Happy Friday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with a Fantastic Four: First Steps review. Right off the bat, I must say 2025 is a banner year for superhero films and shows. The DCEU had been flailing for years; Superman (2025) gives the franchise new hope. The MCU has been a shell of itself in previous years, but Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four: First Steps have been a return to form. I love that little MCU homework is needed for Fantastic Four: First Steps. Spider-Man: Homecoming aside, Fantastic Four: First Steps is the closest the MCU has felt to a Phase One movie in almost a decade. Fantastic!

I’ll try to avoid spoilers in this review. If you’ve read the Fantastic Four comic book, you should know the basis for a Galactus story. Fantastic Four: First Steps is the most comic book accurate Fantastic Four film. I mentioned in a previous Geekly News post that Shalla-Bal does have a basis in the comics; she’s Norrin Radd’s longtime romantic interest and has powers comparable to the Silver Surfer. In alternate universes, Shalla-Bal becomes Galactus’s herald in Radd’s stead, so if Earth 828 (nice tribute to Jack Kirby’s birthday, August 28th) is an alternate universe, it makes sense if she becomes Galactus’s herald. This allows Radd to become the Silver Surfer in Earth 616 (or some other Marvel universe). And Galactus is terrifying.

Galactus reminds me of the Reapers in Mass Effect: part living being and part machine. This visual effects decision makes sense. It allows for Galactus to look like his comic book counterpart. I cheered when I saw him onscreen. Galactus’s look is another great comic book accurate element. Johnny Storm figuring out Shalla-Bal’s history and pleading with her to save Earth was another classic comic book moment. Both Radd and Shalla-Bal sacrificed themselves to save their planet (Zenn-La) from Galactus, only to become Galactus’s pawns and destroy other planets.

I even liked the montage at the beginning of Fantastic Four: First Steps. It shows the team has been in the superhero/explorer/adventuring business for years, while not bogging down the film with extra runtime. While I would’ve liked to have seen John Malkovich’s Red Ghost, it made sense for Fantastic Four: First Steps to cut his scenes from the movie. Fantastic Four: First Steps had a tight 114-minute runtime. Just under two hours. That’s unheard of with modern blockbusters. Rumors swirled a few months ago that Fantastic Four: First Steps had a runtime of over two and a half hours, which would’ve made it one of the longest MCU films before edits. Fantastic Four went from being one of the longest MCU films to the fifth shortest. The audience got what it needed in that runtime. Kudos to Fantastic Four for cutting unneeded scenes.

Fantastic Four: First Steps is just what the MCU needed. Just like Superman (2025) got me excited for DC Comics movies again, Fantastic Four: First Steps got me excited for the MCU again. And like Superman, I have some notes for Fantastic Four: First Steps. The biggest is Galactus’s timeline. While Galactus does lumber through the universe on his never-ending quest for sustenance, it doesn’t make sense that Earth prepares for the titan’s visit when he’s already in our solar system. Galactus passes Jupiter by the time the Fantastic Four share their plan with the world, a plan that would take months to prepare. When the team’s first plan fails, they don’t switch to their second plan until Galactus is passing the moon. What? That timeline makes little sense.

Galactus entering our galaxy when the Fantastic Four share their first plan, and then reaching Jupiter when the Fantastic Four pivot to another plan, would make more sense. This is a nitpick, but I chuckled at this timeline’s absurdity. Invisible Woman giving birth in space with no bodily fluids is another one of my silly nitpicks. I get why Fantastic Four: First Steps chose not to include a zero-gravity placenta, but I figured I’d mention the lack of bodily fluids. Don’t get me wrong, I just finished a jumbo-sized popcorn and pretzel bites before the birth scene. My stomach appreciated the lack of floating bodily fluids. Still, Franklin Richards’s birth was the most sterile birth I’ve ever seen.

I could mention another nitpick or two, but those are smaller nitpicks, and they didn’t detract from Fantastic Four: First Steps. This is the Fantastic Four film I’ve waited for decades, and I’m so glad I got to review it on Geekly. I watched the 2015 Fantastic Four in the theater and reviewed it. Fantastic Four: First Steps was a huge upgrade. This film features the most comic book accurate Fantastic Four. And I hope Fantastic Four: First Steps begins a new trend for the MCU: less MCU homework for each project and cutting out unnecessary scenes for tighter runtimes. Fantastic Four: First Steps continues the MCU’s upward trajectory. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.