The Fantastic Four are back. Again. More precisely, this summer’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps is not just another reboot or remake, it is two things: the introduction of Marvel’s first superhero family to the large-scale Marvel Cinematic Universe—a long time coming, since Disney acquired Fox and all of its Marvel properties in 2019, including X-Men and Deadpool—but more importantly, this is technically the fourth iteration of FF in the medium of film. Since this is supposed to be our team going forward to lead future MCU crossovers and likely whole phases, they have to get it right, because if they don’t, if audiences turn on this version of the characters and the lore and their placement in the intricately woven web of films and television, then I think this could be it for the Fantastic Four on the big screen, and could potentially herald the beginning of the end for the MCU as a whole.
The first film adaptation was made by Roger Corman just so Constantin Film was able to hang on to the IP, thus made with haste and cheapness and never publicly released, but it has since made the rounds with bootlegs and illegal online uploads. I have seen enough of it to know it is arguably the worst screen version of the source material, and yet there is still something oddly charming about its ultra-low budget 90’s schlock nature at times. Released the same year I was born, The Fantastic Four (1994) was far from the first time the heroes had been on screen. In fact, my answer to the question of what the best screen adaptation has been up to this point comes from the same year, but before I get to it, let me finish covering the successive movie versions predating First Steps. The first widely released film adaptation was called Fantastic Four (notice “the” was dropped from this version’s title), released in 2005. It had a pretty good cast, including future MCU Captain America star Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, which was lovingly paid tribute to in Deadpool & Wolverine. Ioan Gruffudd played Dr. Reid Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Alba was Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman (which is perhaps what makes this version feel of the 2000s the most), and Michael Chiklis was Ben Grimm/The Thing: the best casting of the main heroes. The bulky, rock-bodied version of the character in prosthetic makeup doesn’t actually look much better than Roger Corman’s version over a decade earlier, but the actor embodies the role, and I prefer the practical effects to CGI anyway. As for the movie itself? I really enjoyed this one as a kid, but looking back on it now…
I wouldn’t really say I’m nostalgic for either the original or the sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). I used to think the second one was better as a kid, mainly because of Silver Surfer, but I think they’d probably be about the same were I to watch them again today. The visual effects were okay for the time, but most shots don’t hold up well anymore, and the comedy was hit or miss, but overall, these movies are just goofy and cringe. Compared to Spider-Man (2002), this Marvel property, which felt like it should have been just as fun, believable, and exciting, just doesn’t transcend the era in which it was made, even though they got some things right. A couple of the creative decisions that I found baffling include turning Galactus into a giant fart cloud and giving Doctor Doom electrical powers, but the creative decision making (or should I say, creative meddling from the studio) on the first reboot was even more staggering.
FANT4STIC, as it was marketed (pronounced “Fant-Four-Stick”), was defecated upon by critics and fans when it came out in the doldrums of summer 2015. By this point, we’d had X-Men rejuvenated the year before, Deadpool was on its way, and the MCU had been established, so a disconnected, gritty reinvention of a superhero team generally known to be bright-coloured and fun was instantly met with skepticism, and then when director Josh Trank went off the deep end upon its release and outright disowned the project, it crashed and burned right out of the gate. When I eventually saw it, I found the first 20 minutes tolerable, and then it just went downhill from there, ending in a spectacularly bad final battle with an even more absurd version of Doctor Doom than what we saw in the 2000s. It’s been rightfully memed and lambasted and there’s really no reason to go back and watch it unless you’re a 2010s superhero movie historian. Like the Corman version, this one was made so Fox could keep the rights, and it’s a shame a darker body-horror-version of the comics was so heavily tampered with by the studio.
Long before they were on the big screen, the Fantastic Four made multiple appearances on television, starting in the 1960s with Hanna Barbera’s The Fantastic Four cartoon. I saw a few episodes back in the day on Teletoon Retro, and for the time, it was a decent adaptation. They got the vibrant look of the early comics right, but the animation was quite limited, and the action wasn’t up to the standards of the 60’s Spider-Man or Incredible Hulk cartoons. There was The New Fantastic Four in the 1970s, which replaced Johnny Storm with H.E.R.B.I.E. the Robot (both characters will be in First Steps) and while that show had more detailed animation, it obviously wasn’t as faithful to the comics having left out one of the core members. The best version, to me, is one I saw for the first time very close to when the 2005 film came out on home video. To capitalize on the popularity, there was a DVD set released which I got for my birthday that year, containing all episodes of Fantastic Four: The Animated Series. This show originally aired from 1994 to 1996 during Marvel’s cartoon heyday. This was The Marvel Action Hour, the first half being Iron Man: The Animated Series and the second half focused on FF, with other Marvel characters popping in from time to time, including Namor, Daredevil, and Black Panther. It told the origin story of the heroes, included all the biggest villains, like Doctor Doom and Galactus, usually in multi-episode arcs that would end with cliffhangers, and unlike the Hanna Barbera series, the animation, action, and sound effects were up to par for the time and still hold up quite well. It ran for two seasons, with some of the voice actors changing after the first season, but season two also received some upgrades: the animation got even better, the team’s suits changed to a blackish-blue, and Dr. Doom became even more menacing.
This series is the best Fantastic Four adaptation I’ve seen because of the tone, the pacing, and the accuracy to the comics. I already mentioned the roster of villains, but the main heroes themselves all feel like they’ve leapt right off the page. Most of the voice acting is suitable, the quips and jokes and one-liners usually work, and the adventures they go on are the kind of sci-fi/cosmic/interdimensional/time-travelling adventures that suits them best, with every episode’s plot based on a comic storyline. Some story arcs have weaknesses, such as when the primary goal of the Doctor Doom three-parter in season one is to rescue Sue as if she’s some kind of damsel in distress, but at the show’s best, the whole team works cooperatively to save the day and demonstrates their unique powers in fun, exciting ways. Most importantly, though, the show never takes itself too seriously, just seriously enough for the crazy ideas to work.
There are some pretty unexpected jokes from episode to episode, like in one where Reid is preoccupied with one of his experiments and Sue is trying to get his attention, and she casually says, “I’ll just go drown myself.” Not having heard her, he replies, “Yeah, alright.” Most of the time the humour is not too cringe-worthy for it being a show aimed at kids, but there are definitely some exceptions. The running gag of the landlady and her little dog always being at odds with the heroes and threatening to evict them gets old pretty quick, but these parts are usually brief, and the landlady doesn’t usually factor into the main plot of the episode. One of the most painful episodes to watch is “Mole Man” from the first season, because the landlady accompanies the team to a dance party, and then Johnny performs an original pop song to profess his love for her niece! It’s something that unfortunately feels like it could’ve fit in well with the 2000s film versions.
The 90’s really was a great era for Marvel animation—we had X-Men, Spider-Man, and The Incredible Hulk, and all of them had similar high-quality animation styles, plus the involvement of Stan Lee. He even did little intros in-person for each episode of Fantastic Four, and popped up in animation form from time to time to explain things such as how the Skrulls language was being translated for the viewer, which feels very comic book-esque. The 90’s Spider-Man was awesome; I loved watching that show as a kid, and I’ve even gone back and re-watched most of the first season as an adult. In the same way that the 60’s Fantastic Four cartoon is fun yet considerably dated compared to the 90’s series, the 60’s Spider-Man is fun, but not as good as the 90’s version. Here's a difference, though: would I say the 90’s Spider-Man is the best screen version of Spider-Man, overall? No way. You could contest several different movies as being better—Spider-Verse, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming—but that’s not the case with Fantastic Four.
To wrap up, will I be reviewing The Fantastic Four: First Steps to see if it’s the new best screen adaptation of the comics after I see it in theatres? Maybe. It will likely be the new definitive movie version, at least, but I think there’s something about the slightly goofy nature of the foursome that just is better suited to episodic storytelling on a scale that’s less sprawling and feels more like a standalone issue of a comic book. I do hope this new team will be able to go toe to toe with Robert Downey Jr.’s upcoming version of Doctor Doom debuting in Avengers: Doomsday (or perhaps in a First Steps end credit scene?) and they’ll get to meet Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and all those other heroes out there saving lives in New York. But, if Marvel Studios could somehow wrangle all the great actors they’ve cast in these roles and a decent enough budget to do a Marvel Television miniseries with them, I think that would be the best way to see these fantastic heroes on screen.