How 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' sets a foundation for the future of the MCU

The Star

2 days ago

After three previous movie incarnations of the Fantastic Four which have been some of the most uncreative and blasphemous portrayals of the team, we finally have a movie that is worthy of the word 'fantastic'.
Fantastic Four: First Steps finally does justice to Marvel's First Family, with strong performances by the leading actors, a fun, comic book-like 60s retro feel, and a Galactus that is truly worthy of the name 'Devourer of Worlds'.
The new movie stars current King Of Pop Culture Pedro Pascal ( The Last Of Us , The Mandalorian ) as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby ( The Crown ) as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach ( The Bear ) as Ben Grimm/The Thing. and Joseph Quinn ( Stranger Things ) as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch.
It also stars Julia Garner as the female Silver Surfer, and Ralph Ineson as Galactus.
In tribute to the First Family's return to the big screen, here is a brief recap of what it means to be 'fantastic'!
The Fantastic Four's first steps into the MCU couldn't have gone better. — Photos: Marvel Comics
Although it's called 'First Steps', this is hardly the first time the Fantastic Four have been on the big screen, of course. Unfortunately, the actual cinematic first steps the team was supposed to take back in 1994 never really materalised, and hogged the headlines for the wrong reasons.
30 years ago, low-budget specialists Roger Corman and Bernd Eichinger made The Fantastic Four for a budget of less than US$1mil (RM4.2mil). For comparison, First Steps cost almost US$200mil (RM843mil) to make!
The English-language German superhero movie was made (or rather rushed) to allow Eichinger to keep the FF film rights.
The first ever Fantastic Four movie in 1994 was never released.
To be fair, the movie (by comic book movie standards back then) was actually quite true to the comics, but Marvel Studio founder Avi Arad was concerned that releasing the low-budget film might cheapen the then-fledgling brand.
In the end, Arad decided to purchase the film for a couple of million dollars and ordered all the prints destroyed, thus preventing its release (or so he thought).
Fun fact: The original cast from the unreleased film – Alex Hyde-White, Rebecca Staab, Jay Underwood, and Michael Bailey Smith – all make cameos in First Steps .
It took over a decade for the FF to have another outing on the silver screen, and I personally loved Tim Story's Fantastic Four (2005), which made enough to spawn a sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer , in 2007.
The team dynamics was wonderful, with a real-life cast that mirrored the comic characters (who can forget Chris Evans' Johnny Storm, Michael Chiklis' rocky rendition of the Thing, a highly visible Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, and the scintillating Silver Surfer).
The 2005 movie (and its sequel in 2007) were fun and true to thecomic books (except for space cloud Galactus!)
Sure, it was a very campy cinematic take of the FF, but it was fun and entertaining. Plus without it, we would not have that iconic scene of Chris Evans going 'Flame On!' in Deadpool & Wolverine !
The only thing that spoiled it for me and the legions of Marvel fans was the way Galactus was depicted in the second movie... as nothing but a giant space cloud of dust!
By 2015, the popularity of the MCU was almost at its 2019 Endgame peak, and superheroes were dominating the box office. So, it made sense for 21st Century Fox to come up with a 'reboot' of the Fantastic Four (plus they needed to make one just to hold on to the cinematic rights at the time).
Unfortunately, Josh Trank's 2015 'Fant4stic Four' was an abomination that has since been dubbed one of the worst superhero films ever made. I remember watching it during the pandemic and thinking that it was an experience even worse than getting Covid-19!
The less said about the 2015 'Fant4stic' abomination, the better.
Besides being an utterly uninspired take on the superheroes, it also blasphemously changed the FF's origins – instead of cosmic rays from a space mission, they get their powers from an accident involving a 'Quantum Gate' designed by... Victor Von Doom.
There are three things I (unfortunately) remember about the movie – Doctor Doom's low grade costume, Michael B Jordan as the most bored-looking Johnny Storm ever, and Trank publicly disassociating himself with the film prior to its release!
Thankfully, Disney later bought 21st Century Fox and the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four came with it, which leads us to...
After experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in the FF's cinematic journey, another relaunch required substantial care, creativity and culmination of every ingredient that makes the FF ... Fantastic!
Directed by Matt Shakman, First Steps is set in a 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic parallel Earth (designated Earth-828), with the team already four years into their role as the planet's protectors.
With 'First Steps', Marvel's First Family finally has a movie that truly does justice to its name.
The film returns to the 'space mission and cosmic rays' origin story (which is told via flashbacks), and focuses a lot more around the family bonds between the four. As the movie opens, however, we learn that four will soon be becoming five, as Sue is pregnant with a son!
Soon, however, the FF face an immediate danger with the impending arrival of Galactus aka the Devourer of Worlds, preceded by a stark warning by his herald, the Silver Surfer!
Expect more FF versus Doom mayhem in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday movie next year.
If you're still looking for an origin tale to prepare yourself for the movie, Marvel has handily released a one-shot comic written by none other than former FF scribe Matt Fraction with art by Nark Buckingham, which serves as a prologue to the movie.
My biggest gripe about comic book movies is that they are usually not in-sync with the comics.
The new Fantastic Four continuing series is well worth the money.
Fortunately, Marvel has learned from past mistakes and there is currently a new Fantastic Four regular series by Ryan North and Humberto Ramos.
Ignoring the 22 variant covers, the story and art were worth spending US$5 (RM21) on, as they remind me of a Hickman-Byrne combo!
The idea of setting the story four years after the team's inception is actually ... refreshing.
It also makes sense for them to have a somewhat fresh start, as they were Marvel's first Silver Age heroes, paving the way for Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men and the others to shine.
The Fantastic Four have always focused on family above all else, even the squabbling bits.
Speaking of the Silver Age, the movie also draws inspiration from legendary FF-scribes, such as creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, as well as latter-day maestros Jonathan Hickman and John Byrne.
Best of all is the inclusion of reference characters and places iconic to the FF, such as H.E.R.B.I.E. the Robot, the Baxter Building, Yancy Street Gang, and the Future Foundation, which provides a nice fusion of old and new into the whole ecosystem.
The inclusion of Franklin both completes and complicates things for the First Family. In the comics, Franklin is a vastly powerful being who possesses powers exceeding Omega-level Mutants, capable of creating pocket universes and warping entire realities.
While he is still a toddler by the time First Steps ends, THAT Doom-related post-credit scene should indicate that he might have a huge part to play in Avengers: Doomsday next year.
Franklin Richards is set to become a pivotal character in the MCU.
Still, with the inclusion of Franklin, the FF's embodiment of the word 'family' is one that transcends cosmic realities. The team has always been a family, bonded by marriage, blood ties, friendship and a heavy dose of cosmic rays.
While other super team comic book movies have the elements of dysfunctionality ( Guardians Of The Galaxy, Thunderbolts, Suicide Squad ) or have a shared common ground (the X-Men), the FF has always lived up to the moniker of 'First Family' in the Marvel Universe. And if this movie is any indication, it is definitely setting the right foundations for the future of the MCU.