The review embargo for The Fantastic Four: First Steps lifted on Tuesday, and while the first wave of reviews was very positive, the reboot's Rotten Tomatoes score has been hovering around the mid-80s for the past couple of days.
The movie finally arrives in U.S. theaters later this afternoon, and that percentage score is now on the rise! With 174 reviews counted as we write this, The Fantastic Four: First Steps has an average rating of 89%. It debuted with 88% (the same score as Thunderbolts*), but this is the highest point it's reached on the review aggregator so far.
Can it possibly crack the 90s? That remains to be seen in the coming days, but either way, it ranks among Marvel Studios' best-reviewed movies.
Vanessa Kirby has received the lion's share of praise for her take on Sue Storm. "Vanessa is able to convey Sue's power and humanity so brilliantly," filmmaker Matt Shakman recently explained. "She's tough, but she’s also the emotional leader. Shes great in terms of handling all situations. And she's a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. She flies by the seat of her pants."
Sue is also shown as head of the Future Foundation. Addressing that, Kirby said, "We wanted to focus on her leading efforts to advance humanity and make positive changes without it being about her breaking barriers as a woman. I really appreciated that approach because I didn't want gender to be the focus."
It remains to be seen how high The Fantastic Four: First Steps can soar at the box office, but analysts predict a domestic start of over $100 million for the long-awaited return of Marvel's First Family to the big screen.
In our review of the movie, we concluded, "The Fantastic Four is an exceptional introduction to the MCU’s First Family, and thanks to a Jack Kirby-infused feel that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, it proves to be a quintessential superhero movie with Marvel Studios at its brilliant best."
Check out a new TV spot for The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the player below.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
Also appearing are Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert. John Malkovich was set to play Red Ghost, but was cut due to time constraints.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer.
The movie is set to be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.