Fantastic 4: First Steps Review

Hey, hey, hey Basement Dwellers! The Dace Man is back with another review, or I guess more so recap, and thought process from the world of entertainment! This time we're looking at the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of the Fantastic Four! Admit it, you read that in your head in the orchestral voice we've been hearing for the past year.

Like its DC counterpart Superman, that debuted a few weeks prior, we are introduced to a Fantastic Four past their origin story and well established on earth as its new protectors. The key difference with this MCU entry is the purposeful way they are not on the MCU sacred timeline earth but reside on earth 828 instead, a hat tip to the late great Jack Kirby. By establishing them not only on a different earth canonically, but in a different time period, there is much more flexibility for this team to spread their wings, and no pun intended, to take their first steps into the MCU. This strategy will allow the movie to breathe more and get away from that plot hole of “Well where were the other heroes during this?”. Given that the big Batty of this movie is Galactus a little help from The Avengers or an Avengers caliber hero would have been helpful.

NYC on Earth 828

The retro vibes from the vintage ABC logos to the old timey feel of the gizmos and gadgets really helped sell the nostalgic feel this movie as it pays homage to Jack Kirby and Marvel's first family. The casting of Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic, Joseph Quinn as the Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bacharach as Ben Grimm has probably been the most cautious, I have been about a casting in MCU history to date. These are individuals that are going to carry the franchise for years to come and even be staples a part of the Avenger movies that are being laid out for the next couple years.

The only disappointment with the Fantastic Four core casting, would probably be Ebon’s voice. Ebon Moss-Bacharach on The Bear is phenomenal he has the Chicago accent, the Chicago vibes, and really gives The Bear that Chicago necessity it needs that Jeremy Allen white can't but when it comes to Ben Grimm a boy from the Bronx and a rock monster it's not really as deep and New Yorker as I would like but it's also not the end of the world.

Reed Richards utilizes H.E.R.B.I.E. for help.

As for the casting of the antagonist such as Paul Walter Hauser as Mole Man, it is a chef's kiss. Ralph Ineson’s Galactus, is both ominous and intimidating something previous movies such as the Fantastic Four rise of the silver surfer and the Green Lantern couldn’t do because they made these villains clouds and that was just kind of dumb. Julia Garner playing Shalla-Bal, or the female silver surfer, was perfect casting because there was an empathy to that character that may not have existed with the one that was done back in 2005 we're very familiar with the silver surfer as a male but to have Julia Garner's take on this character i think helped improve the plot for Fantastic Four.

The plot itself of the movie is very interesting whereas this is an origin story without being a true origin story. With the Fantastic Four already being established within this age of heroes, there is some wiggle room to really get them into a deep cut storyline without having to introduce how they got their powers how they work as a team and all the things that come with just establishing the hero. The Fantastic Four manages to introduce their son Franklin Richards, which is a major arc within the story in the comics and allows this to be a driving force as to why Galactus will ultimately confront them rather than doing the destruction from the ship to devour a planet. I think it's also worth noting that the way Marvel introduced how Galactus devours planets within this MCU story is a lot more practical than it is in the comics of him literally just eating a planet.

"Say the line Ben."

Overall, I would give this movie an 8 out of 10 stairs. Why am I giving it that because it is quite frankly the best MCU entry we've seen in a while. It carries the weight of introducing new characters, it carries the weight of establishing The Avengers crossover arc that is coming in 2026, and it sets a tone for the future of the MCU. Except for a few Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that have been fantastic on their own again no pun intended this movie really feels like a pillar of what's to come.

As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all the other bloggers here at Basement Protocol. Remember, Basement Dwellers: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course, the Dacetacular, grab a Celsius —and in this case H.E.R.B.I.E—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere at Basement Protocol. Until next time!