The Fantastic Four: First Steps finally did right by Marvel's First Family on screen, but it would be wrong to say that there weren't some nitpicks.
Chief among them was the portrayal of Mister Fantastic's powers. Reed Richards' stretching abilities were dialled back and grounded in reality, an interesting decision on filmmaker Matt Shakman's part that, unfortunately, robbed us of some incredible visuals.
In a new piece of concept art from The Fantastic Four: First Steps, artist Dipankar Talukdar has pushed the limits of what Reed can do. As you'll see below, the hero wraps himself around Galactus' arm while holding Franklin's protective pod in one of his hands.
It's always fun to see what might have been, but the Russo Brothers will have the opportunity to find new ways to portray Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny's powers in Avengers: Doomsday.
Back to the Devourer of Worlds, Ryan Meinerding and Wesley Burt have shared a couple of gorgeous keyframes depicting Galactus and his Herald, Shalla-Bal, a.k.a. the Silver Surfer.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps also did a brilliant job of creating a fleshed-out world with Earth 828. It's been confirmed that we'll return to their reality in Avengers: Doomsday, though the team looks set to find a permanent home in the same world as the Avengers and X-Men post-Secret Wars.
Joe Studzinski has shared some of the world-building he did for the reboot, showcasing designs for "Fantastic Science with Mister Fantastic" and "The Dating Game."
Both shows made it into the final cut of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, albeit only briefly. Something tells us a lot more material was shot than what we ended up seeing in theaters, so here's hoping it ends up on the Blu-ray (which is rumoured for an October 28 release).
In our review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, 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.
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 now playing in theaters.