Marvel Studios recently released the trailer for one of their most anticipated projects since Avengers: Endgame, The Fantastic Four: First Steps. While the trailer provided stunning visuals and a bit of optimism for the film, a lot rides on its shoulders.
This film will make or break the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as we know it. Marvel Studios is in a desperate need of revitalization, and it’s time to see if they can live up to expectations, or fall flat on their face.
The Fantastic Four are among the most important characters in the Marvel mythos, often referred to as Marvel’s first family. The team made their debut leading to the silver age of comics from which many Marvel mainstays hail from. Thanks to them, characters like Spider-Man, Iron-Man, the X-Men and the Avengers were able to thrive. However, they haven’t had the greatest run on the silver screen.
While the MCU garnered billions of dollars and praise, the first family has not been so privileged. Their first theatrical outing was in 2005, which drew moderate success.Its sequel “Rise of the Silver Surfer” failed to elevate the franchise, leading to the cancellation of a third film. In 2015, 20th Century Fox released a rebooted film with younger actors, which was a massive failure with fans, critics, and wallets.
With Marvel Studios at the dish, this new iteration of marvel’s first family carries the weight of not only redeeming a beloved team on the silver screen, but also saving the franchise as a whole.
Currently the MCU sits at a crossroads, the franchise has experienced a drop in critical and financial success, most notably with films like Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels which both released in 2023. The franchise has also been met with fatigue thanks to the various Disney Plus serieses released since 2021.
For example, in order to understand Captain America: Brave New World, a fan would have to watch all three previous Captain America films, all four Avengers movies, and a six-episode limited series ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (which has a total runtime of six hours). Which makes the already lengthy franchise more complicated to follow. The content saturation has also been a factor, with various interconnecting shows and movies released in a single calendar year.
The casting choices are also of concern. While Vanessa Kriby and Ebon Moss-Bachrach are expected to be fan favorites as Invisible Woman and The Thing, Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn as Mister Fantastic and Human Torch have raised eyebrows among Marvel fans.
Pascal, best known for his roles in The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, is nothing short of a brilliant actor but fans are concerned if he can play the most intelligent man in the multiverse. Quinn, best known for his role as Munson in Stranger Things, has drawn skepticism as to whether he can embody the charm and fiery attitude that Johnny Storm is known for. Not to mention, his look in the trailer—a grown man with a little boy’s haircut—has sparked some criticism.
As a huge marvel fan, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will prove to be a make or break film for marvel. It could return the franchise to its glory from the 2010s or make it wither away.