Notable Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon
Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Paul Walter Hauser,
Natasha Lyonne, Sarah Niles
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is gorgeously
designed to look like it's caught in a time vortex between "the
future" and 1960s New York City. It's the kind of production design that
ought to catch some Oscar buzz early next year, and it's a shining example of
some of the intriguing aspects of this "first" film of the new phase
of the MCU. Right away from the trailers, one could tell that there was going
to be a little more thought and effort thrown into the mix for this latest adaptation
of Marvel’s First Family. To be fair, there was no way it could be worse than Josh
Trank’s Fantastic Four (2015).
However, First Steps is also a film that seems to be
caught in a time vortex between moving the MCU forward in refreshing ways and
maintaining the status quo. For every progressive choice it makes for the
franchise, it seemingly takes a step or two back out of fear of moving too far
away from the blueprint that has made the MCU a movie juggernaut. It's an
unfortunate balancing act that never seemingly manages to find its momentum and
leaves one wondering what First Steps might have been with just a smidge
more courage.
