It’s clobbering time at the box office this weekend.The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis finally in theaters, and while there’s a lot of excitement in the air, there’s also a hint of trepidation. Despite being some of the most beloved characters in the comics, the Fantastic Four have never been done justice on the big screen. Their previous cinematic efforts range from 1994’s unreleased guilty pleasure to 2015’s inexcusable failure.
Luckily, fans need not have worried:First Stepsgets the characters right at long last, and it’s the first adaptation of the property to truly commit to the inherent pulpiness of the comics. First and foremost, this is a ‘60s retro-futurist joyride,arguably more akin toStar Trekthan a superhero flick. Indeed, the film’s high points involve space travel, with sequences that are visually stunning and reminiscent of classic sci-fi epics, particularlyChristopher Nolan’s blockbuster,Interstellar.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Read Our Review
‘Interstellar’ Was a Benchmark for Space Travel on Film
Over a decade after its release, it’s becoming increasingly clear thatChristopher Nolan’sInterstellarwas quietly revolutionaryin depicting space travel on film.Much has been written about how Nolan sought extreme scientific accuracy for the film, collaborating with theoretical physicist Kip Thorne to give consultations on the script.
In particular, they sought to accurately visually portray what they believed black holes and wormholes might look like based on Albert Einstein’s general relativity equations. As is typical for him, Nolan sought to create these visuals practically whenever possible, and indeed, they still look astonishing. However, it also proved prophetic; the first captured image of a black hole’s event horizon, released in 2019, bore analmost identical resemblanceto what audiences had seen five years earlier.
‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Is Already Dominating the Disney+ Streaming Charts (But There’s a Catch)
Marvel’s first family is already off to a roaring start.
Arguably even more influential was Nolan’s approach to space travel as a concept. In contrast toGravity, which portrayed space as a terrifying and endless abyss, andThe Martian, which primarily used it as a backdrop for the story, Nolan’s vision harkened back to a classical, romantic perspective. In a clear homage to Stanley Kubrick’s2001: A Space Odyssey, he was most interested in the wonder and majesty of space, not just the fear of traveling into the unknown, but also the excitement and joy that comes with it.
That’s arguably a significant part of the reasonInterstellarremains so revered today, despite initially receiving mixed reviews. It’s a science-fiction epic that earnestly believes in humanity’s capacity to push past boundaries and to explore the edges of the universe.That perspective continues to shape more recent works in the genre, includingFirst Steps.
‘Fantastic Four’ Nails the Space Travel
The optimistic outlook that shapedInterstellarhas always been a key part of the ethos of Marvel’s First Family.Fantastic Fourwas designed as an homage to 1950s sci-fi B-movies, with individual comics that paid homage to films such asFantastic Voyage,Journey to the Center of the Earth, andForbidden Planet. At heart, it was a love letter to explorers and individuals who pushed the boundaries of the known universe.
As such, the sequences of space travel inFirst Stepsfeel wondrous and exciting, like they should. It’s often clear that director Matt Shakman was directly influenced byInterstellar, asindividual shots of the team’s ship docking closely resemble similar sequences in Nolan’s epic, and Shakman pays the same kind of attention to the slow majesty of it all.Action sequences set in a wormhole and later in the event horizon of a black hole also seem directly lifted fromInterstellar.
‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Scores Early Win Over James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ - but Seriously, So What?
Marvel Studios has won the first milestone on its way to landing the biggest superhero movie release of the year.
But it thankfully always feels less like a ripoff than a living homage, and a clear understanding of the optimistic perspective thatFirst Stepsneeded to have to work.It also greatly helps matters that, aside from a few questionable uses of CGI,First Stepsis one of the more visually impressive MCU titles in a long time. It’s always evident that Shakman and his team thought through the scenic and production design, rather than simply shooting in front of a green screen and deciding the specifics later. The action sequences are also rock solid: the aforementioned black hole setpiece is genuinely suspenseful, while an escape from the Silver Surfer in a wormhole has a lot of fun idly toying with the warped laws of gravity.
Of course, Nolan’s visual accomplishments remain unmatched, if only becausehis continued insistence on practical effects lends weightto his action sequences that the MCU, even at its best, admittedly lacks. That said, there are certainly moments that come close enough and work for many of the same reasons that Nolan’s film did. Even a decade later, we’re still feeling the influence ofInterstellarin unexpected ways, and perhaps the most unexpected, seeing the most optimistic piece of pop science fiction in the Marvel universe to date, is nevertheless welcome.The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis now playing in theaters.
