Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

I’ve seen the latest ‘Fantastic Four’ film at the cinema, ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’, which is part of the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ film series. I greatly enjoyed seeing the film, and I found it a better movie experience compared to seeing the 2025 ‘Superman’ film.

It’s fascinating how these ‘Fantastic Four’ movies have been made over the years, as we seem to get them every ten years or so. There was the unleashed ‘Fantastic Four’ film that happened in 1994, and then we got the 2005 and 2007 ‘Fantastic Four’ films that I love. 🙂

Then we got the 2015 ‘Fant4stic’ film, which wasn’t well-received and ended up being a disaster. And now we have this latest iteration of the Fantastic Four in 2025 and as part of the ‘MCU’. It’s really amusing how these we get ‘Fantastic Four’ films every 10 years or so.

Pedro Pascal (who’s been in ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘Wonder Woman 1984’) stars as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic. Vanessa Kirby (who’s been in the two ‘Mission: Impossible’ films ‘Fallout’ and ‘Dead Reckoning – Part One’) stars as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman. 🙂

There’s also Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/the Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/the Thing. The new ‘Fantastic Four’ cast in the ‘MCU’ is instantly likeable and I like how the story is told in a 1960s-styled retro world and is set in a parallel universe.

I’m quite surprised this film doesn’t take place in the prime ‘MCU’ universe in the 1960s, as I would have expected it to. But then, this film is part of ‘The Multiverse Saga’ in the ‘MCU’ and things are probably being set up for what’s to come for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’.

An interesting aspect of this movie is that we go straight into the Fantastic Four already established as superheroes rather than having an origins story like in the 2005 and 2015 films. I personally don’t mind that, since we don’t really need a origins story for this team.

It matches to how the ‘MCU’s version of Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, wasn’t given an origins story since he debuted in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. There’s a touch of the Fantastic Four’s origins early in the film, but it’s briefly glanced over and I’m fine with that.

I also feel the Fantastic Four team are true to how they behave as a family of superheroes and are very wiling to help people. I didn’t feel any mean-spirited atmosphere throughout this film compared to when I saw 2025’s ‘Superman’, which I know people are still raving about. 😐

It’s also fair to say this latest film version of the Fantastic Four is a marked improvement over what came before in the 2015 film. This version of the Fantastic Four is cheerful and fun, almost matching to what I’ve seen in the 2005 and 2007 films, except in 1960s style.

In the 2025 film, the Fantastic Four must protect the planet Earth from the planet-devouring cosmic being called Galactus. Thankfully, Galactus appears like he does in the ‘Fantastic Four’ comics and not as a space cloud like in ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’.

The Fantastic Four also must protect Reed and Sue’s baby son Franklin, as Galactus seems to want the baby to help him cease his endless hunger. I like how Reed and Sue have a baby son in the movie, and it was very nice to see Reed and Sue established as a happily married couple.

The film’s cast also includes Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal a.k.a. the Silver Surfer. This is quite a change from what we traditionally know about the Silver Surfer in being male and originally called Norrin Radd as in the ‘Rise of the Silver Surfer’ film, but I’m okay with that.

It was interesting to see the Silver Surfer being female instead of male in ‘First Steps’. Incidentally, Shalla-Bal was the lover of Norrin Radd, the Silver Surfer, in the comics, and I assume was whom Norrin Radd referred to as his lover in the ‘Rise of the Silver Surfer’ film.

Ralph Ineson stars as Galactus in the film. There’s also Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, the CEO of the Future Foundation, Mark Gatiss (He gets everywhere, doesn’t he? 😀 ) as Ted Gilbert, the host of the popular talk TV show ‘The Ted Gilbert Show’ featured in the movie.

There’s Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, a schoolteacher and Ben Grimm’s love interest. A shame Alicia Masters didn’t appear as Ben Grimm’s love interest. There’s also Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder a.k.a. the Mole Man, an enemy-turned-ally in the film.

And I’ve checked: Paul Walter Hauser played Horace in the 2021 film ‘Cruella’. I knew I recognised him from somewhere. 😀 There’s H.E.R.B.I.E., the Fantastic Four’s robot companion, voiced by Matthew Wood. I didn’t understand a word he said in this film. 😀

There’s also Franklin Richards, the superpowered newborn son of Red and Sue, who is portrayed by Ada Scott. Franklin is of course named after Sue and Johnny’s father. I liked it when Franklin is the one who resuscitates his mother Sue with newly-awakened powers.

Interestingly, the ‘Fantastic Four’ cast from the unreleased 1994 film make cameos in ‘First Steps’, including Alex Hyde-White, Rebecca Stabb, Jay Underwood and Michael Bailey Smith. I did recognise Alex Hyde-White as one of the TV newsreaders in the movie.

I’ll have to revisit ‘First Steps’ when it comes to doing an in-depth review and identify when Rebecca Stabb, Jay Underwood and Michael Bailey Smith make cameos in the film. I’m surprised the 1994 cast didn’t play alternative version of the Fantastic Four in ‘First Steps’.

There’s a mid-credits scene where Doctor Doom makes a cameo. I assume this is Victor von Doom, as we don’t see Robert Downey Jr.’s face at the film’s end. The speculation seems to be leaning towards the idea that the ‘MCU’s version of Victor von Doom has Tony Stark’s face.

Thinking about it, Victor von Doom having Tony Stark’s face in one universe would make sense, as Chris Evans’ Johnny Storm has Captain America’s face in one universe and Michael B. Jordan’s Johnny Storm has Killmonger’s face from ‘Black Panther’ face in another. 🙂

I’m wondering whether the ‘MCU’s version of the Fantastic Four will meet other versions of the Fantastic Four from other universes in the upcoming ‘Avengers’ films e.g., the 2005 cast and the 2015 cast. It’s a possibility and one I wouldn’t mind, as I’d be excited by that.

‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ has been a great film to check out at the cinema lately. I’m glad I’ve seen this latest film version of the Fantastic Four. I wouldn’t say it tops up on my preference of the 2005 ‘Fantastic Four’ cast, as I cherish very fond memories of them.

But this version of the Fantastic Four in the ‘MCU’ works quite well for me and I’m looking forward to seeing them make a return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ next year as well as the sequel that’s already in the works. Where will this movie version of the Fantastic Four go next? 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂