As Reed, Pascal is convincing as the world’s smartest man who is nevertheless overwhelmed by the irrational flood of thoughts and emotions that accompany fatherhood. As written, Sue is a somewhat thankless character, but Kirby manages to add depth to the Invisible Woman with subtle performance choices.

But it was a little odd to hear that Marvel also planned to make the Fantastic Four a major part of the MCU’s future. Even though the Fantastic Four have always been prominent in Marvel’s comics, the characters — created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee — had never translated well to the big screen.

"First Steps" promises to push the MCU out of its comfort zone, but the movie quickly retreats into a tired version of the same old story.