It has taken 17 years and 37 films, but the Fantastic Four – the so-called ‘first family’ of the Marvel Universe – have finally joined their fellow heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you include Roger Corman’s abortive 1994 adaptation, this is the fifth time that these characters have been brought to the screen. Based on those earlier films there is a low bar for the new film to succeed, but it is worth confirming that this is far and away the most creatively valid attempt so far.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps picks up the careers of the titular super-team four years into their existence. A cleverly staged montage brings the audience up to date on scientist Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), his wife Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), brother-in-law Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and best friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). After an accident in space, all four have been transformed: Sue can generate energy bursts and turn invisible, Johnny can fly and spontaneously burst into flames, Ben is a powerful rock-like monster, while Reed can stretch his body in improbable fashion.

The Earth is visited by a metallic alien on a surfboard (Julia Garner) proclaiming to be the herald of the mysterious Galactus. Faced with the announcement that Earth is to be destroyed, the Fantastic Four set off into space once again to face the threat face-on.

One of the challenges of bringing the Fantastic Four to cinema is their inherently goofy nature. Borne out of their 1960s origins, their faintly ridiculous powers and old-fashioned attitudes make them difficult to treat too seriously. Adapt them accurately and many of the elements inherent to the comic book may struggle to engage a 21st century audience. Adapt them too loosely, and one loses the point of making a Fantastic Four movie at all. Previous films have struggled with this: 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer presented classic villain Galactus as a glowing cloud in space, rather than risk losing audiences with a giant purple alien in a silly hat.

Thankfully recent years have proved an audience will go with pretty much anything if it’s presented with integrity, and First Steps benefits enormously from presenting Galactus in an authentic manner – silly purple hat and all. This is a superbly designed film, paying tribute to co-creator and artist Jack Kirby and delivering epic visual sequences that simply haven’t been seen in the MCU before. There is a cinematic scope delivered here that delivers the film’s most visually impressive moments.

If there is a fault, it is that the epic sense provided by Galactus (performed in motion capture and voiced by Ralph Inesen) leaks out to too much of the surrounding film. The pace here is unexpectedly slow, which works in some moments but causes the film to drag in others. The film runs a shade under two hours, but you will swear it runs half an hour longer than it does.

The casting is largely spot-on. Quinn and Moss-Bachrach are effectively pitch-perfect as the Human Torch and the Thing, and provide much of the film’s leity and humour. Julia Garner, like Ineson, inspires a strong CGI-enhanced performance. Vanessa Kirby is a wonderful Sue Storm, and the screenplay – credited to a veritable committee of five writers – gives her a strong sense of drive and character. Of the four leads, she is easily the most effective. Natasha Lyonne also makes a great impression with a relatively small role.

The film struggles with Reed Richards. Over the decades the character has evolved from breezy 1960s optimism to a more ambivalent take in recent times. Richards always had a penchant for scientific curiosity and cold logic, but here he seems actively tormented by it. It is a sad, troubled version of a character in a film that is in part trying to capture a sort of neo-1960s vibe, and together they chafe somewhat. Pedro Pascal is an excellent casting choice for this gloomier take, but I question whether this take was the best approach.

The film is also clearly somewhat embarrassed by Reed’s stretchy body, which has always looked ridiculous. His transformations seem to have been kept to a minimum. I would have preferred they afforded him the same straight-faced spectacle that they afforded Galactus.

It is Galactus that I suspect people will most be talking about after seeing the film, but this is overall a wonderfully designed and enjoyable picture. Director Matt Shakman deserves to feel proud. It is also largely self-contained, which can often be a risk with Marvel features. While there are certainly imperfections, and the pacing remains a bit of a concern, this is definitely Marvel’s best film of 2025.