The Fantastic Four: First Steps movie review – Marvel's original superhero team returns
'I will eat your planet slowly while your child watches.' So says Galactus, the world-destroying entity – and enemy – of The Fantastic Four in Marvel's latest offering.
As lines go, it is one of the better put-downs in Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) history, and Galactus – aka The Devourer of Worlds – is arguably the best villain since
Thanos clicked his fingers . All this adds real bite to this big-screen return for the superhero team created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a stylish work from director Matt Shakman, who brings the same retro-cool aesthetics to this as he did to the Marvel TV show WandaVision.
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Far superior to the two Fantastic Four films from the early aughts, as well as 2015's previous reboot – all of which First Steps overrides without a thought – this new reboot/restart brings us a whole new cast, one that is destined to become integral to next year's anticipated Avengers: Doomsday.
Set on Earth 828, an alternate to our own planet, the film begins with a rapid-fire intro that reveals it has been four years since a quartet of astronauts returned from a space mission, their DNA changed by a cosmic turbulence that has given them superpowers.
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