Paul Green
Cultural Reporter
Disney/Miracle
Pedro Pascal portrays Mr. Fantastic
Fantastic Four: According to most early comments on the new superhero restart, the first step is to help miracles “restore magic.”
The Telegraph said the 37th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was “the best movie of Marvel in a decade”, and the Guardian announced that the studio “restored its buoyancy.”
But other critics restored the returned comic superhero's feet to Earth. Independents suggest that the retro movie is “no disaster, but this is not superman either”.
In the 2015 adaptation, the box office retorted, the latest attempt to a magic four-shot restart, which was badly received by critics.
New iteration star Pedro Pascal plays Mr. Fantasy, Vanessa Kirby is the invisible woman, and Joseph Quinn is the torch of humanity and ebon moss-bachrach.
It was set in the 1960s and saw heroes forced to defend the planet from a hungry space called Galactus played by Ralph Ineson, while Julia Garner played by Silver Surfer.
Disney/Miracle
Vanessa Kirby plays this invisible woman with a superhero baby on her way
The diversity of American publications is impressive, with the title: “Marvel regains Mojo with a satisfying reboot of retro style.”
Reviewer Peter DeChudge said it was right to shrink from the “feeling of the overcrowded feeling of the product recently”, adding: “From a Marvel movie, you don’t need to look closely at many other movies to understand what’s going on.”
He noted that gender surfers are the “biggest–probably the most controversial” story changes, bringing “engaging dynamics” [Human Torch] Johnny.
“Faithful to its subtitles, the film feels like a new beginning. Just like this summer's blockbuster Superman rebooted in DC, that's probably what it takes to win audiences who are exhausted by superheroes.”
Disney/Miracle
The focus of this movie is on the four nominal pieces and their unique family settings
Telegraph's Robbie Collin offers four stars, saying the restart “feels like the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Marvel”.
“The first step is to be serious, colorful, optimistic, and ask its audience to bring nothing beyond the willingness to be shocked,” he said.
This, he believes, makes viewers “hopefully Marvel has achieved this by a few years ago.”
“Why did Pedro Pascal’s Resilience Bonding Mr., Vanessa Kirby’s Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-bachrach’s Rock-Skin Things and Joseph Quinn’s Fire Torch make the heroes so refreshing?
“This is partly because casting allows all four people to play to their strengths – Kirby is particularly worthwhile as the team’s staunch patriarch, but also because the film keeps putting them in the human space where human behavior occurs naturally.”
In a three-star review, The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw explained: “In the New York Retro Expert Edition in the early 1960s, Fantastic and Sue Storm and Mr. Sue Storm are a dysfunctional family with human torches and things – carrying babies on the way.”
He wrote that the result is “in the quirky world of self-enclosed fantasy, hanging together is an interesting wonder where real people actually read comic books that make the real four myths and legends”.
He continued: “I've been upset with superhero movies lately, which have to end the collapse of the AI city – yes, that's what's happening here, but at least this ending comes from the established story premise and works well with simple fun.”
Added: “In general, it's a very stupid movie – even though it makes the superhero genre high.”
“Hug the miracle again”
Independent Clarisse Loughrey also drew three stars, highlighting how actress Kirby “like Susan Storm and the dazzling design of the set”, but “this franchiser is still at risk of the usual unsatisfied drama banter and morbid miracle aversion, but this franchiser is still suppressed.
She wrote: “It was Reed and Sue’s marriage that was also one of the most fascinating moral conundrums ever in Hawaii, but after three scenarios, it was happy to solve them.
“Indeed, Angst hasn't become a Marvel card so far. Admittedly, it's nice to see this type of hug again.”
Director Matt Shakman said his latest attempt to bring comics heroes to the big screen exists in his “its own universe” so fans don't have to worry about whether they can't see all or any of the previous 36 MCU movies.
John Malkovich was supposed to appear in the form of a red ghost in the movie, but, Shackman told Variety that it would be “heartbreaking” to eventually have to leave the scene on the floor of the cutting room.
Disney/Miracle
Ebon Moss-Bachrach can be heard repeatedly: “This is Clobberin's time!”
On the weekend, Marvel Boss Kevin Feige laughed at the studio's “Seven Years Plan” which included the release of Spider-Man: A New Day in Summer 2026, followed by two Avengers movies.
He told Hollywood trade publications, including a variety [characters]? ”
He details why he likes rival DC Comics' recent hit Superman movie “Many”. “I love you just jump in. You don't know it's so good, so good? It's hard, you'll figure it out. It's a world full of flesh.”
For Caryn James of BBC Culture, Marvel's own 2025 release, The Fantastic Four, was “pleasant enough but lacking tension.”
“Although Pedro Pascal and others have performed well, and because of all their 'breeze', this kind of retro vision for Marvel's future is not suspenseful enough,” she wrote.
“The first step to subtitles says a lot – the movie feels like a warm-up that introduces the characters that will be a major part of the MCU.”
Dan Jolin of the Empire prefers it, offering four stars.
“If the script doesn't hit too many comedy highs like some other miracles, it's at least full of sincerity, showing a heroic lineup dedicated to protecting the planet while encouraging the entire world to connect weapons, and do a little bit,” he said.
“That’s the kind of hero we need now.”
“Fantastic Four”: The first step is to be released in British cinemas on Thursday.