Fantastic Four: First Steps already already has one major red flag, with one of its stars — the overexposed Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, The Mandalorian, The Last of Us) — declaring “A WORLD WITHOUT TRANS PEOPLE HAS NEVER EXSISTED [sic] AND NEVER WILL,” then taunting fans who disagreed with his virtue signaling.
Now, a preview in Entertainment Weekly says First Steps is deeply concerned with “gender politics” and revamping beloved characters for the “modern age.” In particular, British actress Vanessa Kirby says she wants Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman, not to be a “doormat” or merely a “sweet mother”:
“If you played an exact ’60s Sue today, everyone would think she was a bit of a doormat,” Vanessa Kirby says. “So figuring out how to capture the essence of what she represented to each generation, where the gender politics were different, and embody that today, was one of the greatest joys of this.”
Over the years, Sue evolved in several ways. Her abilities expanded from individual invisibility to control over electromagnetic light and force fields, making her arguably the team’s most powerful member. At various times, she’s become a mother, a leader, and a skimpily clad dominatrix named Malice. Synthesizing all these aspects into a single character was a lot of fun for Kirby, who says motherhood, in particular, became the key through-line. Indeed, Sue’s pregnancy will play a significant part in the plot of First Steps.
“Matt and I were really aware that there hasn’t really been a mother with a baby in these superhero archetypes women have been getting,” Kirby says. “One of the things I love most from Sue’s history is when she becomes Malice, and all her dark stuff comes out. I was obsessed with that chapter of her life. So I wanted to make sure that there were tones of Malice in there with her, that she wasn’t just the stereotype of a goody, sweet mother.”
Kirby continues, “I’ve always been really interested in the mess of femininity, and how can you be both? How can you be all the things? Not just the tough, invincible, powerful woman, but also a mother who gives birth, which is itself a superhero act. I love that these characters are real humans in a messy family who argue and try to work it out and get things wrong.”
By the same token, Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, is less arrogant and “womanizing” compared to previous depictions of the character. Actor Joseph Quinn, also from the U.K., says that he and Marvel Studios mastermind Kevin Feige think that kind of personality is no longer “sexy.”
“He’s a man that leads with a lot of bravado, which can be an affront sometimes. But also he’s funny,” Quinn says. “Myself and [Marvel Studios boss] Kevin [Feige] were speaking about previous iterations of him and where we are culturally. He was branded as this womanizing, devil-may-care guy, but is that sexy these days? I don’t think so. This version of Johnny is less callous with other people’s feelings, and hopefully there’s a self-awareness about what’s driving that attention-seeking behavior.”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) brand has taken a beating in recent years. With two big exceptions — Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine, which were more the brainchild of Fox and Sony than Marvel and Feige — the Avengers studio has put out more misses than hits. Starting with 2021’s Eternals, the MCU quickly lost its Infinity War-Endgame mojo, as uninspired spectacle plus tacked-on DEI messaging turned off longtime fans and casual viewers. Ant-Man 3 tried to set up a Thanos-level villain for future Avengers entries, but that plan was scrapped after actor Jonathan Majors was convicted for domestic violence.
In 2023, the Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels — which demoted star Brie Larson to co-star next to two obscure actresses — made history as a box-office bomb, reportedly losing over $230 million. This year’s Captain America: Brave New World, which tried to shove Anthony Mackie’s Hawkeye into the Captain America “mantle” a la Indiana Jones, also flopped hard after prolonged and expensive reshoots.
Critics and pundits hoped Marvel may have dropped its subversive culture-warring posture after so much financial pain, with Disney CEO Bob Iger vowing to put entertainment over messaging (Breitbart saw through this ploy immediately). However, Fantastic Four may prove the brand still hasn’t hit rock bottom (soon after the Suicide Squad-esque Thunderbolts sweeps through theaters unnoticed).
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