perfectly entertaining without too much overcomplication.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Cast Carries The Movie

Pedro Pascal And Vanessa Kirby Are Standouts

I don’t think The Fantastic Four: First Steps would work nearly as well as it does without the cast at the heart of it. Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby anchor Marvel’s First Family as Reed Richards and Sue Storm, but Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn as Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm are just as integral to the enjoyable dynamic of the group.

It’s astonishing how much depth Pascal brings to Reed, a character who has a great deal of intellect, but isn’t always the best at navigating emotions. There’s a warmth to him that balances the cold way he sees the world, and it makes for an almost heartbreaking character – something I didn’t know I’d see in a Marvel movie hero.

However, I cannot overstate how much of a powerhouse Kirby is as Sue. There is a speech Sue delivers to a group of New Yorkers about family that genuinely brought tears to my eyes and touched my heart. Her chemistry with Pascal helps to make Reed and Sue’s on-screen relationship work, but she’s exceptional on her own.

Moss-Bachrach and Quinn are given slightly less to do, but they have their own side storylines that are threaded through the main narrative – and they bring plenty of heart and humor to the movie. It’s much-needed and adds an entertaining dynamic that helps First Steps not feel like a superhero slog. Overall, The Fantastic Four cast is truly fantastic.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Is Good, But Lacks Marvel Magic

It’s A Fine, Decently Entertaining Superhero Movie

Ever since I finished watching The Fantastic Four: First Steps, I’ve wrestled with how to put my thoughts about the movie into words. Technically, Shakman’s Marvel movie is good, great even. The story is simple, but well told. The visuals are interesting – if a bit gray for my taste – and the CGI is fine. The cast is talented and clearly had a lot of fun. Overall, there are no glaring errors.

And yet, I still can’t help but feel like there’s something missing from The Fantastic Four: First Steps, something that I can only label as Marvel magic. In the earlier days of the MCU, particularly after The Avengers, there was a breathless excitement to the franchise. There was a need to see every new Marvel movie because it was all building toward something completely new.

Now, where is there to go after the heights of Endgame? It’s the question Marvel, audiences, and even I have struggled with. In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it feels a bit like Marvel trying to recapture what worked in those early MCU movies, but, at least for me, it doesn’t quite work. Whether that’s because the movie doesn’t have the magic, or because I’ve lost that excitement, I can’t say for certain.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is entertaining, and I have no doubt that Marvel fans will enjoy it. Even general audiences who have fallen off the MCU are sure to have a fun-filled good time with this summer blockbuster. But, although Pascal, Kirby, Moss-Bachrach and Quinn are all confirmed to appear in next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, it still doesn’t feel like essential viewing.

In the meantime, I’ll be hoping to see that Marvel magic again in one of the MCU’s other upcoming projects.