As Somebody Who Has Liked Every Fantastic Four Movie, Here's Why I Am Over The Moon With Our First Glimpse Of The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Do I like bad movies? (That’s a rhetorical question. Seriously. You don't have to answer.)

I only ask because I've never seen a Fantastic Four movie that I didn't like. I love the Chris Evans Fantastic Four movies, and I even kind of like the Michael B. Jordan Fantastic Four movie. So, yes. I may OBJECTIVELY have “bad taste” in cinema (I mean, Eternals is my favorite MCU picture, so…)

But, enough beating up on myself, because I have news. Galactus-sized news! The new trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps recently dropped, and it looks, er, fantastic! As somebody who has liked every movie about these characters, I am utterly over the moon after seeing this new trailer. Here's why.

The Thing Has Never Looked Better In Live-Action

Honestly, the most important character in any of these flicks is not their nemesis, Doctor Doom, but rather The Thing, since the overall tone really hinges on him.

There are two important factors to this character. One, is obviously the look. When Arrested Development came to Netflix, there was a whole subplot in Season 4 about Fantastic 4: An Action Musical, where Tobias donned The Thing costume, and looked ridiculous (of course) in the process. But, that’s part of the joke, as The Thing, when brought to live-action, is probably going to look ridiculous, given what he is.

For example, the costume was laughable in the unreleased, 1994 The Fantastic Four movie, and the character somehow looked even worse in the 2015 version. Surprisingly, the best one so far is from the early 2000s. In those two films, Michael Chiklis wore a full-body suit, and it looked great!

However, when I saw The Thing in this new trailer, my first thought was, “Oh, my God! It’s perfect!” I mean, it looks exactly like The Thing from the comics, and it’s one of the few times where I truly think they got the CGI right. I mean, I was floored when I saw him. So, that’s one factor in bringing The Thing to the big screen.

The other factor is the voice and the actual acting, and well…I actually don’t know how I feel about that just yet, but I’m willing to give it a try. From what we know about the cast, Ebon Moss-Bachrach will be playing Mr. Clobberin’ time himself, and the first thing (pun not intended) that I noticed was the voice, which took me by surprise. Instead of being super gravely, like how Chiklis performed it, it’s actually a lot more human-sounding, and I find that really interesting. Like I said, I’m willing to give it a shot, but it’s definitely unique, which I like.

I Love All Of The Actors In Their Respective Roles

You know, I was a little apprehensive when I heard that Pedro Pascal was going to play Mr. Fantastic. Maybe it was because, like many, I had my mind set on John Krasinski, which we got a version of in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

However, within the first few seconds of the trailer, my apprehension was assuaged, as how could Pascal not be good as Reed Richards? He's good in everything!

Though I only really know Vanessa Kirby from The Crown, I really liked her in that, and I will probably like her as Sue Richards as well.

I haven’t actually seen Joseph Quinn in anything yet, but as soon as I saw him as Johnny Storm, I thought, yep. That looks like Johnny. And, truth be told, Johnny is actually the character that I’ve always been the least interested in.

So, when they had Chris Evans in the 2000s films, I thought, OK. That’s fine. When they had Michael B. Jordan in the 2015 movie, I thought, OK. That’s fine. So, really, if Quinn just shouts, “Flame on!” and it doesn’t sound all weird, then I'll likely be okay with it.

But, The Bear’s Moss-Bachrach might just be the most interesting casting of the bunch. I know a lot of his performance will likely be CGI, but much like Mark Ruffalo was somehow able to emote as The Hulk, I have faith that Moss-Bachrach will really make The Thing his own, and as I said earlier, he seems like a much gentler version of the character. So, yeah. I love this cast!

The Period Setting Gives Me A Real Silver Age Of Comics Vibe

I’m old, but I’m not Silver Age of comics old. I was a ‘90s kid, so I grew up with storylines like Maximum Carnage, and Spawn.

That said, I’ve always found a certain charm to comic books from the ‘60s. Nevermind the yellowing pages. What I really love is the overall storytelling of that era. For one thing, the pages are covered in text. So, it wasn’t just a few words, and then, a whole page of a character sent flying through a wall.

Instead, storytelling came first, and characters would talk for pages on end. Let me tell you, as a kid, I hated this, but as an adult, I adore it. These storylines are rich!

I also like how colorful (and yet subdued) their costumes often were. In the ‘90s, everything was BIG! Big guns, big pouches, big everything! But, things seemed a lot more subdued in the ‘60s, which I really enjoy.

Well, this trailer gave me those ‘60s vibes, which makes sense, because this movie is a period piece, much like Captain America: The First Avenger. However, unlike that movie, which had a very…brown tone to it, this movie looks brightly colored, and, dare I say, optimistic.

From the clothes, to the cars, to the colors, just everything about this trailer makes me even more excited for this film.

A Comic Accurate Version Of Galactus This Time Around Is Blowing My Mind

In my article on lessons this new movie can learn from the previous ones, I mentioned Doctor Doom, but honestly, I'm a little tired of Dr. Victor von…in movie form anyway.

Yes, I know Robert Downey Jr. is coming back as Doctor Doom…and we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. However, I’m really glad that this movie isn’t focusing on the villain this time around, since every other Fantastic Four movie (Including the unreleased one!) featured the character, and I’m so happy that this film won’t. (Whether he’s in a post-credits scene or not is yet to be seen.)

Instead, we’re getting another version of The Silver Surfer, who will be portrayed by Julia Garner, and a person-form version of Galactus, portrayed by Ralph Ineson.

I say “person-form” (rather than “cosmic being”) since I’m only thinking back to Rise of the Silver Surfer, in which we got a giant CLOUD to represent Galactus. Now, look. As I mentioned earlier, I love that movie, but I was kind of bummed that that was our only version of him in the movies.

However, as we see in this trailer, this movie rectifies that. We can’t actually see Galactus’s face, we do see his trademark headgear, which seriously has me stoked.

I mean, yes, he looks a bit smaller than the version I’m used to, but as I’ve seen people say online, Galactus can shrink and expand in size, and has done so on some occasions.

So, yeah, score another point for this movie.

It Just Looks Like So Much Fun, And Vastly Different From The Other Movies

Lastly, can I just gush about how fun this movie looks?

From Reed and Sue Richards guiding guests around their retro home, to The Thing cooking dinner with a robot, to Johnny Storm…doing Johnny Storm stuff, I am absolutely in love with everything I’ve seen so far.

Yes, I’ve recently proclaimed that I’ve given up on the MCU and am now a DC fan boy, but this trailer has brought me back into the fold, as it were.

Because, as I said up top, I have never watched a Fantastic Four movie that I didn’t like, and this one looks exceptional from the trailer so far. It could quite possibly be the best FF movie ever.

It’s the fun-factor that’s really doing it for me, though. After the surprisingly dark 2015 movie, I thought we were done with getting a bright and ebullient Fantastic Four flick, but that’s just how this film looks – bright and ebullient.

Only time will tell if it actually is, but I’m excited. Are you?