They aren’t actually the first steps for the Fan Four cinematically, but Fantastic Four: First Steps is the team’s first foray into the MCU. As fresh starts go, it has a lot to prove: there is a legacy to uphold and doubts to overcome due to a lukewarm (practically cursed) track record at the movies.
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The FF’s first film adventure was never meant to be released and only exists as a bootleg. Ten years later, Tim Story directed two movies for 20th Century Fox best remembered for Chris Evans playing The Human Torch and the part of Galactus being played by a raging storm cloud for some reason.
Then in 2015 came Fant4stic which everyone would rather forget. That film is a ghost of its star Miles Teller’s past, which means people are curious about his thoughts toward First Steps. After seeing the trailer, he gave the film and its cast well-wishes with a diplomatic touch.
“I wish them all the best. I don’t wish anybody to be a part of a bomb. It’s just a marker on their career that, for some people, takes longer to get over than others. So I just wish them the best. I saw the little trailer, I thought it looked fantastic,” he said to The Hollywood Reporter.
The trailer for the new FF movie didn’t quite make the splash Superman’s did, but it has positive takeaways. Fans have praised the Cold War-era retro-futurism, The Thing and Galactus’s comic-accurate designs, and even the addition of H.E.R.B.I.E., which is normally a hard sell for any devotee of the team and their lore.
Still, Marvel needs to overcome a wait-and-see attitude hovering over the proceedings. To do that, they have to show off the parts of the film that might hit the wrong chord. For instance, The Silver Surfer (played by Julia Garner) is a woman this time around. We haven’t seen what she looks like, but we know what’s coming, and this change alone has caused noticeable grumbling.
Next, you have the casting of a middle-aged Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards. He is an inspired choice for some, while others are sick of him showing up everywhere. The latter group also dislikes the finely groomed mustache he brings to the mix because it isn’t Reed’s style despite the beard he sported on and off over the years.
Without a doubt, Fantastic Four: First Steps has a big hill to climb and detractors to prove wrong. One of them happens to be Matt Walsh of Daily Wire and Am I Racist? fame who, a pundit, and film critic in his own right, shared his list of most anticipated movies of 2025 this week.
First Steps and its trailer came in last on the list, but Walsh wasn’t exactly saving the best for that slot. He considers the reboot his least anticipated film and puts it at the end of his video because he believes superhero films are played out.
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“We just don’t need any more superhero movies,” Walsh explains. “These stories have been told now a million times. It’s always basically the same story.” He adds that the culture has reached capacity with the genre and that every movie’s story has all the same beats. “It’s the same outline every time.”
He then brings up the uncomfortable truth mentioned above, that Marvel has tried over and over to establish the Fantastic Four as a powerhouse at the box office, and to little or no avail. “It has never worked and this won’t work either.”
Walsh concedes he is no expert on superheroes, but he chides the FF for being basic and “lame.” The commentator says, “They just are,” as he writes them off further by calling Marvel’s First Family prototypes and “rough drafts” for superteams. “They were not finished products.”
To him, “stretchy guy” Mr. Fantastic’s powers are an impractical joke that only makes Reed a bigger target. Walsh also doesn’t think much of The Thing or Johnny Storm’s powers, which he says a five-year-old could dream up without knowing of the comics or Marvel.
Overall, the Fantastic Four “is a fun little relic of the 60s, but there is not enough here for a compelling story,” Walsh said. We shall see how compelling audiences think First Steps is in July, and if Matt Walsh is right or wrong. Marvel isn’t off to a good start this year, but H.E.R.B.I.E.’s secret sauce might have the right zip to put them back on track.