Marvel’s iconic superhero team is getting a fresh start. Fantastic Four: First Steps, in theaters today, introduces a new version of the group: Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (a.k.a. Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (the Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (the Thing).

Retro charm and familial warmth carry Marvel’s first family, despite a plot that's stretched thinner than Mr. Fantastic’s limbs.View on euronews

Indeed, by the 1990s, the only Marvel property with a proper theatrically released film was (checks notes) Howard the Duck. But as Tim Burton's Batman hit theaters in 1989, and another comic property, Dick Tracy, had a release in 1990, one intrepid producer knew that there were opportunities in Marvel's so-called House of Ideas.

Marvel's had a rough 2025 at the box office, but The Fantastic Four: First Steps should be the rebound it desperately needed.

I t might be off-putting to mention Stan Lee when The Fantastic Four: First Steps wears its affections for Jack Kirby on its knit sleeves. But Lee used to say that Marvel's stories reflected the world outside our window.

Ralph Ineson, whose gigantic stature and booming voice can be found in Fantastic Four this week, co-starred alongside Nicholas Hoult, aka Superman's Lex Luther, in last year's Robert Eggers-directed Nosferatu remake. And now, the pair have bonded further, as each currently serve as the main antagonist in this year's comic book movie tentpoles.

Galactus is one of Marvel Comics most powerful villains and here are the stories that fans should read to know the world devourer better.

If the goal for The Fantastic Four: First Steps was for Marvel to finally get the comic world's first family right, then the mission has finally been accomplished. If the goal was more than that, the ship remains in orbit.