Teaser Review: The Fantastic Four: First Steps

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Has A Certain Vibe

The Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser is a fascinating look at the current cultural interests, and especially what Marvel has learned from its other projects. The aesthetic, from moment one, is so very distinct—and so very familiar.

Let me take you down my thoughts. Agatha All Along was set in present day but was very fixated on a specific set of aesthetics. An era of culture. It leaned so hard into that. So did the original series, WandaVision. And, if we look at Loki, we see another instance of Marvel focusing on a distinct visual style. There’s a sense of nostalgia permeating the whole thing, even if it’s not directly mentioned.

And, huh, wouldn’t you know it? Those were all good shows by Marvel. Personally, those were the most distinct things I’ve reviewed from Marvel in a long time.

And so, I hope I’ve made my case that The Fantastic Four: First Steps is clearly trying the same thing. Almost to the point of it feeling manipulative. Look at that robot. Look at that dining room setup. This is clearly meant to evoke a specific era. I actually even question if this is set in the main dimension/timeline of the MCU. The few outside shots show a city that looks a little different from any other Marvel property.

It’s also interesting to note the lack of focus on an established conflict in this teaser. It’s all implied in the smallest of flashes. The weird comet storm. The Invisible Woman putting up a shield and The Thing running at something. The only hint we even get about who or what the threat might be is a faint shadow of Galactus, and I question how, exactly, a movie called “First Steps” intends to have The Fantastic Four fight a planet-eating villain this early. I feel like that can’t be the main villain for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

I actually question how much this is going to be an action movie, at all. I get an odd vibe from this teaser. A sense that the story is going to be more interpersonal. Something about family connections, given the many, many allusions to that topic throughout.

Now, I imagine some future, proper trailer, instead of a teaser, might contradict me entirely. But I do hope I’m right. Because I wouldn’t mind something especially weird from Marvel. Something more mundane and yet dramatic. We’ve done a lot of the big battles with superpowers already.

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