Marvel Studios has easily surpassed any Fox-era Fantastic Four movie with The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Rotten Tomatoes score. The story of The Fantastic Four: First Steps is highly important to the MCU. As a tease of vital upcoming Marvel movies like Avengers: Doomsday, the movie was important to get right, which the critical scores prove Marvel Studios has achieved.
As per Rotten Tomatoes’ search tool for Fantastic Four movies, Marvel Studios has surpassed any previous iterations of the First Family. The other three mainstream installments came under 20th Century Fox’s ownership, which, of course, is now owned by Disney; 2005’s Fantastic Four and its sequel, 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and, finally, 2015’s Fantastic Four.
Movie
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Fantastic Four (2005)
27%
45%
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
37%
51%
Fantastic Four (2015)
9%
18%
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
87%
N/A
Evidently, Marvel Studios’ installment, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, is the first truly successful version of the Marvel Comics characters. The MCU’s iteration has annihilated all others, fairly significantly, where critical scores are concerned, and audience scores are all but guaranteed to be the same.
What Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Rotten Tomatoes Score Means
Marvel Has Succeeded Where Others Have Failed
The most obvious meaning of Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Rotten Tomatoes score is that Marvel Studios has finally gotten the titular team right. Of course, the studio had no say in earlier iterations, as the rights were owned by 20th Century Fox. The original two movies in the 2000s have seen some revisionism of late, but many still agree they are mediocre, at best.
2015’s Fantastic Four, however, is one of the most unwatchable superhero movies and emulates a lot of the worst aspects of the genre. The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Rotten Tomatoes score means that Marvel Studios has sidestepped these issues.
The assured direction of Matt Shakman, the brilliant performances of its four leads, the retro-futuristic look of the film, and Marvel Studios’ commitment to adapting its source material faithfully mean The Fantastic Four: First Steps has succeeded where others have failed in the past.
Our Take On Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Rotten Tomatoes Score
Personally, I am ecstatic about The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Rotten Tomatoes score. I enjoyed the original two movies growing up, but even then, I knew the potential of the Fantastic Four on screen was much bigger. Fantastic Four in 2015 did not do anything to make me believe I would see that potential realized anytime soon, yet The Fantastic Four: First Steps has.
The Rotten Tomatoes score for the film just proves that Marvel’s First Family is in the right hands going forward. Time will tell if audiences feel the same but, for now, the critic scores prove that The Fantastic Four: First Steps has, like Galactus, dwarfed prior iterations of the team.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Release Date
July 25, 2025
Runtime
115 minutes
Director
Matt Shakman
Writers
Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson
Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic
Vanessa Kirby
Sue Storm / The Invisible Woman