It's hard to believe that we have almost reached the end of 2025. The year that saw so many major releases in movie theaters, we are now preparing to celebrate the likes of Predator: Badlands, Wicked: For Good, and Zootopia 2 to round out what has been a pretty epic ride for movie fans.
It's true. Early on this year, we had the likes of Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boys and Captain America: Brave New World. And then the early months of the summer brought the likes of Lilo and Stitch, How To Train Your Dragon and Thunderbolts*, setting the stage for a pretty awesome summer itself. Awesome is an understatement as we found ourselves enjoying the thrilling hat-trick of Jurassic World Rebirth, Superman, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. And that was just in July alone!
Speaking of this year's biggest movies, the best of them all has finally arrived on streaming, and it's time to thrill your hearts by watching it all over again - or perhaps even enjoying it for the first time.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives on Disney Plus (and very quickly tops the charts)
That's right; Marvel's First Family has arrived! The Fantastic Four: First Steps premiered on Disney Plus at the beginning of November and it has already made an impact around the globe, charting in the top spot on the streamer's daily Top 10 in many territories. In some territories it has fallen to No. 2 after the release of fellow Disney titan Freakier Friday but given its immediate impact on the streamer, it's clear that audiences were ready to catch up with the beloved quartet of Marvel heroes.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps serves as the third theatrical franchise-starter for the titular team of heroes (fourth if you include the unreleased Roger Corman movie of 1994), coming after the 2005 movie (which spawned a 2007 sequel), and the infamous 2015 reboot which promptly destroyed interested in the Fantastic Four sometime. Thankfully, Marvel Studios received the rights to the characters via Disney's purchase of Fox a number of years back, and the story of their triumphant return could commence.
Starring Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing. On the villainous side of things, Ralph Ineson brings the monstrous Galactus to life while Julia Garner portrays the fomridable Silver Surfer, ensuring that the Fantastic Four has a pretty tough task ahead of them in their first MCU movie.
The movie was a critical and commercial success at a time when Marvel Studios needed the win. The positive feedback was welcomed after a number of misses, so this one's 86% Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score - along with Thunderbolts* 87% Fresh Score - showcased that some of the audience faith in the franchise was being restored. And ahead of Avengers: Doomsday, that was needed. As was the $521 million that it ended up making at the box office.
Although it's pretty clear that the film would have made much more if it had been released earlier - there is a pretty good chance that it would have been an easy $800 million+ had it been released in theaters during the final chapters of the Infinity Saga (or even in the first year or two of the Multiverse Saga). But times have changed, both due to the pandemic and the early signs of age that the MCU has faced due to its recent overexposure - something that it is beginning to resolve via a less-is-more approach. But it did end up breaking even and turning a profit for Marvel, becoming the only MCU film to do that this year after the underperformances of Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.
If you have yet to see what the fuss is all about, now is your chance to do so! The retro-futuristic vibe is truly spectacular, which makes it unlike any other MCU movie to come before it. It is also an important part of the Multiverse Saga, setting the stage nicely for next year's Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. With that in mind, chill out, relax, and tune into The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is now streaming on Disney Plus!