Just How FANTASTIC Is This Super Family? The Fantastic Four : First Steps & Future of the MCU

Posing with the Fantastic Four at the movie theatre!

Is Marvel's new, The Fantastic Four : First Steps, a good addition to the MCU? How does it all fit in, and what should we expect moving forward? Keep reading to find MY thoughts in my review of the new superhero movie. Also, check out my podcast where I reviewed this movie (and many others). Click here for the video version on YouTube. OR, go to the episodes tab on this site if you just wanna listen.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

I got to watch this movie over the weekend, and let me tell y’all I was so excited for it. I was a tiny bit hesitant because I love the Fantastic Four movies from the 2000s with beautiful buzzcut Chris Evans as my man, Johnny Storm. Don’t play with me about him.

We all know about the fantastic four movies and how they’ve been redone, so to say I was nervous was an understatement. Now, I know the actors cast in this are great, but sometimes just being a good actor doesn’t mean you’re a good fit for certain roles. That was my fear going into this movie.

And praise the Lord because within the first five minutes of this movie? That fear vanished. I think the casting was SO incredible. They each really captured the personalities of each member of the Fantastic Four so well, especially in the context of the tone of the movie. I loved getting to see them each have their own moments while also seeing them seamlessly blend together as a family. The chemistry between them all was phenomenal.

I loved the sibling energy between Sue and Johnny, especially when they all make fun of Johnny for making up a moment with the Silver Surfer, but then later Sue goes to his room and asks about it, supporting him and showing she believes him? STOP so sweet.

AND?! The back and forth between Ben and Johnny?! I LOVE THEM! They’re so funny. 

AND Reed and Sue? I loved seeing them get into an argument, loved seeing them be each other’s support, and I loved loved loved seeing them become parents. Also, the baby-proofing montage? Hilarious. AND the end scene with the three guys trying to put the car seat in? SO real and so funny. 

And speaking of the characters, we gotta talk about their powers. And the CGI? UNREAL. So dang good yall. Reed’s stretching??? Sue’s invisibility??? Which, by the way, I thought it was so cool that she could turn her stomach invisible so Reed could see the baby while she was pregnant. AND when she could make their ship invisible while ACTIVELY in labor?! Homegirl is POWERFUL! Super-mom strength defeating Galactus was so incredible. She is THAT girl.

Also, the Thing??!!! The rocks looked so good! Very accurate, and he did not stick out from the rest of the characters. The CGI flowed so well. 

Johnny’s flames? Don’t even play with me. ALSO Silver Surfer???? Looked SO DANG GOOD YALL WHAT?! She was STUNNING. Seeing Johnny’s reflection off her in space? THAT was everything. Love that attention to detail. The scene with her surfing Johnny’s flame? LOVE. Also, the back and forth between Shalla-Bal and Johnny? Love. Him figuring out her language? ICONIC and it helped us get some of her lore which I was ALL about. It made her sacrifice at the end TEN times better.

A few details I wanted to talk about that I made note of while watching:

1. The pregnancy test in the very beginning. I could’ve sworn it said Stark as the company. So I freaked for a minute. RIP my man, Tony Stark. (Yes I know this wouldn't be Tony's technology but it could be Papa Howard's so shoutout Starks.)

2. Galactus was so ominous. Plus, when his eyes glowed, he kinda looked like the What If? Guy. You know, The Watcher? Is that just a coincidence, is it just me, or are they connected?

3. The flashback video montage of them going to space WHILE discussing the cosmic incident that gave them powers? INCREDIBLE way to show what happened without dragging it out for too long. I thought it was an excellent way to introduce an origin. It was creative, and it didn't take me out of the world. They integrated it really well without being too vague and also without being too long.

4. The villains they faced before? All those mentions? LOVE. It’s shown and mentioned that the group already defeated Giganto, Mad Thinker, Red Ghost & The Super Apes. They also defeated Moleman who then gets a cool arc of becoming sorta friends with Sue and they negotiate different deals. Loved that side of Sue. PLUS Reed mentions Diablo, The Wizard, and Puppet Master but they let law enforcement deal with them. 

5. Pedro’s acting when Sue is dying? KING. I was crying in the theater. Thank the Lord that baby saved his mama because I was losing it. Super baby to the rescue!

6. When Sue is leading the Future Foundation meeting and discussing how everyone present represents the countries agreeing to the global peace pact, there’s an empty seat in the spot for Latveria. And guess who the ruler is for Latveria? DR DOOM. I love this little introduction. They didn't talk about, didn't spend too much time on it, but it was deliberate. It’s subtle but oh so powerful.

   
   

Post Credit Scenes

NOW, we gotta talk post credit scenes. The last one, it was cute. It just showed the cartoon theme song. Cute. Adorable. Whatever.

But the BIG deal was the mid-credit scene. HOLY COW. It was simple, and yet so so so so awesome. Seeing Dr. Doom’s hood and the glove holding baby Franklin? ICONIC. I literally had chills yall. CHILLS. He didn’t speak, there was no explanation, and I think it was perfect. Incredible teaser for what is to come.

And speaking for what’s to come: let’s talk theories. Now, Fantastic Four is set on Earth 828. The regular MCU timeline, we’ve been told, is Earth 616. Now, I think Doom is going to be appearing in 828, from the post credit scene, and from the fact that we have had no mention of Latveria, which is where Doom would be, in 616 . Reed, however, comes up with the whole multiversal travel thing when planning to move the Earth to a new solar system. This HAS to play a part in the whole 828 to 616 timeline jump. PLUS, you've got the whole post-credit scene in Thunderbolts* with the Fantastic Four rocket coming into their radar.

Dr. Doom Theories

I have been reading (spent a LOT of time on Reddit), and I’ve seen a couple theories linking Tony Stark and Doom and He Who Remains. If you need a refresher, He Who Remains is the main antagonist in the Loki series and in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Now, in the comics, Tony Stark can be linked to both of these. In some comics, Tony is presumed to be a precursor to Iron Lad which is a young Kang variant. In the comics, Dr. Doom is also a variant of Tony Stark or vice versa in some realities. What’s the MCU gonna do about this?

Well, Robert Downey JR. has apparently said that his Dr. Doom is not a variant of Tony Stark. Cue eye roll. We all know Marvel actors tend to lie (as Kevin Feige IS watching their every move so they don't spoil anything), so I try to take their words with a grain of salt. For the time being though, let's say his words ARE in fact true. The MCU Dr. Doom is not a variant of Tony Stark.

But that doesn’t mean that the Tony Stark we knew was not a Doom variant himself. Stay with me.

There’s a theory that Tony is actually Doom but in the 616 timeline was raised by adopted parents (the Starks), so his actual parents are Werner and Cynthia von Doom. But honestly, I think that’s a bit of a stretch.

Quick disclaimer: ALL theories are a stretch, in my opinion. It's a THEORY. It's just fun to get creative and come up with different ways that these characters and stories connect. All in good fun, my friends.

There is, however, a theory that Tony Stark using the Infinity Gauntlet in Endgame actually created an incursion which would lead to a multiversal disruption that leads Doom to the 616 timeline. This theory suggests that this action, while killing Tony in the 616 timeline to save the world, actually led him to becoming Doom in other timelines. THIS makes sense to me ESPECIALLY when you think about Strange holding up the one in Endgame, telling Tony that this is the 1 scenario out of millions where they could beat Thanos. But what if the 1 also symbolizes that this is the 1 universe where Tony dies instead of becoming Dr. Doom? It’s a stretch I know, but it’s fun to think about.

Also, there’s another theory that suggests that Tony using the Infinity Gauntlet was orchestrated by He Who Remains to ensure the safety and integrity of the Sacred timeline. Another regarding this mentions that He Who Remains would need time travel to be created, hence he could use Tony Stark to be able to have it made and then use it to defeat the different variants of himself to win the multiversal war that’s mentioned in the Loki series. Tony would have been a key player in Kang’s plans.

Final Thoughts/Rating of Fantastic Four

Regardless of what theories are correct or if we’re all just horribly wrong and Marvel does something completely different, I am excited to see what comes next. That's what I love so much about Marvel: getting to come up with wild theories and explore the world they've created. I LOVE this community and the fans that come up with such awesome theories.

This movie got me excited! It is such a good superhero movie. It was a great adaptation. 

I’m gonna give this movie a 4.5/5. My only critique is that I wish there was a little more action with Galactus, although I know that is a big ask considering Galactus just DEVOURS planets, so how do they show that without the heroes being defeated? But nonetheless, I thought this movie was FANTASTIC…get it? Definitely go watch it!