Led by the ubiquitous Pedro Pascal as rubberized Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic, the amiable quartet -- Sue Storm / Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm / The Thing (The Bear's Eben Moss-Bachrach) and Johnny Storm / Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) -- are media darlings, making regular appearances on television and basking in their hard-earned celebrity. They're an international brand on what is an alternative version of Earth that mixes '60s cultural artifacts with futuristic robotics and aeronautics. (MCU once again tapping the parallel multiverse theme.)
When a silver-coated herald on a surfboard (Ozark's Julia Garner), arrives and announces Galactus, The Devourer (Ralph Ineson) is on his way to gobble up the planet and all of its inhabitants, the Four, including a very pregnant Sue, spring into action.
Shakman and his screenwriters choose not to stage a half-dozen or more loud and long battles between good and evil (I think this was a wise decision, considering the ragtag assortment of superpowers the Four present). Instead, and refreshingly, the movie spends much more time on "science" and "science-y things" and problem-solving, using brains to confront a powerful opponent whose appetite makes him myopic and a bit addled. (One is free to make whatever real-world comparisons one wishes.)
In many ways, First Steps includes familiar elements of Marvel's winning formula -- attractive stars, menacing villain(s) and the punchy kind of banter that fans expect. In addition, and I believe this is a first, the movie gets a valuable assist from an infant who, depending on the ambitions of the MCU brain trust, might be the "herald" of a brand-new generation of bombastic heroics, which, in turn, suggests this franchise might be interminable.
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