First Steps marks the fourth attempt to translate the original comic book characters of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/The Thing to the silver screen. This time, the action will take place in an alternate history/parallel universe set in the ’60s.

As Reed, Pascal is convincing as the world’s smartest man who is nevertheless overwhelmed by the irrational flood of thoughts and emotions that accompany fatherhood. As written, Sue is a somewhat thankless character, but Kirby manages to add depth to the Invisible Woman with subtle performance choices.

Fantastic Four: First Steps is helping Marvel to "get its mojo back", according to early reviews of the new superhero reboot. The 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is "Marvel's best film in a decade", the Telegraph said, while the Guardian commented the studio had "regained its buoyancy".