July 23, 2025 • 6 mins
Ben O’Shea stopped by to chat about Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: Four Steps. He had the chance to meet Pedro Pascal during a press junket in Sydney, and Pedro’s double handshake left him mesmerised but... was the film as captivating? With Marvel hoping to bounce back from recent flops and scandals, there was a lot riding on the film. While the pacing dragged at times, strong performances helped it find its way. It occasionally felt like The Incredibles (which, fun fact, was actually inspired by The Fantastic Four). So, what score did Ben give it? Tune in to find out!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Great per flick with ben Ohe oh Ben, Hello, hello, Hello,
you've been off on a junker. Yes, here's the hand.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Here's the hand that has touched Pedro Pascal. Don't wash it.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
There was a queue to touch your hand this morning
because it's touched Pedro Pasca. Can you tell us quickly
why the hand ended up in the hands?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Oh? Yes. So I interviewed Pedro Pascal and that interview
is on the cover of Play magazine in the West
Australia on Saturday this weekend. And so I went to
Sydney to interview Pedro Pascal and his cast mates from
the fantastic four First Steps movie and we hit it off.
We really got on very well. And at the end
he came across the room and shook my hand, took
(00:43):
my hand in both of his and held it, held
it a double hands and he held it tight as
he stared into my eyes and said, Ben, thank you
so much. I really appreciated your questions today. Very insightful,
really lovely to meet you. And he probably talked to
me for another minute or so, just staring into my eyes.
It's I was hypnotized and the connections five stars, no, no,
(01:10):
not five Stars. So the Fantastic Four first steps comes along.
For the Marvel cinematic universe, it's in a kind of
a bit of an awkward phase at the moment. They've
had a couple of duds. They've had some off camera
issues and some and some of their main characters had
some scandals and had to get the boot. So they've
kind of sort of reimagined where the future of this
(01:32):
franchise is going, and the Fantastic Four itself is going
to be a key part of that future. It So
it's the first movie of the Marvel Phase six slate
of films, which finishes, I think in twenty twenty seven
with Avengers Doomsday. So they map all this stuff out.
Billions of dollars at stake if these films don't work out.
And the Fantastic Four, you might remember, was originally adapted
(01:53):
for the big screen back in the early two thousands
with Ian Griffin as Mister Fantastic, Jessica Alba as the
Invisible Woman, Chris Evans as the Human Torch. Those movies
weren't that great, did have Julian McMahon, the late Great
Julian as Victor von Duom and so those films. They
(02:15):
weren't that amazing. They made a bit of money at
the box office, and then in twenty fifteen they rebuilt
a franchise. Yeah, ok, four, But then in twenty fifteen,
the Fantastic Four was the terrible. It was an absolute
stinker and it was a huge bomb at the box office,
even though it had a pretty good cast. Miles Teller
was mister Fantastic, Michael B. Jordan was the human Torch.
(02:37):
But it just was not good. So most of the
Fantastic Four movies honestly have been pretty average. This is
by far the best of all of them, and it
does so by really leans into the sixties aesthetic of
the original comic book, which was released in nineteen sixty
one by Jack Kirby and Stanley and So. But it's
(02:57):
not set on our version of Earth. So in the
Marvel world, as everybody knows, it's a multiverse, so there's
parallel universes. So this is a different version of Earth,
which means they don't have to really be that authentic.
It's sixties, but it's also futuristic, retro futuristic, and so
that's why they've got flying cars and and other kind
of quite advanced technology, but everyone's wearing you know, turtlenecks
(03:20):
and the brown leather jacket s. The vibe is cool.
I would say, for my money, this is the best
looking superhero movie that has ever been made, because beautiful
every frame. You could print it out and hang it
on your wall as a piece of art. It is
absolutely beautiful to look at. Director Max Shackman, who made
(03:41):
the wander Vision Marvel TV series, is a bit of
a visionary. It's stunning film to look at. And you're
Pedro Pascal, who is perfectly cast as mister fantastic. Most
of the time, he's not fantastic. He's mister anxious, which
is Pedro in real life has some anxiety issues. So
it's so believable when he's worried about his incoming baby
(04:02):
with with Vanessa Kirby, who plays the Invisible Woman, his wife.
So they're having this baby, they're not sure, can you
be sure? Yeah, that's visible princess. She actually gives birth
during the film and it turns in visible in the
middle of I know, yeah, just to make it, just
to make it more interesting. It's also in space, in
(04:23):
zero gravity. It's a crazy sequence. You've also got Julia
Garner from Ozark and the and a Delvi story as
the Silver Surfer. Ralph Inoson, who's a fantastic character actor,
is Galactus, who's the big bad guy who's coming to
destroy the Earth, and he Galactus does a deal basically,
I will spare the Earth on one condition, mister fantastic,
(04:46):
You've got to give me a baby.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
That's a deal.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That's a deal that mister Fantastic doesn't want to do.
So then, of course, you know, the whole fate of
the Earth comes down to whether or not they can
they can save. So not only does it look good,
you have some great performances from Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby.
In particular, you've got Evan Moss Backrack from The From
the Bear who plays that thing Backrack. He's an amazing actor,
(05:18):
cousin the cousin from the From the Bear and so
he's the thing clobroom time. And you've got Joseph Quinn
who was Eddie Munson in Stranger Things, who's amazing English actor.
He plays the human torch Johnny Storm. He's fantastic as well.
So the cast is really good. You could make the
case that maybe the pacing is a little bit slow,
(05:39):
and they really put the emphasis on the family dynamic
of the Fantastic Four at the expense of other aspects
of the film, which I think is very interesting and
I think, you know, good on them for doing that.
Like it's it's not very often where a superhero movie
starts the opening sequence is you know, one of the
characters sitting on the toilet, but that's Vanessa Kirby doing
(06:00):
the pregnancy test, but she's invisible. Yeah, So they just
they make some choices like that, which I think a
little bit left of center for a superhero blockbuster. Some
people might find it a bit slow going at times,
but you've got to stick with it, and I think
it really bodes well for the future of the Marvel
(06:20):
Cinematic universe if you've got these characters as a part
of it. At times, it's a little bit like The
Incredibles because you've got a baby in there. But then
you know, The Incredibles is really inspired by the Fantastic
Four originally, So it all goes around and comes around
and it looks good and it looks very wonderful.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, how many calling Pedro Pascal mister Fantastic is basically
a cameos.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Are you basically being itself?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Isn't it?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I'm going to give it three and a half, so
this and Superman. Recently, we've had two good superhero movies
in a row, which is very unusual. The genre has
been in a bit of a low kind of times.
Very promising,
Great per flick with ben Ohe oh Ben, Hello, hello, Hello,
you've been off on a junker. Yes, here's the hand.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Here's the hand that has touched Pedro Pascal. Don't wash it.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
There was a queue to touch your hand this morning
because it's touched Pedro Pasca. Can you tell us quickly
why the hand ended up in the hands?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Oh? Yes. So I interviewed Pedro Pascal and that interview
is on the cover of Play magazine in the West
Australia on Saturday this weekend. And so I went to
Sydney to interview Pedro Pascal and his cast mates from
the fantastic four First Steps movie and we hit it off.
We really got on very well. And at the end
he came across the room and shook my hand, took
(00:43):
my hand in both of his and held it, held
it a double hands and he held it tight as
he stared into my eyes and said, Ben, thank you
so much. I really appreciated your questions today. Very insightful,
really lovely to meet you. And he probably talked to
me for another minute or so, just staring into my eyes.
It's I was hypnotized and the connections five stars, no, no,
(01:10):
not five Stars. So the Fantastic Four first steps comes along.
For the Marvel cinematic universe, it's in a kind of
a bit of an awkward phase at the moment. They've
had a couple of duds. They've had some off camera
issues and some and some of their main characters had
some scandals and had to get the boot. So they've
kind of sort of reimagined where the future of this
(01:32):
franchise is going, and the Fantastic Four itself is going
to be a key part of that future. It So
it's the first movie of the Marvel Phase six slate
of films, which finishes, I think in twenty twenty seven
with Avengers Doomsday. So they map all this stuff out.
Billions of dollars at stake if these films don't work out.
And the Fantastic Four, you might remember, was originally adapted
(01:53):
for the big screen back in the early two thousands
with Ian Griffin as Mister Fantastic, Jessica Alba as the
Invisible Woman, Chris Evans as the Human Torch. Those movies
weren't that great, did have Julian McMahon, the late Great
Julian as Victor von Duom and so those films. They
(02:15):
weren't that amazing. They made a bit of money at
the box office, and then in twenty fifteen they rebuilt
a franchise. Yeah, ok, four, But then in twenty fifteen,
the Fantastic Four was the terrible. It was an absolute
stinker and it was a huge bomb at the box office,
even though it had a pretty good cast. Miles Teller
was mister Fantastic, Michael B. Jordan was the human Torch.
(02:37):
But it just was not good. So most of the
Fantastic Four movies honestly have been pretty average. This is
by far the best of all of them, and it
does so by really leans into the sixties aesthetic of
the original comic book, which was released in nineteen sixty
one by Jack Kirby and Stanley and So. But it's
(02:57):
not set on our version of Earth. So in the
Marvel world, as everybody knows, it's a multiverse, so there's
parallel universes. So this is a different version of Earth,
which means they don't have to really be that authentic.
It's sixties, but it's also futuristic, retro futuristic, and so
that's why they've got flying cars and and other kind
of quite advanced technology, but everyone's wearing you know, turtlenecks
(03:20):
and the brown leather jacket s. The vibe is cool.
I would say, for my money, this is the best
looking superhero movie that has ever been made, because beautiful
every frame. You could print it out and hang it
on your wall as a piece of art. It is
absolutely beautiful to look at. Director Max Shackman, who made
(03:41):
the wander Vision Marvel TV series, is a bit of
a visionary. It's stunning film to look at. And you're
Pedro Pascal, who is perfectly cast as mister fantastic. Most
of the time, he's not fantastic. He's mister anxious, which
is Pedro in real life has some anxiety issues. So
it's so believable when he's worried about his incoming baby
(04:02):
with with Vanessa Kirby, who plays the Invisible Woman, his wife.
So they're having this baby, they're not sure, can you
be sure? Yeah, that's visible princess. She actually gives birth
during the film and it turns in visible in the
middle of I know, yeah, just to make it, just
to make it more interesting. It's also in space, in
(04:23):
zero gravity. It's a crazy sequence. You've also got Julia
Garner from Ozark and the and a Delvi story as
the Silver Surfer. Ralph Inoson, who's a fantastic character actor,
is Galactus, who's the big bad guy who's coming to
destroy the Earth, and he Galactus does a deal basically,
I will spare the Earth on one condition, mister fantastic,
(04:46):
You've got to give me a baby.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
That's a deal.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That's a deal that mister Fantastic doesn't want to do.
So then, of course, you know, the whole fate of
the Earth comes down to whether or not they can
they can save. So not only does it look good,
you have some great performances from Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby.
In particular, you've got Evan Moss Backrack from The From
the Bear who plays that thing Backrack. He's an amazing actor,
(05:18):
cousin the cousin from the From the Bear and so
he's the thing clobroom time. And you've got Joseph Quinn
who was Eddie Munson in Stranger Things, who's amazing English actor.
He plays the human torch Johnny Storm. He's fantastic as well.
So the cast is really good. You could make the
case that maybe the pacing is a little bit slow,
(05:39):
and they really put the emphasis on the family dynamic
of the Fantastic Four at the expense of other aspects
of the film, which I think is very interesting and
I think, you know, good on them for doing that.
Like it's it's not very often where a superhero movie
starts the opening sequence is you know, one of the
characters sitting on the toilet, but that's Vanessa Kirby doing
(06:00):
the pregnancy test, but she's invisible. Yeah, So they just
they make some choices like that, which I think a
little bit left of center for a superhero blockbuster. Some
people might find it a bit slow going at times,
but you've got to stick with it, and I think
it really bodes well for the future of the Marvel
(06:20):
Cinematic universe if you've got these characters as a part
of it. At times, it's a little bit like The
Incredibles because you've got a baby in there. But then
you know, The Incredibles is really inspired by the Fantastic
Four originally, So it all goes around and comes around
and it looks good and it looks very wonderful.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, how many calling Pedro Pascal mister Fantastic is basically
a cameos.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Are you basically being itself?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Isn't it?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I'm going to give it three and a half, so
this and Superman. Recently, we've had two good superhero movies
in a row, which is very unusual. The genre has
been in a bit of a low kind of times.
Very promising,
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