Marvel Turns Toward the Future With Retro “Fantastic Four”

In a movie world littered with dark and gritty adaptations of our favorite heroes, Marvel is looking to flip the script. Comic books have a legacy of taking readers to worlds beyond their imaginations – magical and haunting worlds, colorful costumes, and relatable characters that make readers feel seen. Unfortunately, most modern comic book movie adaptations abandon these traits that gave their brands decades of success and fandom. To fit into today’s Hollywood-blockbuster mold, superhero movies have become forgettable and lacking a distinct creative vision. Luckily for moviegoers, Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps is taking a bold step in the right direction.

Leading this creative charge is director Matt Shakman, who may be a familiar name to Marvel fans. Shakman previously directed 2021’s WandaVision, the studios’ first Disney+ television series, a show that spent each episode fully immersed in a different era of television. Shakman’s ability to put fan favorite characters like Elisabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch in a retro environment subsequently led to his directing role in 2025’s First Steps.

While Marvel Studios’ films typically take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Shakman’s First Steps instead shifts the narrative to a 1960’s-inspired New York City. 

In their baby blue spandex, the Fantastic Four serve as this world’s protectors. The team is led by Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), the brilliant scientist who gained the ability to stretch his limbs after a failed space mission with the rest of the team. The advanced technology Reed creates is a clever artistic foil to the past world he inhabits.  The team’s muscle is Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Richards’s rock-covered childhood friend whose character design could be taken directly from the pages of creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original art. Working alongside Reed and Ben are Reed’s wife Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) and brother-in-law Johnny (Joseph Quinn). Johnny uses his flame powers to fly by a Coppertone sunscreen ad that replicates the brand’s famous 50’s baby marketing campaign. The film’s version, however, cleverly replaces the baby with Johnny.

By embracing its source material’s colorful and often light-hearted history, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is changing the stigma around what a comic book movie can be. Grossing over $500 million globally, Shakman and Marvel’s gamble on the past seems to be paying off for the future. With confirmed roles in two upcoming Avengers films, the Fantastic Four are sure to be a mainstay in the new era of superhero films.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently available to stream on video-on-demand platforms.