The Incomplete Guide to The Fantastic Four: First Steps
In which Vanessa also plugs Elliot’s Fringe comedy shows - if you’re there go see them!
Dear gentle reader,
Before we get into the throes of the latest pop culture review and random assorted thoughts, I just wanted to give you a brief preview of how the next few weeks are going to go. My authorial partner in crime, Elliot Wengler, has once more returned to Edinburgh to bring two fantastic shows to the Fringe:
The award-nominated Jokemon runs every day (check the ticket site for exceptions) at 16:35 at the Laughing Horse @ City Cafe
The brand new I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You also runs every day (check the ticket site for exceptions) at 19:05 at the Laughing Horse @ City Cafe
If you’re headed there, as always, booking tickets ahead of arrival is advised, as walk-in space is not guaranteed.
Now that the unsolicited promo for my friend is out of the way, you’ll be treated to weekly newsletters by yours truly, Vanessa Burke. I’ll be bringing back my dormant feature, the James Bond reviews, picking up with the Brosnan years, on alternating weeks. The other weeks will feature my regular pop culture musings. We kick off with my latest cinema experience…
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
By Vanessa Burke
Is there a saying for fourth time’s nearly the charm? To understand my query, we need to rewind to the two year-spanning saga of Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox (henceforth shortened to Fox) assets (NYT gifted article access).
When Bob Iger, then-and-now-again CEO of Disney, announced this purchase, it seemed like a logical conclusion to his Midas touch: previously, Iger shepherded the acquisition of Pixar, then Marvel, and Lucasfilm. Fox was one of the homes of Marvel’s disparate properties, from their more poverty-struck times: Sony still holds the rights to the profitable Spider-Man and associated characters, while Fox once bought the X-Men and Fantastic Four, and Universal Pictures briefly owned The Hulk.
Consolidation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which was firing on all cylinders at the time (2017: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok; 2018: Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp; 2019: Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home), felt imminent, as the superhero team-ups kept topping each other. It was also desirable to restore the reputation of these properties, as they began to founder in the public eye.
To briefly dispense with the X-Men, the Dark Phoenix saga was twice run through, with two generations of high-calibre actors, but little invention with the formula. The X-Men archives are full - returning to the Jean well just looked like a desperation move when there was no confidence in the Apocalypse storyline as written in the comics.
Turning our attention to the more relevant (to this piece) Fantastic Four, they first graced the big screen in 2005, after a nostalgic run as television show characters in the late 60s to late 70s, and now-dated run in the mid-90s. While that first Fox endeavour was critically panned, it found popular success, telling the origin of these characters. Their second outing fared less well, but popularised the story of Galactus and the Silver Surfer. The reboot remixed origin components with - of all things! - Universal’s Hulk and the youth angle of Spider-Man (or Trank’s original Chronicle).
Alas, the time was not quite right before now - perhaps reviewing the mixed performances of Phase 4.
It is a truth near-universally acknowledged that cinema audiences are now tired of origin stories for characters that have been part of the cultural zeitgeist. The Fantastic Four: First Steps dispenses with that tedium, mirroring Superman in establishing context briefly at the start, and leaping right into the narrative. Equally, both films position their heroes in situations that question their motives and reflect the current political turmoils (despite the sumptuous retro visuals of The Fantastic Four: First Steps). Both ultimately come to optimistic conclusions on that front. The similarities seem to have influenced the box office take too.
So finally, the fourth crack at this heroic team-up has curried favour with both fans and critics. But it’s not without its flaws. There’s a lot of telling, and not showing, when it comes to the characterisations, for instance. Johnny is called out as a womaniser, though we only see him experiencing a brief frisson with the Silver Surfer before showing his academic chops (I suppose that one is a boon at least). Sue is called a great negotiator, but is not shown to negotiate with any unknown entities in the film.
It’s also worth addressing that the story is not an original one. Much like the above-panned X-Men films revisiting the Dark Phoenix arc, this story repeats the Silver Surfer and Galactus beats in its own way. Thankfully, there’s intrigue in how this retrofuturistic world connects to the post-credits scene seen in *Thunderbolts (sorry for not reviewing that here, by the way). But bearing this appearance in mind also undercuts the stakes of the story.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps doesn’t reach the highest heights of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe in its heyday, but as a self-contained story with a great aesthetic, and enough familiarity to not require the now-mocked homework of watching all other Marvel output, it satisfies.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in UK cinemas now.