THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS - Fourth Time’s the Charm

By Patrick Lugo

It’s a funny thing that the movie adaptation of the comic which literally ignited the Marvel Universe took so long to get made by its own movie studio. That it’s the fourth attempt at a movie with that same number in its name might be considered cosmic. You would have to discount the 1992 never-officially-released Roger Corman version. That one was a mainstay of the comic convention VHS circuit and would probably not be hard to find; for the completist.

For several years there has been an excellent cinematic adaptation of those Jack Kirby & Stan Lee comics out there; Pixar’s THE INCREDIBLES (2004) and its sequel (2018). Not an adaptation in name, but certainly one of spirit (setting aside power sets, though there’s plenty of overlap), and genre. Those movies showed what an excellent Fantastic Four movie could look and feel like. That’s the bar director Matt Shakman has to meet and we’re sure he’s aware of it.

Let’s also hope RDJ and companyare well aware that Darth Vader (original 1977 version) remains the best cinematic version of Dr. Doom to date. Time will tell as Dr Doom does not play the usual villain in this movie. Instead, Marvel’s first family faces off against their most cosmic adversary, the planet eater called Galactus. The same name was used for a special FX in the sky during the 2007 adaptation FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, the second worst of the four - now five, movie adaptations.

But before going further, who needs a refresher on the FF and their place in comics history?

Published in 1961, The Fantastic Four issue #1 dubbed itself ‘The World's Greatest Comics Magazine’ and has the distinction of heralding a new era for comics publishing. While not seen as frequently in modern media, the adventure family is a fairly old trope; think of The Swiss Family Robinson or even JURASSIC PARK (1993). In the case of the FF, it’s scientist Reed Richard, love interest Sue Storm, her kid brother Jonny and Reed’s best friend/war comrade Ben Grimm. The adventure, flying an experimental rocket into space results in them being permanently changed by superpowers. Returning to earth this family continues their adventures as celebrity superheroes.

Over the 74 years since its publication, that story has been refined and rebooted to keep with the times. Attempting to beat the Russians into space has since been replaced by a variety of inciting motivations. The role for the only female in the group has grown from damsel-in-distress to team leader, fellow scientist/astronaut and arguably their most powerful character; as super-powers are measured in comic-shops, on message boards and maybe in schoolyards again. Regardless of particular updates the FF’s core concept remains that of a family, not an agency, team or league, nor school or squad. This is all immediately established in the movie.

Relaunching Universes

The meta-news that surrounds this movie is that it’s the course correction for the MCU’s phase 6, a response and apology for previous lackluster outings. But its timing can’t quite be overlooked as super-cinema is swinging away from the ironic ultra-violence of THE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021) and DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (2024).

What is it about current events that’s making audiences crave the earnest hero again? It’s some kind of super-coincidence that James Gunn of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014, 2017, 2023), the above mentioned The Suicide Squad and PEACEMAKER (2023) has turned in his love-letter to comics in the form of SUPERMAN (2025). That brightly colored, charismatic course correction from the Snyderverse’s grim grit is another fine example, both movies exist in direct conversation as evidenced by the hashtag #SuperFantastic. Also, supercoinsidentially, Marvel and DC comics are planning one of their infrequent comics crossovers this year. So why all the making-nice and reaching across the IP isles? Is the world really in that bad a state?

According to The Fantastic Four, positively doomed. Unless we all work together.

FANTASIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS is an MCU period piece. It’s their third cinematic period piece with CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011) being set during World War II and CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019), in the not too distant 1990’s. But it’s their first movie set outside the MCU continuity we’ve known. This movie is set on Earth 828 during an alternate 60’s pulled straight out of the 1964 World’s Fair in all its Googie glory.

Designing a Futuristic Past

Not to be confused with the search engine, Googie (with an “i”) is an architectural movement which got its start in the Southern California of the 30’s. However, the style rocketed into popularity with the dawning of the space race. This is the style of what we’d now call retro-futuristic, the style of classic diners - the first of which bore the name now used to describe the whole aesthetic. All those bright swooping arches, fish-tail accents, atomic icons, silver and chrome.

It’s here, in the design of Earth 828 where the movie quickly comes to shine. A carefully designed nostalgia makes some modern takes on classic tropes palatable. These include the tired tropes of actors pointing CGI powers at each other and even a big special effect in the sky is quickly forgiven in this context. Despite a grandiose New York City that’s as much Walt Disney’s Tomorrowland as it is Robert Moses, the movie’s look seeks to provide comfort. It’s all about bringing the viewer into that close familial embrace in a world heading towards The Jetsons, with a minor detour through a cozier 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) - until the arrival of a cold new Silver Surfer.

After the tone setting mentioned above, this movie wastes little time orbiting around its main plot. Can the Fantastic Four keep their planet from being consumed? As a story set outside the traditional Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s a moment where their failure is as likely as any other outcome. Could they end up as refugees in the main MCU? Would they bring the entire population of their earth? Animals too?

Set up as a sci-fi adventure rather than a super-hero epic, there’s a delight in all of these possibilities. In casting Pedro Pascal as smartist-man-in-the-world Dr. Reed Richards, Shankman and the writers reach past the worn-out absent-minded professor trope to hold tightly onto the image of the fretful father. A persona Pascal has nearly perfected between roles in THE MANDALOREAN (2019 - 2023) and THE LAST OF US (2023, 2025).

Blue Shift

In physics, when a light source moves towards an observer, its light waves are compressed, the result is a shorter wavelength and a higher frequency, which is perceived as a shift towards the blue end of the color spectrum. Historically speaking, it’s believed the color is a modern creation. Ancient records in languages, from ancient Greek to ancient Hebrew, make no explicit references to blue, despite having terms for black or red. In the 1850s, British politician William Gladstone was an early publisher of this claim.

Gladstone’s primary example was a translation of Homer’s Odyssey, that ancient Greek adventure, which is also coming to the big screen, again. Despite being more than 12,000 lines long, the epic makes no reference to the color blue. Instead, its vast expanses of ocean are described as “the wine-dark sea.” Even the sky is described as “copper” or “iron” when directly translated; rather than blue. Following in Gladstone’s footsteps, the German philosopher Lazarus Geiger devised a linguistic color hierarchy, concluding that terms describing white and black will always arise first in language, followed by words for red, due to instinctual connections with blood. Lastly blue, after all other major colors get their own names.

Ancient Egyptians were probably the first to create blue pigments. Egyptian Blue called “hsbd-iryt” (artificial lapis lazuli) was invented and produced in Amarna and Memphis around 3300 BCE. Egyptian blue was relatively inexpensive to produce and was traded throughout the Roman Empire as a less costly alternative to indigo which was imported from India. Later, the Roman Empire would manufacture their own color blue in southern Italy, around the Bay of Naples.

In Tibet, blue was the color of choice for the Buddha’s curls, even though Buddhist texts describe his hair only as “dark;” this connection between blue and (arguably) black, will come back momentarily. Wealthy Buddhists of the era demonstrated piety by commissioning large images fashioned from precious materials. Made from either lapis or azurite, blue pigments were a luxury due to the expense of importing. That one choice of color conveyed the donor’s respect for the Buddha as well as their social status.

In comics, especially before the invention of digital color separation, blue and black were often used in combination. Characters who had black hair, like Superman, would have the color blue filling in the highlights used to indicate shape and texture. The same was true for characters wearing black. Coloring a character’s clothing black, even if they’re meant to be wearing black, would create a flat silhouette, so artists would use white negative space to define a character’s shape in that drawing and the colorist would fill those gaps in with a dark blue. A reader would quickly learn to see this as “black.” This is also why Batman so frequently includes blue in his color scheme.

I mention this because both SUPERMAN and THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS are using bright new tones of blue. Does anyone else remember being annoyed by the ubiquitous blue & grey pallets of those early MCU movies? How about the nearly gray version of Superman in THE MAN OF STEEL (2013)? When images were first released, I was dubious of the casting choices (minus that of Venessa Kirby playing Sue Storm-Richards, the Invisible Woman) and I did not like the color choice.

The initial design of the Fantastic Four uniforms was immediately iconic: blue with black gloves, belt, boots and collar, plus the number 4 on the chest. Their uniforms were not skin-tight and included no capes, no masks and no underwear on the outside. That design would remain largely unchanged from the 60’s through to the 80’s when a trip to The Negative Zone resulted in the colors for their uniforms being inverted. The black accents became white, and the blue uniform became ”black.” But black in the way I just described, using a dark shade of blue to indicate highlights. That style of drawing can be challenging and over time their design reverted to blue, with either a dark blue/black or white accent.

Research has found blue is the most popular "favorite color" for people globally, obviously favored by men (40% versus 24%, in the United States).This is why blue is used in branding; to convey loyalty, dependability, and security. The color is also associated with close bonds and a sense of belonging. In moving away from the dark blues associated with policing, both SUPERMAN and THE FANTASTIC FOUR are striving to present friendlier heroes; Father-figures who care. For both movies, the use of these new blues are more successful than initially believed, especially on the IMAX screen.

Truly Fantastic

The movie is a visual feast. Not just for its design but for some faster-than-light chase scenes and Galactus. While it was Superman who landed the first punch in taking on a mid-town Kaiju attack, it just doesn’t compare to the arrival of The Planet Eater. The choice of that antagonist tips the movie from a retro sci-fi adventure over to mid-century disaster movie, with a touch of cosmic horror.

Unlike most KFM reviews there is no fight choreographer to discuss. But FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS is not a movie about fist-a-cuffs, THUNDERBOLTS (2025) is the place for that. Watch this one instead for the visuals, the audio, the acting and for the after-after credits sequence, which like the movie itself, stands on its own more than any MCU offering that preceded it.

Plus a tip of the hat to Jack “The King of Comics” Kirby is a nice and overdue touch.

About author:

Patrick Lugo is a freelance author, illustrator & comic creator who consults on comic Crowdfunding campaigns when not running one of his own. His latest crowdfunded graphic novel A Tiger’s Tale Volume 2 is currently shipping to fans and will be available for purchase online at aTigersTale.com - if you’d like free comics sent right to your inbox you can also subscribe to PLUGOarts.com.

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