Copyright Screen Rant
The Fantastic Four’s MCU debut finally gave Marvel’s First Family the movie they've always deserved. Now streaming on Disney+, Fantastic Four: First Steps remains a visually stunning and dynamic introduction to this version of the classic family/team, while also being filled with moments that only get better every rewatch. The final MCU movie of 2025, Fantastic Four: First Steps requires very little preexisting knowledge of the greater cinematic universe, having been set in its own reality apart from the main timeline with the retro-futuristic Earth-828 set in the 60s. At the same time, First Steps provided a captivating family story at its core while still having some intense world-ending stakes. Here's our favorite 10 moments from Fantastic Four: First Steps that still hit hard rewatching on Disney+. The Perfect Opening Montage For The MCU's First Family Without question, Fantastic Four: First Steps features one of the very best opening scenes ever for an MCU movie. Packaged as a 60's style ABC special on The Fantastic Four and their first years as heroes, The Ted Gilbert Show (a nod to the real-life Ed Sullivan) covers the team's exploits via an exciting montage, culminating with a homage to The Beatles' American debut on Ed Sullivan, right down to the same stage (The Beatles were also known as "The Fab Four") Recreating the cover of Fantastic Four #1 with Giganto while briefly featuring other classic comicbook villains like foes like Mole Man, The Mad Thinker, and even one of Red Ghost's Super-Apes, this montage covering the FF's history as astronauts, heroes, and celebrities is genius and a lot of fun with repeated viewings. "I Herald His Beginning, I Herald Your End..." The debut of Julia Garner's Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: First Steps is just as haunting as ever. Confirming that Galactus is coming and that their world has been "marked for death", Shalla-Bal heralding the World Devourer is all kinds of ominous. Likewise, what follows is an absolutely beautiful shot of Johnny Storm seeing his own face reflected in hers once he catches up to her. Galactus Makes His Massive MCU Debut Seeing Galactus towering over the First Family was absolutely jaw-dropping in the theaters, especially in IMAX when the aspect ratio was changed. Completely redeeming the “space cloud” ridiculousness from 2007's The Rise of the Silver Surfer, this Galactus is very much the real deal. Ralph Ineson’s voice is the definition of bone-chilling as Galactus confirms his desire for Reed and Sue Storm's unborn child and hidden cosmic power. While his first appearance might not feel so big at home streaming First Steps, it's still a pretty phenomenal MCU villain debut all the same. Silver Surfer Pursuing The Fantastic Four The FF's ultimate showdown with Galactus at the movie's end is thrilling. However, the most visually stunning sequence in Fantastic Four: First Steps has to be The Silver Surfer's pursuit of Excelsior-One. The action from Shalla-Bal is absolutely brilliant as she literally surfs across waves of magma before coasting through wormholes once the First Family's ship hits faster-than-light travel. Managing to delay The Silver Surfer using the time dilation of a black hole, the entire sequence continues to be heart-pounding from start to finish. Sue Storm Giving Birth Next To A Black Hole In the midst of The Silver Surfer's pursuit is Sue Storm, trying to give birth in zero gravity near the aforementioned collapsing neutron star. The incredibly unique MCU moment blends intense cosmic spectacle with raw human emotion. Without a doubt, there are some truly great performances in this scene all around, though particularly from Vanessa Kirby's Sue and Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards. There's honestly no better way for one of Marvel's most powerful beings to make their live-action MCU debut with Franklin Richards' deep-space birth with a literal black hole on the horizon. Mister Fantastic's Classic Struggle One of the best lines in Fantastic Four: First Steps comes from Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards: "I don't want you to be like me. There's something wrong with me, always has been. The more I look at you, the less I know. And the less I know, the more scared I am." Despite being the "Smartest Man Alive," Reed is admitting here that his genius often isolates him while complicating his relationships with those closest to him. This was indeed pointed out by Sue Storm while the First Family was grappling with the dilemma of sparing their world in exchange for Franklin, a consideration voiced by Reed out of pure logic over emotion. Reed pointed out that handing Franklin to Galactus is the most logical option based on the current calculations, while at the same time ignoring the emotional cost of even bringing it up as a possibility to his wife. As such, getting to see Reed Richards wrestle with his classic flaws from the comics while trying to be a new father adds some strong depth to his MCU portrayal, making this confrontation one of the movie’s most resonant sequences even upon rewatch. We Needed So Much More MCU Mole Man Paul Walter Hauser’s Mole Man first appears at the beginning of Fantastic Four: First Steps during the ABC retrospective as the ruler of the underground Subterranea, though he absolutely becomes an immediate scene-stealer when the First Family needs his help in the movie's third act. As Harvey Rupert Elder, Hauser brings the perfect mix of menace and humor to the Mole Man, one of Marvel Comics' first ever supervillains. Called upon by Sue to help evacuate New York to Subterranea ahead of Galactus’ arrival, Elder can’t resist gloating in front of his classic rivals, cementing Mole Man as a memorable MCU villain despite his brief screentime. It's an absolutely hilarious scene from one of the movie's best supporting characters. Tragically, it's since been confirmed that more Mole Man scenes were unfortunately removed from First Steps' final cut. The Thing's "Clobbering Time" Team-Up With Human Torch During First Steps' final battle with Galactus, Ben Grimm's The Thing gets tossed by the World Devourer into the stratosphere. However, he's thankfully caught by Human Torch, who begins a controlled flight/fall back down to New York. The entire time, Johnny is trying to get Ben to say "It's Clobbering Time", the cartoon catchphrase Ben hates and was refusing to say for the whole movie, only to finally give in right before Johnny drops him on top of Galactus to save Reed. Essentially the equivalent of Captain America saying "Avengers Assemble" in Endgame, "Clobbering Time" is an epic moment in First Steps that's since been made even cooler thanks to the online game Marvel Rivals, which has since created the same team-up move that can be activated by Human Torch and Thing players. Sue Storm's Resurrection (Confirming A Major New MCU Superpower) Even though we now know it's coming, Sue Storm's resurrection by her own infant son is still one of the movie's best moments and one of the MCU's biggest displays of power ever. It's crazy to think about what Franklin's cosmic power might mean for the future, particularly given his role in 2015's Secret Wars in the comics and the MCU's version on the horizon in 2027 (not to mention where the movie leaves Franklin by the movie's final scene). Doctor Doom's MCU Debut Easily the best MCU post-credits of 2025, Fantastic Four: First Steps' first post-credits scene is set four years after the battle with Galactus as Sue returns to the living room to find none other than Doctor Doom kneeling before her son. Shown only from the back, all we can see of the MCU Doom in First Steps is a classic green hood. However, he's also holding his iconic metal mask by his side as Franklin touches his face. The obvious tease is that Doom has plans for Franklin and his reality-warping powers in next year's Avengers: Doomsday. In the meantime, it's nice to be able to pause the post-credits scene, giving us a good look at the MCU's next major big bad.
