This is the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU. Yet, it's not connected to any of the 36 films that came before. It's its own, separate story that is not only the start of Phase Six, but it's also the start of a new story line for the MCU. It's still technically apart of the Multiverse Saga. The multiverse is the idea that there are other dimensions, parallel universes, or other versions of Earth that have different timelines and histories. The dimensions are demarcated with a number for the planet in question. For this film, the dimension is Earth-828 and in this universe, Earth never had the Avengers, meaning no Iron Man, no Hulk, no Thor and no Captain America. None of those four heroes that we met in Phase One of the MCU exist. Instead, we have four other super-heroes who this film introduces.
Pedro Pascal (Gladiator II and Wonder Woman 1984) stars as Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, the most intelligent man on Earth-828 and the best scientist in the world. He's knowledgeable in all fields. He even developed technology that allowed for interstellar space travel. He built a ship, a vessel that could travel at the speed of light, creating a wormhole that could take them all over the galaxy. He became an astronaut in order to test the rocket. He decided to take his wife, his brother-in-law and his best friend with him. There was some kind of accident and it resulted in all of them being exposed to cosmic radiation, which mutated them, giving them supernatural powers. Reed has the ability to stretch his body, especially his limbs at will, as well as retract them to normal size.
Vanessa Kirby (The Crown and Mission: Impossible - Fallout) co-stars as Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman. She's the wife to Reed. She created her own foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to world peace and that focuses on global demilitarization. As such, she became an ambassador to all, working and making connections with all countries. When exposed to the cosmic radiation, she gained the power to turn invisible or to turn anything she touches invisible. She also has the power of telekinesis, as she can create force fields to either move other objects either toward or away from her.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear and Girls) also co-stars as Ben Grimm, an actual astronaut and pilot who is the best friend to Reed. When he was exposed to the cosmic radiation, it gave him super strength and durability or impenetrability. Unfortunately, that durability is the result of his body and particularly his skin being mutated into orange rock. He looks like he was carved out of this reddish stone and he's a walking block. He's nicknamed "The Thing," which no one calls him. It's obvious that he's a little insecure with his appearance, but after four years, he's learned to accept it, as most people seem to accept him too.
Joseph Quinn (Gladiator II and A Quiet Place: Day One) plays Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch. He's the brother to Sue and the brother-in-law to Reed. When exposed to the cosmic radiation, he gained the power to generate flames or fire from his body. Yet, he can control it, so that his body doesn't get burned. He also gained the ability to fly. He's a young, handsome blonde who can be a bit of a womanizer. Yet, we never really see any of his personal life. He lives with the others in their own skyscraper, which also houses the laboratories and scientific facilities of Reed. Johnny engages in some technological pursuits, but we never see him socializing beyond that building, except when a certain alien arrives.
We do see several scenes of Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny gathering around a dinner table on the top floor of whatever apartments in the building where they live. It's implied that they are a family who are pretty insulated to themselves, which suits them just fine. The film opens with Reed and Sue realizing that Sue is pregnant. Reed is concerned about how the cosmic radiation that altered them might affect the baby. However, Ben and Johnny are simply happy to be uncles in a few months.Yet, it does beg the question of whether Ben or Johnny have ever considered having children of their own and if that's possible, given their conditions, particularly for Ben.
Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face and Orange Is the New Black) plays Rachel Rozman, a school teacher who befriends Ben because her students are impressed with Ben's super strength and are always asking him to lift cars whenever he walks by on his way back from the grocery store or someplace. There is a flirtation that happens between her and Ben. She doesn't seem put off by his rock-like appearance. She might even be turned on by it. However, it doesn't go any further in this film beyond flirtation. It's nice that the flirtation exists for a character who might be discriminated due to his looks. However, it doesn't go any further in exploring what could a relationship, even possibly a romantic or sexual relationship be like for Ben in his current state or ever. The film doesn't have time to go there.
Instead, the film, directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision) and written by Josh Friedman (Avatar: The Way of Water) and Eric Pearson (Thunderbolts* and Black Widow), barrels forward pretty quickly into the main plot, which involves an alien from outer space coming to Earth-828 to destroy it. It's interesting that Pearson co-wrote on Godvilla vs. Kong (2021) because the alien in question, called Galactus, is the size of Godzilla, if not bigger. Galactus is the height of the skyscrapers in New York City. Galactus looks like a living robot. His body seems metallic and machine-like. Pearson reportedly worked on uncredited rewrites for Pacific Rim Uprising (2018), which was about giant, skyscraper-like robots fighting kaijus, so Pearson probably felt really at home with this battle with Galactus. Friedman was a co-writer on Spielberg's War of the Worlds (2005), which was also about a giant, machine-like alien attacking the Earth, so I'm sure Friedman was at home too.
Julia Garner (Inventing Anna and Ozark) rounds out the cast as Shalla-Bal, aka the Silver Surfer. She works for Galactus as his herald. She travels to whatever planet first and informs the people on that planet that it's going to be eaten or devoured. It seems like an unnecessary job. It might seem like Galactus would just show up at a planet and destroy it. It seems odd that he would send a warning to the people on it. However, it's discovered that there is a bit of compassion to Galactus and that compassion stems from Shalla-Bal's relationship with him. She believes that there's no stopping Galactus, so she at least wants to give people a chance to do whatever they need to do before their world is destroyed. It's not explained why Galactus needs to destroy populated planets. Why not simply devour empty ones? Instead of Earth, why not eat Uranus?
Otherwise, this film is as if someone decided to do a live-action interpretation of The Jetsons (1962). That Hanna-Barbera, animated sitcom focused on a family of four with a dog and a robot. The aesthetic was done in Googie style, which started as a futuristic type of architecture by car culture, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. Other similar styles include Populuxe, which influenced the look of certain cars. The general fashion styles of the 60's seem to have been imported into this film. In fact, Shakman's film looks as if it's taking place in the decade of the 60's or 70's. This family of Earth-828 doesn't have a dog, but it does have a robot. The Jetsons had Rosey the Robot. Reed Richard and family has Herbie the Robot. Not only does it have the aesthetic of that time period, but the spirit of that decade, at least in the hopeful optimism of the space race and the excitement over technology.
It presents a potentially not so optimistic theme. It's essentially the Trolley problem. It's the problem of being in a situation where in order to save lives, another life has to be sacrificed. The problem becomes even worse when that life that has to be sacrificed is a person you love. There is no real debate or reckoning with that Trolley problem. It's easily brushed over and dismissed. It was never going to be a viable option or an option that anyone in the main cast would consider. There's a hint that Reed would, but the film isn't brave enough to have him really go there or anyone for that matter.
This film does have an emotional moment that it builds toward that I felt was effective. The actors give great performances, but ultimately I'm not sure I ended up caring about the characters as much as I did the cast in Thunderbolts* (2025). Yes, that film had the benefit of well-established characters from previous installments in the MCU. Much like Reed, I understood the characters on an intellectual level, but the emotional moment didn't hit as hard, but the emotional moment was better than the climax of Thunderbolts*, even though I liked the characters in Thunderbolts* more.
Rated PG-13 for action/violence and some language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 55 mins.
In theaters.