It is well known that the most beloved and high-ticket Marvel characters and franchises are often the sight of much drama and failure. Being such valuable IP, they tend to be munched on by less-than-understanding studio executives who squeeze the life out of the thing until there isn’t much to love.

Marvel has had its stumbles under the Chapek era, and I have not tapped back in since the Disney boycott of 2023, so I wouldn’t know where we currently stand, but I know that they have been picking up momentum. Between Miss Agatha and Dame Deadpool, some shuffling and slowing down has occurred, and this marks a shift back to the quality MCU of old.

If you’re a member of this audience, then you know there’s a boycott of Brave New World on, so again, I won’t be able to give you insight. But, just from the teasers and snippets they’re giving us of First Steps, I’m not going to lie, this feels the closest Marvel has come to getting this franchise right—from the period setting, to the cast, and the mid-stakes start with little link to the MCU as we know it.

I have brilliant hopes for the Fantastic Four in the MCU, wherever it falls in the canon, but waiting for the trailer, I was struck by the fact that this is the fourth attempt to bring the First Family to the silver screen, and that, maybe, we should have a think, and set expectations, about this latest launch.

To prime us for the summer ahead, let us first look back.

The History, Take Four

Before Ioan Gruffudd stretched across our corneas, there was a 1994 attempt that was never released, as it was basically a way for the old owner of the IP to keep the rights to the film. It was very sketch.

Therefore, the first official attempt was the ‘corny’ Fantastic Four films we all knew and loved—where I first fell in love with Reed Richards, and what became my first ever exposure to comic book storytelling in blockbuster form.

There is so much to love about these older films—they’re a mix of the charm of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man with the colour grading of that terrible Thunderbirds feature. I hold these films in high esteem, especially Rise of the Silver Surfer, but there was much to be desired in honouring the source material, as we all know.

Then, um, Fant4stic.

I daren’t say much, as I did not see it, but what seems to have gone wrong there seems more in the vein of DC fumbles than MCU ones. I think this is a very good distinction to make when we think of what’s happening with the latest reboot—they’ve forgone grittiness, or heavy realism, instead opting for the WandaVision sensibility of Matt Shakman, which I think is a winning one.

A Gift That Is the Present

It is important, brilliant, and beautiful that, though Disney now own way too much, the MCU gets back its true First Family. Finding a portal in for them must have been a very difficult decision—and I look forward to seeing how they’ve resolved it plot-wise.

Matt Shakman was an inspired choice—WandaVision is the last time I can remember being excited to pick up the MCU each week. Something about that show, though, must carry over into Fantastic Four—the balance between normalcy and shock.

I think, I hope, that we can give this story, and this franchise, a little bit of bite this time round. I distinctly remember that end-of-episode freakout I had with WandaVision when I saw Dead!Vision. It provided a poignancy to the entire show that was lost near the end, as everything returned and connected to the MCU timeline again.

As we fracture, I hope we venture further into some sharper tools, and sharper edges, than what we’re currently being shown. The film looks aesthetically fantastic—oops—but I hope that this is merely a lull into a false sense of security, and that we watch this façade and comfort get riled up a lot.

As we watched the livestream countdown, just before the start of the live portion on YouTube, the counter went back an hour. I really hope that was an Easter egg for timey-wimey stuff, because I think that’s where you can start getting really freaky with it.

A Word on Reed

Either they haven’t finished the stretch effects, or we have a serious and brilliant twist on our hands. I can only imagine what it means for Reed to be the only one unaffected by the cosmic rays, and I really do hope that the conspicuously missing stretchability is a hint that something is off.

Verdict

Yeah, I think I’m gonna like this one.

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