Fantastic Four Producer Confirms Sue Storm is the Leader – And Always Has Been?
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is headed to theaters with the same sense of impending doom as Galactus’ herald informing some unfortunate world that his master is hungry. The film that is to introduce Marvel’s First Family to the MCU – although it takes place in another universe because the multiverse storyline (if you want to be generous and call it a “storyline”) has turned what was once a fairly well-oiled machine into a convoluted mess – will be released in just over a month on July 25, 2025, and the Disney marketing machine is working overtime to get audiences hyped for the Four’s arrival. The latest example of this is an extensive article by Collider with quotes from the cast and crew that gives a good idea of what we can expect from First Steps. The article itself is very informative; unfortunately for Marvel, the level of detail it goes into is not going to help them sell First Steps to an audience that’s grown tired of Marvel’s recent schtick – that schtick being identity politics and a general disregard for the sixty-plus years of comic book history on which the MCU was built.
As with the rest of the Fantastic Four: First Steps marketing, there are some good things in the Collider piece, things I genuinely look forward to seeing when the film is released, like the design of this world, which is a mix of the 60s and an advanced sci-fi future. It’s very much in line with Jack Kirby’s artwork in the old Fantastic Four comics, and based on the trailers, it looks like it will pop on the big screen. In fact, I like almost all of the aesthetics, such as the Four’s various outfits, the vehicles like the Fantasticar, and even HERBIE, who is mostly thought of as a joke or, at best, a smile-inducing piece of nostalgia for folks who used to watch the old cartoon that introduced him (like me). And I cannot wait to see Galactus, who appears to have been faithfully translated from the comics, even if I think they’re jumping the gun with the character. But as the people behind First Steps let more slip, the good stuff is beginning to pale in comparison to all the unnecessary baggage Marvel is foisting on this movie, like the female Silver Surfer, Johnny Storm as a male feminist, a seemingly softened Thing, and now, confirmation that Sue Storm is the leader of the Fantastic Four while the guy who’s supposed to be in charge, Reed Richards, is played by someone who says he “[loves] being led in a way” when discussing Reed and Sue’s dynamic. Sounds great, huh?
First: She looks like 90s Hillary Clinton, second: who do they think the audience is? Who are these vast swathes of people eager to see an over-exposed Pedro Pascal, reformed ladies-man Torch and Girlboss iteration #546, who will save the day by bonding with female Silver Surfer? https://t.co/6zShaxqGol
— Echo Chamberlain (@EchoChamYT) June 8, 2025
What made me the angriest when I read that article was the gaslighting while the people behind The Fantastic Four: First Steps pretended to be sticking close to the comics. This already happened in a previous article by Empire, where Kevin Feige talked about how he wanted to get the Four right, and you can tell what a crock that is, but here, it gets even worse. Grant Curtis, a producer on the film, says at one point, “If you do go back through the comics, you realize that Sue Storm is arguably the leader of the Fantastic Four.” Well, no, she’s not; Reed Richards is the leader, and there’s nothing to argue about because they consistently acknowledge him as the leader. This isn’t a point of view; it’s stated plainly in the comics over and over again, even by the Thing, who hates being told what to do. At least have the balls to admit what you’re doing. Contempt for the comics doesn’t stop there, either; Vanessa Kirby, who plays Sue Storm, says that she and Pedro Pascal read through some of the early FF comics and laughed at the way Sue was treated. I told this story once before, but in the early days of the initial run, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby read fan mail saying that Sue seemed superfluous to the team, and they corrected it in the books, giving her more to do so readers could see how indispensable she was. The guys who did that are now being openly mocked by people trying to make money off their creations, and I think that’s disgusting – though par for the course in today’s “enlightened” entertainment industry that has endless disdain for everything that came before them while shamelessly pilfering it and refusing to create anything new. And if indications are correct, like the one below from Valliant Renegade, it’s not going to work for them:
What a shock; there’s no excitement for a movie that sounds more like another joyless Marvel lecture by the day. And it’s a shame, not just because I’d like a great Fantastic Four movie and a rejuvenated Marvel Cinematic Universe but because for a studio reeling from a string of bombs and a couple of hits that appear to be mirages, this was easily avoidable. Why not tell a classic Fantastic Four story with the group dynamic intact, Norrin Radd as the Silver Surfer, and no modern politics intruding on the humanity inherent in a movie about family? Why does Marvel think the only direct translation comic book fans want is Galactus? Or, and I think this is closer to the truth, why don’t they care? Are they convinced that fans will eventually give in because they know they’ll never get their way? Do they believe the crumbs from the comics they serve up, like Galactus’ look or the 60s aesthetic, will trick people who love the source material into thinking this movie is an accurate depiction of the Fantastic Four? Or are they so stubborn and drunk on their ideology that they refuse to budge even as they stare down financial ruin? My guess is the last one, with a bit of the others mixed in, but whatever the case, this self-destructive path is not good for anyone.
Let us know what you think of the new Fantastic Four: First Steps information in the comments!
***
Get a META PC today; use code “199” to save on all purchases!
If you want to know what kind of political leanings movies have or just talk about cinema, check out the movie ratings community Criticless.
Get Your Geeks + Gamers merch here!
