This iteration of the Fantastic Four has a standalone adventure without all the burden of the MCU's history and cast of characters.

First Steps” is the third Marvel movie to hit theaters this year, but it packs way more hidden references and nods than “Captain America: Brave New World” or “Thunderbolts.” It’s not on the same level of Easter eggs as last year’s “Deadpool and Wolverine,

During an early montage that fills in the backstory of the four years the Fantastic Four have been protecting the world, we see the team appear on various magazine covers heralding their exploits. One such cover is for a publication named Now Politics, with Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) pictured as a respected diplomat in the world of Earth-828.

First Steps' includes two post-credits scenes. Here's how that big reveal sets up what's coming in Phase 6 of the MCU.

The best thing about First Steps is the aesthetic. It’s far and away my favorite part of this film, and that’s a problem because as much as I do enjoy a solid retrofuturistic aesthetic, it’s not enough to make a mediocre movie worth watching. This is all style over substance.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Everett Collection SATURDAY AM: The Fantastic Four: First Steps at $120M-$125M is one of the sixth best openings for a Marvel Cinematic Universe title post Covid and that’s a great thing.

Julia Garner's MCU Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal could be the connection Marvel needs to bring in Doctor Doom and Mephisto

First Steps introduces plenty of characters to the MCU, but its strongest one isn't Galactus or Franklin Richards.

Fantastic Four: First Steps is helping Marvel to "get its mojo back", according to most early reviews of the new superhero reboot. The 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is "Marvel's best film in a decade", the Telegraph said, while the Guardian declared the studio had "regained its buoyancy".