The Fantastic Four: First Steps

It has been ages since we’ve reviewed a superhero movie. Thanks to Marvel Studio’s Fantastic Four: First Steps, we’re back at it. (cover by Phil Noto)First…

A Bit Of Fantastic Four Movie History

Fantastic Four: First Steps is the FIFTH movie of the franchise. The first was way back in 1994.

Long story short: director Roger Corman was hired to make a Fantastic Four movie in order for Marvel to keep the movie rights. There was little to no promotion or marketing for a movie based on Marvel’s first family.

You can easily find the orignal online. There’s also the 2015 documentary on the project called Doomed!

I watched the original FF movie. It was objectively terrible, but in a good way: it had heart. The cast and crew gave a sh*t about the movie, doing their best with little time, and less money, they had to turn out a Fantastic Four movie.

Marvel Entertainment went bankrupt shortly after the movie was released, so sold the rights to 20th Century Fox. Three more movies were released by the studio.

Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2007)
Fantastic Four (2015)

All three were panned by critics and fans and quickly forgotten last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine kicked off the MCU’s Phase Six. Chris Evans, the only FF cast member in the MCU, reprised his role as Johnny Storm.

Fantastic Four: First Steps had been announced months earlier with artist Phil Noto providing promotional art.

And now:

Fantastic Four: First Steps

The Fantastic Four Move That Worked

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is…(I can’t resist) FANTASTIC! It deftly taps into the nostalgia factor.

The movie is set in an alternate universe on Earth – 828 in the 60s but it’s a vision of the 60s is derived more from the late 40s/early 50s: bright, primary colours, blocky robots, consol tv sets, and magazine, with massive, but sleek cars.

Fantastic Four: First Steps is the most true to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby‘s vision. The Fantastic Four has always been a family that happens to have superpowers.

The one deviation caused social media, culture warriors cry, “Woke!” was brilliant. Marvel Studios Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer is enigmatic, menacing, and compelling.

The original Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd, is male, but Marvel Studios went with Shalla-Bal (more info on Comic Vine here). After watching the movie, it’s clear why director Matt Shakman and screenwriters Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, and Jeff Kaplan went this route (no spoilers here).

Of course, we can’t talk about The Fantastic Four: First Steps with out a nod to the comic books. We’ve written a number of posts on Marvel’s First Family. Click on the link below for more on the stories we love.