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The Fantastic Four: First Steps is certainly a film about family. It's only natural that their MCU debut would center their legacy as Marvel's First Family. And it's an approach that, on paper, works well because it mirrors the relationship that comic book readers have with the team, and Reed Richards in particular. Speaking for myself, as someone with a family member who can best be described as "too smart for his own good," comic book Mister Fantastic feels familiar. He's a character I've grown to accept despite his flaws, which is why I was so keen on seeing how Pedro Pascal's portrayal of the character would turn out in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Unfortunately, the film I saw was less a Fantastic Four movie and more a highly editorialized vision of the team and their world that feels like it sprang from the mind of Reed himself. 

Now, I know you Reed Richards mains may be asking yourself, "Jules, what's wrong with that? Can't a man have hobbies?" So walk with me here, people. The Fantastic Four: First Steps feels like a movie directed by Reed Richards because it lacks an awareness of how the team's perceived "flaws" make them so compelling on the page. Instead, each member comes off as a sanitized version of their comic book counterpart, as if Reed himself ran each line and plot beat by a publicist. In the end, it left me feeling the same way that Deadpool and Wolverine left me feeling as a huge fan of the New X-Men comics: God, why couldn't this have had the chance to get weird? James Gunn got all the normies saying, "I am Groot" in 2014, and this is where we are now?

Mister Fantastic in The Fantastic Four: First Steps lacks his compelling flaws from the comics

Everyone's got their own interpretation of the Fantastic Four. For me, they're a family, but they're also freaks. I have memories from when I was a kid of flipping past this one splash page of Mister Fantastic using his stretchy powers, because I got nauseous at the sight of seeing him coiled up like a spring. I've since gotten over it. Meanwhile, The Thing could destroy a leather couch just by sitting down on it, while the Invisible Woman could "nope" her way out of any conversation at any point like a living meme, and The Human Torch evidences how and why hot men can be stress-inducing. If I brought them over to my Chinese grandmother's home for dinner, she would look at me with an expression of, "What have you brought into my home?" And that's precisely why I cherish this team. 

However, in First Steps, the Fantastic Four are, dare I say it, pedestrian - especially Reed. Look, nobody that smart who willingly fills up multiple chalkboards day in and day out, without inventing a less dusty surface (a whiteboard), is normal. And not only is he pretty normal, Pedro Pascal's performance of the character makes him a suave, likable, well-adjusted, and stylish middle-aged man. In other words, within the logic of the film, Reed isn't unusual or aberrant, and neither is the rest of the team. And I'm sorry to say that this is what makes First Steps boring in places where a Fantastic Four story shouldn't be. 

As a Reformed Reed Richards Hater, the Reed I know from comics is obsessive and a bit awkward, his flaws sometimes testing the bonds of the people who love him. In essence, part of why I like Reed is because he makes it difficult to like him sometimes. There's a darkness within Reed Richards that exists alongside the light of discovery he basks in, and it's intoxicating to read on the page. It's a delight to see the comic book equivalent of the kid in your biology class ready to chime in with, "um, actually-" bounce around in space and raise a family on Earth. Mister Fantastic constantly tests my decision to believe in the work that he does, and I think that that's part of the reason why the Fantastic Four have been such an enduring part of the Marvel Universe: they challenge us to evolve. 

The Fantastic Four: First Steps amounts to what feels like a sanitized version of the team

But sadly in First Steps, we aren't challenged to evolve, and neither is Marvel Studios. The Fantastic Four don't encounter any hardships stemming from their powers, nor do we know how they feel about their powers. We aren't invited to empathize with them for being outcasts, despite their popularity. And it's a freaking bummer. Listen, I want all four of them to experience happiness, of course, but if they don't experience a little angst for being different from other people, then what makes them different from action figures or cardboard cutouts? It's a shame that First Steps feels so emotionally absent, because Thunderbolts* and its cast of unapologetic misfits had my heart soaring in the theater. 

To First Steps' credit, there is one scene between Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm and Reed where she calls him out for implying that their family should make a sacrifice that they've already agreed is too high a price. Pascal does a fine job of articulating a line about how he can't help but always imagine the worst possible outcome for his family, but it's a character beat that is too little, too late. Being part of a family isn't always smooth sailing, and waiting until the end of the second act to acknowledge how Reed's flaws impact those closest to him does a disservice to both the narrative, the actors, and the characters. 

Like any one of us, Reed Richards doesn't see the totality of his actions on other people. We know from social psychology's concept of the self-serving bias that our minds look for ways to boost our self-esteem, even if it comes at the cost of obscuring less than savory elements about ourselves. Unfortunately, The Fantastic Four: First Steps plays out like an extension of this concept, making its characters too perfect, too accepted, and too easily forgiven for us to embrace them as three-dimensional people. 

I have no idea where Reed Richards and the rest of the Fantastic Four are supposed to go from here, mostly because I'm not sure how much they've grown from the events of First Steps. Sure, they're all probably a bit less scared about having a vulnerable, tiny human running around the Baxter Building, but we've all seen Marvel Studios do better than that. Maybe it's just my grumpy nature as a New Yorker, but maybe the lackluster character work with Mister Fantastic in The Fantastic Four: First Steps is just following in the tradition of Reed Richards testing my resolve. That's the most generous reading I can give on it. 

The Fantastic Four: First Steps clobbers into theaters July 25, 2025. 

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters