A+Z Movie Review Podcast · Alex Long and Zach Cavanagh

Episode 50 - The Fantastic Four: First Steps

·1 hr 11 min·4 clips

The plan to move Earth with 47 portals collapses, and the family turns to a black-hole gamble.

Alex and Zach open with their Marvel-weekend banter and a quick warm-up. They frame Fantastic Four: First Steps as the MCU's 37th film and the first entry into Phase Six. The first-steps joke hangs around as they settle in. Before the new movie, they note that they watched all three earlier Fantastic Four films. That homework gives the discussion real comparison points. The 2005 version comes up as the clearest comparison point, with the 2015 version also part of the homework. Most of the episode turns on Reed and Sue. They keep coming back to the idea that Sue can crack Reed in a very specific way. A scene about Reed thinking through the possibility of giving over his son to Galactus becomes a key example. They treat that choice as part of the relationship, not just a plot beat. One host feels Reed reads as wooden and disconnected in this take. The other answers that the difference may be about where the characters are in the relationship. The earlier Reed is remembered as more cocky and newly coupled, while this version feels more settled because the couple has been together for quite some time. The conversation also keeps returning to the fact that the film is juggling four people. That balancing act is why they think it could use a few more minutes. They do not pin the discussion to a neat verdict. Instead, they talk it through the way people do right after a screening. The result is casual, specific, and grounded in how the movie handles the team dynamic.

As heard by us

A Marvel-weekend check-in with franchise memory, character talk, and a few honest wobbles.

The episode treats Fantastic Four: First Steps as both a Marvel-weekend check-in and a franchise comparison piece, helped by Alex and Zach doing the homework of watching all three earlier Fantastic Four films.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Hear two hosts size up Fantastic Four: First Steps after doing homework on all three prior Fantastic Four films.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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