Just last year we were reminded that Chris Evans was Johnny Storm in a two-film attempt at bringing “The Fantastic Four” into the Marvelous Marvel Cinematic Universe when he appeared in “Deadpool & Wolverine” last summer. There was another attempt with diversity in play, too, but that also faltered and failed. This Fantastic Four team led by everyone’s favorite dad Pedro Pascal, is a winner, with a witty fast-moving script and a visually stylish world. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is a definitive step in the right direction, particularly as the first film of the MCU .

With a screenplay by Josh Friedman (“Avatar: The Way of Water,” 2022; “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” 2024), Eric Pearson (“Thor: Ragnarok,” 2017; “Black Widow,” 2021, “Thunderbolts,” 2025), Jeff Kaplan  and Ian Springer, the 2025 “The Fantastic Four” skips their origin story and goes straight to the team already world heroes.

While the 2005 version was set in a contemporary world that included Wired magazine (founded 1993), the 2025 version is set in a retro-futuristic alternate universe, Earth-828. The number, besides carrying the lucky eight (beloved by the Chinese), is a tribute to Jack Kirby who was born on August 28. Kirby (28 August 1917-6 February 1994) and Stan Lee (28 December 1922-12 November 2018) created “The Fantastic Four” in 1961 (November).

Director Matt Shakman (“Psych” and “WandaVision”) has mostly done television, but theater fans in Los Angeles will recognize him as the founder and artistic director of the Black Dahlia Theatre and the artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse (2017-2023).

As for the world, think 1960s sci-fi aesthetic and the Hanna-Barbara animated sitcom “The Jetsons” (1962-1963 on ABC). There are robot helpers  and cars that fly. People who loved 1950s car styling will appreciate these cars, especially the Fantasticar. Instead of the Jetson’s maid/housekeeper Rosey the Robot, the Fantastic Four has HERBIE (Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics).

The team (Reed Richard/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ben Grimm/The Thing and Johnny Storm/Human Torch) lives in the 35-story Baxter Building in Manhattan (at 42nd Street and Madison Avenue. Think mid-century modern for the Fantastic set design. Reed’s lab is color-coded: red for research, yellow for blackboards (not whiteboards with magic marker and indeed, chalk is used) and blue for communications equipment.

Reed (Pedro Pascal) and Sue (Vanessa Kirby) are married. Sue and Johnny (Joseph Quinn) are sister and brother. Ben (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Reed are besties. Reed Richards hosts a science show as Mister Fantastic. They all regularly appear on a talk show, “The Ted Gilbert Show” (Mark Gatiss plays Gilbert) to communicate with their adoring public who have had four years of Fantastic Four. One of their great accomplishments was a peace settlement with the Mole Man, Harvey Elder (Paul Walter Hauser), the ruler of Subterranean, an underground society of Moloids. There’s a cartoon based on their lives where the Thing has a catch phrase, “It’s clobbering time,” something that the real Thing never says.

Reed and Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), after two years of trying, are finally going to be parents. Yet that sends Reed into a scientific panic. Considering their genetic mutations after being “cosmically compromised,” he wonders whether the child will be normal. He also worries whether his kids will be safe: Reed tracks 47 crime organizations. Ben and Johnny are giddy to be uncles.

This iteration of Johnny is no longer the daredevil playboy and unlike the 2005 films. flashes of flesh and tight-fitting uniforms aren’t used for cheap laughs and sex appeal. For that, there’s the gender-changed Silver Surfer. The 2007 “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” had Reed and Sue getting married and the Silver Surfer/Norrin Rad voiced by Laurence Fishburne, but physically played by Doug Jones. In “First Steps,” the Silver Surfer is Shalla-Bal, an elegant silver-skinned near-naked alien who catches the eye of Johnny. Unfortunately, she work oriented. The Silver Surfer is the herald who announces to Earthlings that they will be destroyed by Galactus: “Your world will be consumed by the Devourer.” She advises the Earthlings to “Use this time to rejoice and celebrate for your time is short.”

What is Galactus? A hangry alien force. A gigantic cosmic being who is billions of years old and eats planets from the inside. Yet, things get more personal. Galactus wants the baby. When the Fantastic Four meet Galactus, he declares, that he will spare Earth, if Reed and Sue give up their unborn child. The child, Galactus, states, “hides his nature” and “will inherit this curse.”

This Galactus isn’t pure evil. He’s an entity that is driven by something he cannot control and believes Reed and Sue’s child will be “my deliverance from this vicious hunger.”

Of course, Earth will be saved and you need to stay for the mid-credits and post credits scenes.

What’s to love about this MCU entry is that Sue is dressed for comfort. And costume designer Alexandra Byrne takes Sue from office to maternity wear with Fantastic Four flair. Set decorator Jille Azis (“Gladiator II,” 2024; “Mission Impossible – Fallout,” 2018) also has wonderful designs.  Cinematographer Jess Hall (“WandaVision”) shows all with loving detail. The Thing rock-like appearance is not prosthetic makeup, but motion capture with CGI.

For diversity, there’s the 50-year-old Pascal who was born in Santiago, Chile. The 30-something Kirby is English, but the age gap between Pascal and Kirby is visible, but not as egregious as some pairings. The Emmy Award-winning Moss-Bachrach (“The Bear”)  is Jewish American. Quinn (“Stranger Things” and “A Quiet Place: Day One”) is also English. Garner (“Ozark”) is also Jewish American (through her mother). Director Shakman was raised in a Catholic and Jewish household. Sarah Niles (“Ted Lasso”) is a British actress of Barbadian descent and plays  the Future Foundation’s chief of staff, Lynne Nichols.

Fans disappointed that John Krasinski was not cast since he appeared in the 2022 “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” must remember that Reed was from the alternate universe Earth-838. Sadly John Malkovich who played Ivan Kragoff/Red Ghost was cut. Will he come back or will he be in the DVD/Blu-Ray extras? It’s too soon to tell.

Here are some things to think about. The quote “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” has been attributed to the anthropologist Margaret Mead. Latveria is a fictional country that is ruled by Doctor Doom, supposedly a small isolated country in Eastern Europe. (Latvia is a Baltic country in Northern Europe between Lithuania and Estonia.) Franklin is the name of Susan and Johnny Storm’s father.

The director’s daughter, Maisie, appears as a child that Johnny Storm rescues and her name is given to a corner deli.

“The Fantastic Four” is a family-friendly film, more so than the 2005 version. There’s no sexual suggestiveness. Ben is pensively alone, but there’s an inkling of romance toward the end. Johnny is looking but not leering at the Silver Surfer and he’s not a reckless. Ben and Johnny are giddily happy to become uncles and this plays out comically in one of the better emergency getaway sequences from any superhero film, MCU or DC. The baby Franklin (Ada Scott) is delightful. As Marvel’s First Family, they are all first-rate.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” had its world premiere at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, home of the LA Opera, on 21 July 2025. It is scheduled for release on 25 July 2025. As the first film in Phase Six of the MCU, this is a step in the right direction.