The Fantastic Four: First Steps Teaser Looks Good but Feels Off

Movies

Marvel has finally revealed their First Family to the non-Comic-Con audience. Today saw the release of the teaser for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the long-awaited (and now probably more dreaded than awaited) introduction of the Fantastic Four into the MCU. The plot is still hard to discern; the teaser mostly shows the Fantastic Four doing Fantastic Four Stuff, with the promise of Galactus looming – and not just any Galactus (by which I mean a space cloud) but a comics-accurate version of the Devourer of Worlds. This one appears to be most concerned with showing fans the tone the film will strike and the look of the Four’s world (which is supposed to be a different Earth than the MCU proper because the multiverse is more addictive than nicotine for Marvel writers). The Fantastic Four: First Steps stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/the Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bacharach as Ben Grimm/the Thing, with Ralph Ineson as Galactus and Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer. John Malkovich, Natasha Lyone, Paul Walter Hauser, and Sarah Niles will appear in undisclosed supporting roles. Directed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will arrive in theaters on July 25, 2025, and you can watch the teaser below:

The Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser is the epitome of a mixed bag, with the bad stuff frustrating because of the things Marvel seems to have gotten right in the Four’s first MCU outing. I love the design of this world, the futuristic technology and structures mixed with the 60s aesthetic. It’s a neat idea, a sort of melding of the past that created the Four and the future they represent. It makes sense, too; something as monumental as a team of astronauts being blasted by cosmic rays and getting superpowers would logically lead to massive advancements in scientific discovery. It would open the world up to cosmic levels of understanding the natural world, particularly with a genius on the level of Reed Richards being in the thick of it. (I mean, he’s no Shuri or Ironheart, but he’s not too shabby.) I also like the theme music more now that I hear it set to footage from the film; those opening bop-bop-bop tones make more sense when complementing Sue showing some visitors the Baxter Building, almost like touring a futuristic attraction at Epcot Center. Speaking of which, I also love that the Four invite visitors to see the Baxter Building; this is straight out of the old Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comics, and while it seems like a minor detail, it goes a long way towards showing what these characters are like. The Fantastic Four were always very open with the public; they didn’t have secret identities (which separated them from the rest of the heroes, unlike in the MCU, where everybody has gone public, with one or two exceptions), and they loved inspiring people by showing them their inventions and research. They were giving mankind hope and excitement for the future.

Part of their tech is HERBIE, the robot, and it makes the five-year-old in me smile seeing him on the screen. If you never watched The New Fantastic Four, a cartoon from 1978, HERBIE was introduced because a rights issue prevented the series from using the Human Torch. He was subsequently brought into the comics, but he was more of a novelty than anything else. The early poster for The Fantastic Four: First Steps revealed that HERBIE would be in the movie, but seeing him in live-action is another fun nod to Fantastic Four history. He doesn’t look exactly like he did on the show, but it’s nice to see him anyway. And speaking of history, despite Matt Shakman’s insistence that this wouldn’t be an origin story, the Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser confirms that we will at least see the team’s origin, and that’s good. I don’t mind if it isn’t the focus, but it’s a mistake to eschew character origins altogether; we have to care about these specific versions of the Four, and part of that is knowing where they came from. Sue’s response to Reed lamenting what happened to them (which is also very much in keeping with the comics, where he felt guilty about the others transforming, especially Ben) suggests this will be a theme in the movie; the powers the Four got from the cosmic rays reflect their personalities and what they mean to each other. I don’t want to jinx it, but this gives me hope that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be the first Marvel movie in a long time that feels like someone actually wrote it with a shred of care.

On the other hand, I’m not sold on the cast yet. Pedro Pascal feels askew as Reed; he doesn’t come off as the intellectual Reed is supposed to be, or the dedicated scientist, or even the head of a family. That clip where he tells one of the visitors that the Four always have dinner together on Sunday should be a great moment, but it falls flat because it doesn’t sound like Reed’s heart is in it, or that he even believes they’re a family. Sue seems cold as well when she welcomes everyone in, sounding more like a bored tour guide than someone showing off her home to visitors. This was what I was afraid of when they cast Vanessa Kirby; I like her, and she looks the part, but she usually comes off as cold and clinical rather than loving. The same is true of Pedro Pascal; I like him in general, but I’m not sure he’s a good fit for Reed. I believed him much more as the jaded Roman general in Gladiator II than as Mr. Fantastic. (The facial hair bothers me, too; I know they recently gave Reed a beard in the comics for some reason, but I’d rather he be clean-shaven, and either way, this doesn’t look right.) To be fair to Kirby, she sounds better when she’s talking to Reed later; maybe there’s something going on in that early scene we don’t know yet. Joseph Quinn looks a lot better than I thought he would as Johnny; the early images were awful, but seeing him in action, it looks like an actual person rather than an awful wig. (Some of his facial expressions give me young Robert Downey Jr. vibes; not Tony Stark RDJ, but more like Tuff Turf or The Pick-up Artist.) You don’t really get a sense of Quinn’s performance, but I feel better about him now. And while the Thing looks fantastic, Ebon Moss-Bacharach also sounds off when he’s in rock form; the scene where he cooks with HERBIE is cool in theory, but he doesn’t seem like the Thing when he talks about adding “a little bit of zip.” It’s too soft; Ben Grimm should be gruff, a contrast to Reed’s academic stuffiness, Johnny’s young suavity, and Sue’s motherly warmth. And maybe that’s the bigger problem: they don’t sound like distinct, specific characters, just generic people thrown together.

So, it’s a mixed bag. I love the aesthetics, the tone, the references to comics and the cartoons, and the costumes and makeup. (I can’t wait to see Galactus.) But the performances feel off, and if they are, that’s more devastating than if the special effects were bad. I hope this turns out great, but I’m still not entirely sold on The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Let us know what you thought about the Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser in the comments!

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