With Fantastic Four: The First Steps, the third Marvel film of 2025 has been released, and it is directly the best adaptation of the iconic Marvel group. However, it is not the best Marvel film of the year so far.
How are critics rating Fantastic Four: The First Steps? Since Tuesday, July 22, 2025, reviews of the first MCU appearance of the iconic family have been published. The critics seem to be satisfied with the film.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently (as of 07/24/2025, 10:11 AM) has a rating of 88% based on 172 reviews. On Metacritic (as of 07/24/2025, 10:11 AM), the situation is slightly worse, where the film currently has a score of 65 out of 100 based on 46 reviews.
Rotten Tomatoes generates the score based on the number of positive and negative reviews. Metacritic generates an average score based on the ratings from critics. Thus, mediocre
reviews have a greater impact on Metacritic than on Rotten Tomatoes when they still fall under positive reviews
.
So far, there are no votes from the community and regular viewers because the film is only being released today, on 07/24/2025, in theaters.
Fantastic Four: The First Steps breaks a sad record for the important Marvel group, as it is the first film that is fundamentally well received.
The first good film about the Fantastic Four
How did the previous films of Fantastic Four fare? So far, the Fantastic Four have had no luck with critics in the theaters. The attempts by Fox, who then held the rights to the heroes, were not particularly popular with critics.
- Fantastic Four from 2005 has 27% based on 212 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and 40 based on 35 reviews on Metacritic.
- The sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, released in 2007, was rated slightly better. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has 37% with 171 reviews, while the 33 reviews on Metacritic achieve a score of 45.
- In 2015, Fox attempted to reboot the franchise, but critics were not at all enthusiastic. With 259 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film only achieved a disastrous 9%. On Metacritic, it scored 27% with 40 reviews, the same rating as the 2005 film.
How does the new film compare to the superhero competition in 2025? Fantastic Four: The First Steps is already the fourth superhero movie that comic fans can watch in 2025. The year started with Captain America: Brave New World in February. The film featuring Harrison Ford as a muscular villain received a moderate score of 46% based on 359 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Thunderbolts performed slightly better among critics in early May. With 369 reviews, it achieves 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. Therefore, we will have to wait a few more days to see if Fantastic Four: The First Steps will be rated better or will drop.
The strong competition from DC launched its new universe shortly before Fantastic Four on July 10, 2025. The new Superman also received favorable reviews. Currently, the film holds 84% with 444 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fantastic Four: The First Steps is the start of a new Marvel phase. The film marks the beginning of Phase 6 of the MCU, which is expected to conclude the Multiverse Saga. Phase 6 is expected to end in December 2027 with Avengers 6: Secret Wars. But next year, the Avengers are set to return: Avengers: Doomsday – All about the cast, trailer, and release – Everything about the upcoming Marvel film
