2025 has been a busy year for the MCU. Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, Daredevil: Born Again, Ironheart, and now, The Fantastic Four: The First Steps have all been released so far in 2025! We still have Wonder Man coming later this year, too, so 2025 is a stacked year, and to be fair, while some may have MCU fatigue, I do not, and I have enjoyed all the offerings from Marvel this year, and Fantastic Four is probably my favorite, but there is not much in it.
Where to Watch The Fantastic Four: First Steps
The Fantastic Four: First Steps was released on July 25, 2025. You will be able to stream the film from a Disney+ a couple of months since its theatrical release.
The Movie Review
This had a lot to live up to, not just because of the stellar year that Marvel has been having, but DC’s Superman was fantastic! I had been really looking forward to this. I thought the mid-2000s Fantastic Four movies (Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)) were fun, but that last one we got was just god awful, one of the worst superhero movies I have ever seen. I was very excited to see how The Fantastic Four would fit into the MCU, and I think that they nailed it.
A New Way to Tell a Classic Origin
Like Superman a few weeks ago, The Fantastic Four: The First Step does not spend a ton of time giving the backstory of The Fantastic Four. We meet our heroes, four years into their heroic journey, and the montage of them taking on their classic villains was just a ton of fun. I had no idea Cobra Kai’s Paul Walter Hauser was Mole Man, and I got a huge kick out of that.
The Silver Surfer and Galactus Raise the Stakes
After another successful mission, Earth is visited by the Silver Surfer, who warns them that their world is coming to an end as Galactus is coming. Julia Garner was fantastic as The Silver Surfer, and the stuff with her actually surfing in a few of the scenes as she was taking on Johnny Storm was fantastic and some of the best CGI that I have seen in the MCU in quite some time.
Setting Up the Multiverse with a New Earth
The Fantastic Four and the people of their Earth are confident that they can stop Galactus, and they head into outer space to try and stop this world-eater before he gets to their Earth. Oh yeah, it is pretty much already known, but this is set on a different Earth than the one that our MCU is on, hence the mind-blowing credits scene at the end of Thunderbolts*.
Strong Cast and Great Chemistry
While The Fantastic Four are powerful, they are no match for Galactus, and not only can they not defeat them, in order to save their world, he demands a price that Sue and Reed are just not willing to pay. The casting here is great with Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach playing the Fantastic Four.
Banter, Nostalgia, and HERBIE Add Fun
While they all did a great job, my favorite aspect of the dynamic was the banter between Johnny and The Thing, oh, and the banter and scenes with HERBIE were a ton of fun too. Honestly, they did a fantastic job of making this feel like a classic issue of The Fantastic Four or even like an episode from the underrated 90s animated series, but at the same time, ensuring it fits into the MCU.
Retro-Futurism and MCU Visual Style
The movie looks fantastic, the retro, Tomorrowland kind of style that the movie has is a lot of fun. There is a lot of high-tech technology here, but it has a retro vibe about it all, and it is very cool. It is certainly one of the more unique and interesting-looking movies in the entire MCU.
Final Thoughts and MCU Hype for the Future
I was sure that I was going to enjoy The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but I liked it even more than I thought I would. This has gotten me very excited for what is to come in the MCU Wonder Man is still scheduled for this year, and then in 2026, we have Spider-Man: Brand New Day and then Avengers: Doomsday, which this movie has gotten me very, very excited for. This movie 100 percent delivered, and I thought it was a ton of fun, if you are still loving the MCU, I am sure you will enjoy this.
