I’ve been a fan of the Fantastic Four for over 40 years. Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben—Marvel’s first family. The comic book that built the house. I read Fantastic Four as a kid in Brooklyn, back when spinner racks still existed and comics were 60 cents. So imagine my disappointment when every movie version over the last two decades looked like a disaster before I even saw a frame.
I never watched the previous movies. Not one. The trailers alone were enough to keep me away. If you can’t even get the Thing right, visually and emotionally, then why bother? The Thing isn’t just a pile of rocks. He’s the beating heart of the team. If you screw him up, you don’t understand the material.
But now… Marvel has the rights back. And finally, they did the Fantastic Four justice.
The new movie? I loved it. It got the tone right. It got the team dynamic right. Reed was brilliant but flawed. Sue wasn’t just the Invisible Woman—she had depth and strength. Johnny had that youthful edge, and Ben? This was the Ben Grimm I waited 40 years to see. Tough, tragic, loyal—clobberin’ time never hit harder. It felt like the pages of the comic had finally come to life.
The Fantastic Four isn’t about flashy powers—it’s about family, legacy, and heart. Marvel understood that. And after all these years, it feels good to finally say: they got it right.
