The Fantastic Four: First Steps 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Fantastic Four: First Steps 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 14, 2025

Fantastic Four, you say? How about Fantastic Five or even Fantastic Six, Seven, or potentially more, depending on your counting regimen, since that's how many screen adaptations of this particular Marvel quartet have graced (or not, as the case may be) the silver (surfer?) screen. It's almost comically ironic to hear the comic book described in a supplement as the "savior" of Marvel back in 1961, when Stan Lee and his cohort were teetering on the precipice of bankruptcy, since both television and film adaptations of Fantastic Four have not always been successful. It's interesting to note that Marvel was starting to go the "multimedia" route as early as 1966, when the animated series The Marvel Super Heroes premiered (in syndication rather than on a particular broadcast network, also interestingly) and ran for two seasons. That second season saw the arrival of animated Marvel fare on a broadcast network (ABC), with the still well remembered 1967 debut of Spider-Man. What doesn't seem to be as well remembered is the fact that the very first adaptation of Fantastic Four was in fact an animated series (by Hanna Barbera) partnered with Spider-Man for Saturday morning consumption. Unlike Spider-Man, this initial cartoon adaptation only eked out one season.

Another one season animated The Fantastic Four appeared around a decade later in 1978 (trivia alert: one of the voice actors was Ted Cassidy of Lurch fame). 1994 was the next major way stop for the franchise, with yet another animated The Fantastic Four being part of a syndicated alternately titled Marvel Action Hour or Marvel Action Universe series. 1994 also saw the first live action adaptation of the tale with the imprimatur of one Roger Corman, though as the documentary Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four details, the film itself was (largely) unreleased and served only to secure rights for the property in the long run.

"Actual" (as in widely released) feature film properties started showing up with 2005's Fantastic Four (more trivia: this film came out so early on 1080 Blu-ray it's number 22 in our database). That was followed two years later by Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which (along with several other franchise installments) has distinct tethers to this particular film. In what is turning out to be a "once every decade on the '5's" tradition, 2015 saw Fantastic 4 (which somewhat hilariously I had completely forgotten I reviewed here back in the day). And now a decade after that enterprise (with some, yes, arguable interstitial "cameo" appearances) Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bacharach) and Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) are back (or baaaack, as the case may be) in an outing that has some really appealing elements, especially with regard to production design, but which still may leave some fans jonesin' for a "definitive" treatment of at least an origin story, which this film pretty much intentionally eschews.

Instead, the appropriately subtitled First Steps ends up being centered on expectant parents Reed and Sue, post-cosmic ray exposure, with their tot catching the attention of super villain Galactus (Ralph Ineson). "Messenger" Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) is on hand to deliver Galactus' apocalyptic pre-show, with sure destruction awaiting Earth 828 if Reed and Sue don't hand their infant over to Galactus. The "family" element here (which of course extends to other members of the quartet) is one of this outing's strengths, even if it's undeniably the same general emotional template that has informed countless other MCU (and, let's face it, Disney) properties for what seems like untold millennia.

Where The Fantastic Four: First Steps actually may make (to purloin a famous space age phrase) "one giant leap" for this franchise is in some impeccable production design choices, along with some really fun CGI that helps to bring several characters fully to life. There is some impressive practical effect work as well, including puppetry for H.E.R.B.I.E. This is "MCU" epic filmmaking at several key junctures, including the expected "Final Boss" showdown which pits the focal four and "convert" Silver Surfer against Galactus, with the baby acting as a lure. It's perhaps expected, then, that it's an infant in distress rather than a damsel that informs the climax, though (again, not exactly surprisingly) there's a scare involving Sue as well that probably qualifies in that particular idiomatic regard. Aside from any plot histrionics, though, it's the sheer look of this film that probably will stay with viewers the longest, one which offers an "alternate" New York informed by Reed's hi tech wizardry that is in the words of a supplement "retro futuristic".

Brian Orndorf's review of the film provides a bit more plot (and subplot) information, for those interested.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista and Marvel Studios with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa 65 and a 4K DI as the relevant data points (there was evidently some actual celluloid utilized for some supposedly "archival" material). (Fans will already know an IMAX version offered different aspect ratios.) Whatever qualms some may have with the story here, from a purely visual perspective this is another winning entry in the MCU offered in an often resplendent 4K version. While the glut of CGI material may frankly not gain a ton of new detail in this version, and some might even argue that certain effects like flames and the like aren't always 100% credible, there are some noticeable differences in this 4K version in some of the CGI elements, notably the slightly metallic sheen to the Silver Surfer's, well, surface. Practical items like sets and costumes can definitely see improvements in fine detail, including everything from the rubbery ridges on the Fantastic Four's uniforms to more picayune textures like the teal maternity sweater Sue wears somewhat late in the story. Once again, though, it may be the HDR / Dolby Vision grades that offer the most immediately noticeable differences from the 1080 version. This is a film understandably virtually drenched in various blue tones, all of which have some nicely variant highlights more observable here than in SDR, but kind of interestingly I saw some of the most distinctive differences in some other areas of the spectrum, notably the orange to red side of things. In fact to my eyes a lot of the "red" material in Reed's lab in particular looked a bit more orange in this version. The red drenched scene in the spaceship with the (in this scene at least not exactly) Silver Surfer offers some really vibrant reds that are definitely not tinged with orange and which are probably considerably more vivid than in the 1080 version. I was actually just a little surprised at how subdued the palette can be even given HDR / Dolby Vision, in terms of some of the midcentury modern home material, where elements like (once again) oranges can pop spectacularly well, but where there's still a somewhat restrained overall look to the palette.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As tends to be the case with a lot of Disney releases, the 1080 disc features a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track while this 4K UHD disc offers a Dolby Atmos track. I can't really honestly suggest there's a real "deficit" in the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, since it's really a model of consistent immersion, but there's also no doubt that this Dolby Atmos track really takes things to a new level, and, yes, that's kind of a pun, given that this film features so many flying scenes, both in vehicles and without them. All of this material gets noticeable new immersive capabilities courtesy of the Atmos speakers and to my ears anyway makes this the preferred audio option for the film. All of the often almost overwhelming surround activity in the set pieces that is so enjoyable in the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track is completely intact here, and the added presence of the Atmos engagement may actually also draw more contrasting attention to several bursts of LFE, as in several explosions late in the film or the launching of Reed's spaceship. Michael Giacchino's score is frankly not my favorite of his, but it's perfectly appropriate for the film and also receives a really fulsome surround presentation. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, and is even nicely prioritized in some very noisy action sequences. Optional English, Spanish and French subtitles are available.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K UHD Disc

• Audio Commentary with Director Matt Shakman and Production Designer Kasra Farahani

1080 Disc

• Meet the First Family (HD; 9:08) introduces the major characters and principal performers while giving some lip service to the franchise in general.


• Fantastic Futurism (HD; 13:04) focuses on the incredible work of production designer Kasra Farahani.


• From Beyond and From Below (HD; 9:37) looks at some of the associated subplots involving the Silver Surfer, Galactus and denizens of an underground society.


• Gag Reel (HD; 2:56)


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 6:25)


• Audio Commentary with Director Matt Shakman and Production Designer Kasra Farahani

The Fantastic Four: First Steps 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The fact that a lot of this film is centered around a superpowered couple having a superpowered baby probably can't help but recall another Disney adjacent enterprise, The Incredibles. That's just one clue that there are definitely some recycled ideas suffusing this property (in more than one way), but the film's really wonderful production design may help to offset at least some of that "familiar" feeling. This may indeed be damning with faint praise, but this is probably the best of the big screen Fantastic Four outings thus far, though there is of course a sequel already on the way. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements enjoyable. With caveats noted, Recommended.