THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS - 4 Complaints From Fans That Make Absolutely No Sense

The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been scrutinised by fans for a long time now, but there are some complaints about the movie which, upon closer inspection, make zero sense. You can find out why here...

Feature Opinion

By JoshWilding - Jun 05, 2025 01:06 PM EST

Filed Under: Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is just over a month away from hitting theaters, but will it turn Marvel Studios' fortunes around after Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*?

That's the hope, and it does rather look like a return to form for the MCU. Alas, there are those willing it to fail, either because they have an irrational hatred for this franchise now or because the "woke" movie has made the sort of tweaks we see in every superhero movie.

In this feature, we're taking a closer look at some of the more ridiculous complaints made about The Fantastic Four: First Steps. We're also explaining why, upon closer inspection, they make absolutely no sense.

As always, just hit the "Next"/"View List" buttons below to find out why these "problems" aren't problems at all...

4. The Gender-Swapped Silver Surfer

From the moment we first heard that The Fantastic Four: First Steps would feature a female Silver Surfer, the complaints have come thick and fast. How dare Marvel Studios "gender swap" one of its most iconic characters!

Except that isn't what's happened. Shalla-Bal is a separate character who became the Silver Surfer in Earth X, a comic that saw her and Norrin Rad share the burden of being Galactus' Herald (the twist was that Franklin Richards had become Galactus, a plot point we believe could be touched on in this movie).

While we'd have loved to see the "classic" Silver Surfer alongside the MCU's Eater of Worlds, it's important to remember that The Fantastic Four takes place in an alternate reality. Marvel Studios likely wants to save Norrin for the new timeline created after Avengers: Secret Wars, so why not sub in Shalla-Bal here?

3. Mister Fantastic's Facial Hair

Don't like the lines on Peter Parker's suit in Spider-Man: Homecoming? Not a fan of nanotech? Frustrated that Doctor Doom will be an Avengers villain before a Fantastic Four one? Those are all valid complaints.

The discourse surrounding Mister Fantastic's facial hair in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, on the other hand, is laughable. Reed Richards has been known to rock a beard on the page, and in Pedro Pascal's case, the hair on his upper lip is slightly darker than that on his chin and cheeks.

Alas, some fans can't get over this. It may even be a deal breaker for them. This is as ridiculous as saying Tony Stark's goatee is the incorrect shape, and if you're unable to deal with a superhero rocking a cool 'tache...maybe it's just because you can't grow one?

2. Invisible Woman Is The Lead Character

All signs point to Sue Storm being The Fantastic Four: First Steps' "lead." That doesn't necessarily mean she'll have more screentime or that the rest of Marvel's First Family; it's more a case of the story being built around the Invisible Woman and her pregnancy.

Spoiler alert: that's not a bad thing. Not only have the best comic book writers established that Sue is the Fantastic Four's most powerful member, but Franklin is a game-changer for the MCU, and more specifically, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Sue should be this movie's main focus, especially as previous movies relegated her to eye candy whose clothes disappeared or a scientist still not as smart as her boyfriend. Vanessa Kirby is perfectly cast in this role, and these complaints feel like they boil down to good 'ol-fashioned sexism. Sigh...

1. The Thing's Accent

Ben Grimm has a very distinct accent on the page. Hailing from Yancy Street, The Thing's speech pattern is undeniably unique...but that won't necessarily translate well to live-action. In fact, it runs the risk of making the hero sound like a walking, talking cartoon.

There's also a misconception that The Thing should have a Brooklyn accent. However, Yancy Street is on the Lower East Side; Brooklyn is across the river. Various animated shows have gone with the Brooklyn accent, though, making it the only correct choice in the eyes (ears?) of some fans.

Is The Thing's character design the best we've seen? There's room for improvement, in fairness. The size complaints are overblown because, depending on which artist is drawing him, he's either huge or not that much bigger than a regular, muscular guy. The MCU is in the middle.

Why Fans Should Give The Fantastic Four A Chance

Look, we're not saying you can't complain about what you've seen from The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Heck, that's a big part of being a comic book fan in the first place.

However, if you're not going to watch this movie for any of the petty (and arguably incorrect) reasons above, then you might want to check yourself. Joseph Quinn's wig is questionable, and we kinda hate that the top of Reed's suit is blue rather than white...but c'mon, everything about this movie looks like what you'd ask for from a Fantastic Four movie.

It boasts a great cast, an 1960s-inspired setting that pulls inspiration from the work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and a comic-accurate Galactus. The Fantastic Four are finally in the MCU (or very nearly as we write this), and that's cause for celebration.

RUMOR: Doctor Doom's Connection To The Fantastic Four (And What It Means For AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY) Revealed

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136 Comments

1 2 3 4

HashTagSwagg - 6/5/2025, 1:23 PM

Ryguy88 - 6/5/2025, 4:06 PM

@HashTagSwagg - this "they are just saving Norrin Radd for the new timeline" narrative is pure cope. Can't wait to see them move the goal posts to "ackshually, it's a good thing we aren't getting Norrin Radd."

lvcl - 6/5/2025, 4:27 PM

@HashTagSwagg -

You've forgotten a few things, Josh.

These aren't the Fantastic Four from the comics.

Sue the leader,
Reed the wimp with the Pancho Villa mustache
Silver Surfer the woman
The Thing with clothes down to his neck
Johnny Storm who isn't a womanizer. Is he gay?
Galactus with MODOK's face from Quantumania

This is more Disney WOKE garbage, so they're not going to enthuse audiences much.

This won't be the movie with which Disney wins back Marvel fans.

Scarilian - 6/5/2025, 4:31 PM

@HashTagSwagg -
You can really tell when this site is desperate for engagement, endless rumor articles and attempts to flame bait people.

All of this they are doing just to leech off Fantastic Four because otherwise there's nothing Marvel to discuss until the Spider-man 4 - which is likely to be delayed to November 2026, Doomsday being delayed to May 2027 and Secret Wars delayed to May 2028.

This site is going to be starved for content and nobody will have a reason to check it out.

lvcl - 6/5/2025, 5:04 PM

@Scarilian -

If you don't want people to express their opinions, go to Cuba, China, Korea, or Venezuela, but for now in the US, we have the freedom to express our opinions.

You're completely wrong and don't have a [frick]ing idea about comic books.

We CBM fans on this site are huge fans of comics and their stories; the only thing we don't want is for the stories and characters to be changed to indoctrinate us with gender ideology.

We only ask that the source material, as well as the characteristics of the characters and stories, be respected.

Is that too much to ask?

Wallywest001 - 6/5/2025, 9:33 PM

@lvcl - Disney will never learn man. They are ruining a franchise just they can push an agenda, it’s very sad. The MCU is long dead and RDJ as Doom won’t bring it back.

SonOfAGif - 6/5/2025, 1:24 PM

Not once have I seen anyone complain about Sue Storm being the leader. She's always been the one that kept the entire team grounded and level headed. She is Reed and Johnny's rock and The Thing loves her like a sister and respected her like a leader. Not sure where this silly little rumour came from Josh.

braunermegda - 6/5/2025, 1:27 PM

@SonOfAGif - I recommend you take a look at the comment section on this site, as people are crying all the time calling this movie woke because Sue could be the leader

JoshWilding - 6/5/2025, 1:35 PM

@SonOfAGif - I can point you to a comment section with that complaint from less than 24 hours ago (it’s the “tickets on sale” trailer article, I believe).

UltimaRex - 6/5/2025, 1:37 PM

@SonOfAGif - you blocked MAGAt then? He's the main culprit.

RolandD - 6/5/2025, 1:44 PM

@SonOfAGif - It comes from just about every comment section on First Steps on this website along with the other three complaints, especially about Reed and the Silver Surfer.

SonOfAGif - 6/5/2025, 2:07 PM

@UltimaRex - I blocked a lot of them.

SonOfAGif - 6/5/2025, 2:08 PM

@braunermegda - I have so many of those echo chamber trolls blocked that it filtered itself out

braunermegda - 6/5/2025, 2:32 PM

@SonOfAGif - same here, sadly I've been lazy enough to not even logging in and have been forced to read these sad babies complaining

dagenspear - 6/5/2025, 2:57 PM

@SonOfAGif - Yeah, I'm not seeing too many actual complaints about this overall, outright. But maybe we have some of the same people blocked, though not for that reason for me.

SonOfAGif - 6/5/2025, 3:36 PM

@dagenspear - Perhaps that's why we aren't seeing the same vitriol as frequent.

Ryguy88 - 6/5/2025, 4:08 PM

@SonOfAGif - I didn't even know they were making Sue the leader of the team. Is there any word why they decided to go this route?

SonOfAGif - 6/5/2025, 6:15 PM

@Ryguy88 - No proof of it but the typical rumour mill

Ryguy88 - 6/5/2025, 6:35 PM

@SonOfAGif - I guess we will see soon enough

Wallywest001 - 6/5/2025, 9:35 PM

@braunermegda - I’m just glad that Reed Richards is South American, he should be “Reed Rodriguez” lol

Huskers - 6/5/2025, 1:36 PM

Disney Shill Alert! Damage Control Mode!

ModHaterSLADE - 6/5/2025, 1:36 PM

I mean for an alternate reality I'm not gonna cry over a different take on Silver Surfer. It's not like we haven't gotten Norrin Radd before in the previous FF films anyway. Yeah, I was hoping for THING to have a voice similar to the cartoons, but overall his design looks pretty damn good🤷🏾‍♂️

OptimusCrime - 6/5/2025, 1:36 PM

Jesus Josh.

MrJosh - 6/5/2025, 1:37 PM

I’ll go in hoping for a good movie, especially w/ Galactus making first big screen appearance but now-a-days when the campaign to blame “incel men for a movie’s box office failure rolls out, especially before the movie does, I’m going to assume it’s because they already know they’ve laid another giant turd.

TheVisionary25 - 6/5/2025, 1:37 PM

People who are throwing out the gender swap complaints for Silver Surfer obviously have no clue what that term means and are parroting off other individuals who also don’t know what it means thus creating a cycle of idiocy…

If Norrin was made into Norra Radd then that would be a gender swap rather then doing Shalla Bal who canonically at a point in a version of the comic atleast has been a Silver Surfer as has Hercule’s granddaughter Juno.

She is likely being used because we have already had a movie with Galactus & Norrin Radd Silver Surfer but in order to differentiate and freshen it up , they decided to make the latter into a different character that’s taken up the mantle aswell even if briefly.

AllsNotGood - 6/5/2025, 1:39 PM

oh how convenient a female herald

Gambito - 6/5/2025, 1:39 PM

Your absolutely right [frick] this movie they can’t even get a good wig for Johnny!!! 3 fantastic 4 movies in a row with a terrible blonde wig

SirReginald - 6/5/2025, 1:41 PM

Should have had FF ship arrive in post credit Endgame scene. Followed by a Doom movie (excellent origin story). But we got years of disjointed meandering drivel. I only hope the real Dooms fist bursts through Stark-Dooms chest at the end of Avengers Doomsday.

Apophis71 - 6/5/2025, 2:10 PM

@SirReginald - How the heck do you cast for the F4 and Doom then film them in ONE MONTH, they only signed the deal at the end of March 2019 and would not be able to write or recruit anything/one to make even an end credit prior to that so with Endgame released April 2019...

...development for a standalone normaly takes around 2yrs, if having to fit into a complex multiverse it will be longer...

...you then need around half a year of pre-prod, at least a few month total of filming and at least half a year post-prod for a FX heavy blockbuster making the minimam from deal signed till release being over 3yrs and in the case of having to fit in to a complex interconnected cinematic universe more likely to be at least 5yrs...

...then add to that loosing a full year or more due to the pandemic and another year due to the strikes.

SirReginald - 6/5/2025, 2:28 PM

@Apophis71 - Planning in advance.

Apophis71 - 6/5/2025, 2:38 PM

@SirReginald - You can't, legaly, even start the process of writing or casting until the deal is signed and no actor of any worth would sign a contract to a film prior even if it were legaly possible.

ShellHead - 6/5/2025, 1:42 PM

The Silver Surfer one gets me the most. I have gone my whole life not giving a shit about whether that character was a man or woman, but apparently it's such a violation of trust that these dudes can't stain their virgin eyes with the sight of a woman as that character.

It's fake. It's performative outrage over nothing. They are using this change as a foothold to advance their whiny political agendas

Apophis71 - 6/5/2025, 2:27 PM

@ShellHead - It isn't like Shalla was a nobody housewife in the comics, she was the leader of the planet.

Norrin was only a young astronomer that few took seriously when he warned of his theory a world eater was coming to destroy the planet. That isnt putting Radd's backstory down at all but the leader of the planet doing the deal with Galactus makes slightly more sense in most circumstances than some young upstart with a telescope, lol. I mean who would the leader of the USSR negotiate a deal with in the mid twentiech century, the PoTus of that time or Edwin Hubble/Carl Sagan.

I mean in comics national and/or planetary leaders tend to be downplayed as part of the problem not the one who helps save the day but in a coin flip multiverse scenario where the woman had more power and authority than her lover, in at least one universe she would be the one to offer herself up to save her man and planet rather than always the dude.

I GET wanting THE Silver Surfer, we had him once and will again, but for a one and done alt universe appearance using someone else and save Norrin Radd's version for 616 makes a lot of sense and thus why not connecting directly the alt to him by it being his love interest.

dagenspear - 6/5/2025, 2:36 PM

@ShellHead - It's not Norrin Radd. Complain about pointless ranting whatever, but making up a weak defense of it, to me, is as pointless as taking aggressive umbrage with the idea of a gender swap. It not being Norrin Radd, genderswapped or otherwise, if this story is going to be the main Galactus and he's not already a prominent character in the story, I think it negates the point of him existing, which basically dismisses his character's existence to me. It's like the shallow and empty, to me, choice to race change MJ and just not even try to write her as the character, and barely make her a character. If we're going to defend something, at least, can we be honest about what we're defending? A female Surfer doesn't have to effect the story, unless it's not Norrin Radd, if they're telling the classical story, to me.

And making up a complaint about virgin eyes, as if that matters to this, doesn't negate that.

Radders - 6/6/2025, 8:48 AM

@ShellHead - Hate to tell you, but Shalla-Bal is the Silver Surfer because of Marvel/Disney's political agendas

Matador - 6/5/2025, 1:43 PM

Silver titties check
The Fantastic Stache check
Boss girl power check
Corn Flakes Grimm Check
Unfunny Torch check
Franklin introduced in first movie check
This might be a one and done for these actors as F4 rumor check

GeneralZod - 6/5/2025, 1:48 PM

Honestly, if the Silver Surfer was Norrin Radd, I think only a relatively small number of fans are left complaining -- the other defects of the film become muted. It was Kevin Feige's decision to gender-balance the film that upset half the viewers. The better business decision -- and, let's all be candid, what all fans wanted to see -- is Norrin Radd. Then the conversation is whether this will be a good movie or a great movie; a solid $750MM film or a box-office smash $1.25 billion film.

dagenspear - 6/5/2025, 2:27 PM

@GeneralZod - If they give the same story to Shala, narratively it doesn't change the story of the movie. However, from a character standpoint, why even bother to feign that you're not changing the story or character, when you are, unless the story is only the first part of a Galactus story? Why not just gender swap, if this story is going to pull from the main one. If it's pulling the classical story, either Shala gets the classic Surfer story, which negates the point of Norrin and basically is a dismissal of the character, or Shala is more of a straight forward antagonist who doesn't make it, which I think then the story's existence negates the need for Norrin by telling the classic story but without him? So what's the point of not gender swapping the character, if they're so desperate to have more women, rather than making it a different character?

GeneralZod - 6/5/2025, 4:29 PM

@dagenspear - I'm not sure. But I think the answer is what i call "regulated art," which has stunted Marvel Studios and LucasFilm post 2020 in most of their offerings -- keeping in mind that their principal antagonists and protagonists in their respective universes have always been men. (No different than many of the key protagonists and antagonists on the Disney-fantasy side of the house have always been women.) The tail that wagged the dog here is Disney's post-2019 DEI content rules (their existence is not debatable -- they are real). Had they stuck with the classic characters from FF #48, 49 and 50, it would have been four protagonists (3 men; 1 woman), one anti-hero (male), and one antagonist (male). So six central characters in the play, and 5 of 6 are males. 83% male. Under their DEI content rules, Feige decided to dilute the percentage to 66%. Occam's Razor -- i think that's the simplest explanation.

Irregular - 6/5/2025, 1:50 PM

I think the movie looks like a good time at the theaters honestly. But the complaints are a little jarring, I'll say that.

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THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS - 4 Complaints From Fans That Make Absolutely No Sense

The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been scrutinised by fans for a long time now, but there are some complaints about the movie which, upon closer inspection, make zero sense. You can find out why here...

4. The Gender-Swapped Silver Surfer

3. Mister Fantastic's Facial Hair

2. Invisible Woman Is The Lead Character

1. The Thing's Accent

Why Fans Should Give The Fantastic Four A Chance

RUMOR: Doctor Doom's Connection To The Fantastic Four (And What It Means For AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY) Revealed

Michael Giacchino's "Main Theme" For THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Has Finally Been Officially Released

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

RUMOR: Doctor Doom's Connection To The Fantastic Four (And What It Means For AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY) Revealed

Michael Giacchino's "Main Theme" For THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Has Finally Been Officially Released

THE FANTASTIC FOUR's Mystery Statue From Set Photos Finally Revealed; New Details On Ladies' Man Johnny Storm