July 26, 2025 • 50 mins
We herald this review of Marvel Studios The Fantastic Four: First Steps! On the menu: Fourth times the charm?, Reed & Sue’s layered relationship, The Thing’s b-blot, Johnny’s level of hot & importance, Julia Garner’s depth as Silver Surfer, big honkin’ hungry Galactus, CGI Franklin Richards, and more!
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Hosts: Derek Ivie and Noah Reed
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(00:00) - Intro
(01:37) - General Thoughts
(04:05) - The Four - Reed, Sue, Johnny & Ben
(20:00) - Ranking The Four
(22:54) - The Story & Franklin Richards
(30:07) - Silver Surfer & Galactus
(41:46) - Ending & Final Thoughts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to a Bite of I'm Derek. That's Noah.
And today we are ecstatically talking about the Fantastic Four
First Steps. Oh man, OK, did that hype it up?
But this was the movie I've beenlooking forward to for a long,
(00:22):
long, long, long, long time. Before we get into everything,
it's going to be a spoiler fields review.
We're going to discuss the movie.
So if you have not seen it, please go watch it.
Or if you don't care, continue forward.
Make sure you're following us. Make sure you leave review.
Make sure you do all those amazing things.
Tell us what your favorite moment.
Who is your favorite member thatstuck out to you in the movie
down below? If you're on Spotify, you can
(00:44):
watch us as well and comment on there.
I think now they added like common threads.
So anyway, exciting stuff. So spoilers ahead.
Big earth shattering warning or heralding this episode with a
spoiler warning. So yeah.
Let us officially take a bite ofthe Fantastic Four first Steps,
written by Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson and Jeff
(01:05):
Kaplan, and of course, directed by Matt Shackman.
Four years after the fateful flight that gave them powers,
the Fantastic Four are regarded as heroes who protect, educate,
entertain and lead. The family have much to
celebrate with the announcement that Sue and Reed are expecting,
but when an unexpected visitor covered in Chrome heralds the
world's destruction, the quartetjump into action, but soon learn
(01:30):
that saving the planet may come at too high a price.
And it sure did. OK, so before we get into
general thoughts, I need to ask you a question.
Oh God, what is it like to see your favorite actor playing your
favorite character from your favorite franchise?
I don't know, because like, I, yeah, I mean, I as anybody knows
(01:54):
me knows I love Pedro Pascal andI'm never going to be on the
bandwagon that is feels like he's overexposed.
I feel like he's underexposed. OK, He can be in everything, he
said. Pants.
Off expose him. No pants.
I it was a weird experience because I think, and this is
going to go into general thoughts, right?
I, I think going into this movie, I tried my hardest not to
(02:17):
have my expectations so high because we've seen fan forstick
the two movies prior from fox. They're fine.
They have their moments, but they're not good, right?
I had such high hopes for this and they exceeded my
expectations in a lot of ways. And then some ways I'm like, so
maybe this is just baby steps toget to some of the stuff that
(02:39):
I'm really looking forward to. But I, it was a, it was an
emotional experience. I would say.
I, I was, I left the theater, I think kind of speechless almost.
I was carrying this Galactus head out and I was just like,
that happened. We live in a world now where
Fantastic Four was done right. And I don't know, I'm just, I'm
just happy about it, yeah. It was delightful to watch you
(03:01):
experience that. I think me on the other hand, I
hated it. No, I'm kidding me on the other
hand, I went in with and everything.
I went in with no expectations, just kind of seeing what it
would become and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I think that it the style of it looked fantastic.
I thought that the themes were really great.
(03:22):
I love these 4 characters set kind of in this timeline of the
MCU that isn't this crazy other timeline that we've been
watching for how many, what do they call them cycles series?
No. Oh, phases, phases.
There you go. We're 37 movies in to the MCU
and you didn't know faces. I don't know, it's too much.
(03:45):
It's too much. So it, I felt like it was a
breath of fresh air as far as Marvel is concerned.
And I and I really, really like that.
And so, you know, at the, the lead of this entire film.
Well, actually it's interesting,right?
Because we have our 4 main characters and I think that we
all see Reed as the lead. Did you feel like Reed was the
(04:07):
lead? Yeah, but also, no, I, I I think
he, he Co parented the lead a little bit with Sue for sure.
And I really liked the characterizations that they went
with for these characters because we're where the movie
picks up is we don't get an origin.
I love that, you know, it's, it's a really interesting
feeling having a Superman movie that did this and a Fantastic
(04:29):
Four movie. We've gotten iterations of these
characters before. This is like the fourth attempt
that Marvel has, or just anybodyhas tried to do the Fantastic
Four. So we know their origins, right?
They go up into space, get hit with cosmic rays, which whatever
that means, and come back with the powers.
And so the rest is history, right?
So I love the movie starting offthat way, but I was really
(04:50):
curious how they were going to interpret them and what that
dynamic was going to be like. And I think they did a good job.
I think that there was some surprises with Johnny Storm.
I was like, are they just going to make him like a hot head like
Chris Evans and like just a fuckboy?
No, he actually had character indeath.
Reed, while he is the leader, itvery much seemed like Sue was
(05:12):
the more public facing leader, right?
She was the head of the the faceof the Future Foundation.
She gave that amazing speech with everybody.
So I I liked the position that they put Reed in.
I think, like with Pedro being this huge star, it could have
been very much a Pedro Pascal movie and I'm glad they reeled
(05:33):
it in a little bit and gave everybody else a moment.
Yeah, I definitely see that. And I liked, I like what you're
saying as well about not needingto literally see their first
steps as these characters, because that's what so many of
these Marvel films and just superhero films in general have
been. And so it's so interesting when
we already know these charactersright, where they've been around
(05:55):
for decades at this point. It's like, we get it, we know.
So to be able to see them kind of already strong in their
position and being so widely respected, I think was really
nice. And I also think that they did a
good job of us knowing their familial relationship as this
quartet, right? We weren't guessing who is who.
(06:15):
That was already laid out withinlike the 1st 10 minutes of the
movie. We got their relationship.
I mean, the movie really kind ofbegins, you know, after that
montage that we see with Reed and Sue finding out that they're
pregnant, and we go to family dinner and right away we get the
dynamic of the four of them. Yeah, I, I this movie had a lot
(06:37):
riding on its shoulders unfairly, I think.
But also it's just the name of the game because it's like
starting a new phase. It's ushering in a new kind of
era of the MCU. It's characters everybody knows
a lot, a lot of like superheroesthat we know or just themes and
stuff like that. We owe to the Fantastic Four.
We owe to Jack Kirby and Stanley.
So without them, really a lot ofthis stuff when it happened, The
(06:59):
Incredibles wouldn't be a thing.Like Disney and Pixar didn't
have the rights to Fantastic Four.
So they're like, OK, let's make a Fantastic Four without the
Fantastic Four. So it's like fun to just see
their just kind of effect throughout history.
And So what I really liked that Matt Shakman did was he gave us
that family stuff up front and he was like, just so you know,
(07:21):
they're all going to be like, it's all about this family
chemistry and dynamic. And the opening scene being
read, not knowing where the yellow iodine is.
It's such a relationship thing. There's one person that always
knows where everything is. And the other person just is
like, I know it's here because the other person put it there,
but I'm just going to keep trying to find it.
Listeners slash watchers out of the out, the two of us, our
(07:44):
relationship. Who do you think knows where the
iodine is? Comment below.
I you just kind of blew my mind.I never realized that The
Incredibles, it is the FantasticFour.
Yeah, it's just a literal family.
Franklin, Jack. Jack.
Yeah, I need to sit with this a little bit.
And it's, it's very apparent. And it's also the end of that
(08:05):
movie after Syndrome and everything.
At the end of that movie, the underminer comes up.
Who is Mole Man. Yeah.
It's all making sense. You didn't know that.
No, I never realized that, but it's like literally they just
kind of switched the roles around, right.
So last, the girl is Reed and. That's how they got around.
This thing, Wow, that's just blew my mind.
So I think that they had to balance a lot in this, right?
(08:27):
It's it's this family dynamic, it's this superhero dynamic,
it's this world ending storyline.
While also one of the things that I really found super
interesting was that they are sobeloved by the public and I'm so
used to seeing in superhero movies.
There's always a backlash, right?
(08:47):
We have a little moment of that in this, but it's nothing too
intense. Our girl, you know, Sue, goes
out there and she just politely talks to everyone and they're
like, you know what, Sue, you'reright.
But I I liked living in a world where they are truly being seen
as heroes. Yeah.
And I think what was cool that they showed, so this is like in
a 60s retrofuturistic alternate timeline, 8 to 8 is the Earth
(09:12):
that they're on the universe andall of that.
So I liked that they were able to give this like utopic
worldview. And I do think that there's like
other layers that may have been cut.
There's clearly things that havebeen cut from this movie.
We talked on our Patreon episodeabout Red Ghost being cut from
this. He does get a mention.
But it really does seem like as you're watching this movie, like
Rachel Rosman seems like she hada more important role.
(09:35):
Natasha Lyonne, the mole man seems like he could have been a
little more. But I think like on the surface,
because what I was trying to getto is like mole man and like
subterraneous seems like they, Idon't know, like that's where
like the lower class is at as opposed to everybody up top is
like in this weird. Like we're not going to really
(09:56):
acknowledge it because we've allpushed them down.
So there's like things in this world that I think it's all
fleshed out and it's all living in.
But I liked that they gave us that 60s retrofuturistic feel
because it made it so separate from the rest of the MCU.
And with it being not in the sacred timeline, we got to just
sit with these characters and not worry about all this other
(10:17):
stuff that's happening with likeThunderbolts and everything
else. Yeah.
And one of the things that I also really enjoyed about this
60s retro thing is the idea of being able to be strong and not
have to be Thor, you know, you not have to be Chris Hemsworth.
And I think Hemsworth and I think that is really a nod to
(10:42):
the superhero of the 60s, right?When it didn't have to be this
giant muscly person. When I think of things like, you
know, I always go back to my my retro references, The Twilight
Zone. There's one episode where
there's this utopic world where at a certain age you get to
become beautiful, right? And it's just like you have a
(11:03):
couple of bodies to choose from.None of the bodies are giant and
muscly. They're like kind of these felt
men. And I felt like, you see that,
you know, with Reed and Johnny, they are kind of these normal
looking guys, albeit very handsome and powerful, but their
body types felt like they fit what a hero looked like in the
(11:24):
60s. Yeah.
I mean, I, I think let's get into like the characters a
little bit, right? You know, I, I really liked the
look of them. I liked the dynamic.
I do wish we would have gotten alittle more.
I think we got some of it. Having the joke at the end with
the thing and Johnny and Reed trying to put the baby seat into
the car was really funny. I wanted a little more of that.
(11:45):
But with the the runtime being brisk, I think we got what we
got and it was really good. A brisk 2 hour runtime?
Well. It was an hour and 55 minutes
including credits. So sorry, we're we're looking at
like an hour and 45 hour 40, which is short.
I'm just saying it's very short to it to introduce a whole new
world and everything. I wanted more.
(12:06):
OK. But yeah, so I think with Reed
specifically, I I really liked how they didn't make like it
seems like he didn't really necessarily have too much of an
arc in this. It was more of a beginning of
Reed because we have Secret Warscoming out.
That's it seems now after this movie, they're going to really
do the Doom and Reed type sayinghe could eventually at some
(12:29):
point become the maker. I don't know, that's like an
evil version of Reed. But I liked how they kind of
kept him in this the same role going through the entire thing.
Like he didn't really necessarily have a character arc
because we're introducing this team, right?
But I think his powers looked great.
It looked a little goofy at times, but stretching does look
goofy. But it looked good.
(12:50):
Yeah, I thought it looked reallygood, too.
I mean, any time he uses stretching powers, I was really
excited. And I think that they did a good
job of not overusing the stretching powers, right?
There were certain times where he reached across the room or
reached across the ship, and that felt like, OK, that's fun,
right? But he didn't do it every time
he reached for something. Yeah, I, it's like interesting.
(13:11):
It's like, I liked what we got. And I'm like for the movie, it
wasn't so action forward, so it made sense that like some of the
heroes showed their powers a little more.
I I do wish we would have gottenlike a scene or something with
like Reed secluding himself in alab trying to figure out this
problem and like, his whole bodyis like stretched everywhere.
It's just such a, a, an image that I have in my head just
(13:32):
reading the comics of like, maybe we will get that later on.
I hope we do, but like that was one thing I was missing from
Reed. I just wanted like the weird
icky feeling stretching because he uses his body in weird ways.
And I will say that I felt like he stretched a lot lengthwise,
but he never really stretched with wise like, right?
He never got big and flat and like became a parachute or
(13:55):
something like that. So I think maybe they could have
had more fun in that regard. But when it comes to Reed, I
feel like much like a, a lever, right or, or a balancing act
here, we have to also talk aboutSue because I feel like Reed is
very much tinkering behind the scenes.
It's like he's so is it right brained, left brained?
(14:16):
He's 1/2 of a brain that is doing mainly the all the
intricate details and running algorithms and things like that.
Whereas Sue has to kind of take the brain and then translate it
to the heart, right? So she needs to be front of
house, he's back of house. And I feel like they balance
themselves in that way and they understand each other.
I think it's so funny that he can get so deep into trying to
(14:39):
figure things out, right? He one of his missions in this
movie is that he wants to see the baby inside.
Sue. Right.
Your wife is the Invisible Woman.
Yeah. It's like he's so caught up in
it that he can't stop to think that, oh, there's an easier
explanation or a way of doing this.
Well, he just wanted to be sure it was like, safe, right?
And I, I mean, yeah, it's like, understandable.
(15:00):
But it's also like, sometimes you just can't have an answer
for everything. And I love that Sue was able to
be like, look, he is fine and whatever happens, it will
happen. It's okay.
Right. But he's so stuck in black and
white, and I think that's why heneeds Sue in his life, because
she could show him the Gray and she can show him the easier way
out. And I really loved Sue in this
(15:22):
as a character. I think that she really is the
one that's holding them all together.
At least that's what it felt like.
For me, yeah, I loved her characterization.
I liked her powers. There was a moment where there's
a big moment at the end, especially with Galactus, where
she's like pushing them and it'slike 2 blocks and it's amazing
and it's showcasing her abilities and her powers.
(15:42):
I do wish with her powers. I just want to touch on that a
little bit. Like there was just a little
more like construct with her force fields because it was
almost a little hard to tell like exactly what was happening
and moving, but I liked the iridescent look of it.
I thought that was original and unique invisibility, amazing.
But like her finally getting thescreen time and like the
(16:05):
showcasing of how amazing and powerful and just integral to
this group and just to the greater cause of whatever the
MCU is trying to do right is. I love that they showcase that
she's giving birth and had to make the entire ship that's
going by a black hole invisible while giving birth in anti
gravity. Like are you kidding?
(16:26):
She's also pushing the celestialgiant hungry world devouring
creature two blocks into like a teleporter.
Are you kidding me? She died.
But well, you know, that's one of the things it's like we were,
I think we we were always sayingmaybe in our own discussions of
like, oh, gosh, I hope there isn't a point like a very Jean
Grey moment where she uses her powers, but it's too much and
(16:49):
she faints, right. So we got that, but not
necessarily. I mean, she pushed so hard that
she died. That's a little different than
just like being like, oh, I'm sotired.
Now she didn't faint. No, she died.
She died. And and I think for Sue in this
movie, she she is both the literal mother, she's the
figurative mother, she is the mother of all of this.
(17:11):
And I think that it's just such a special thing in a superhero
movie to see a woman be so powerful and be able to take
charge of so many of the situations.
I just want to see Wanda sue andthrow Agatha in there too.
Like just these powerful mother doing their like back bendy like
ability. I would just love that they
(17:32):
would. Be amazing with our children.
Yeah. And then I mean, of course, we
can't not talk about the four without the other two.
Ben and Johnny. I loved both of them.
I thought Evan Moss Baccarat wasabsolutely made for this role.
Just perfect. Joseph Quinn as Johnny.
Very surprised. I knew I was going to like him.
I think he's attractive. Some people are just like, he's
(17:54):
like, yeah, it's not as hot as like Chris Evans, like, yeah,
but he's still like, good looking.
But I thought he brought this really cool, like almost like
Roth Hudson, like old school, like kind of, I don't know, just
yeah. And I I love that they gave him
AB plot of like, look, I am hot and yes, I go after women and I
(18:17):
get very distracted by that. But also I just want Reed and
Sue to see value in me and I want to be an integral part to
this team. The thing I was disappointed in
that it did feel like some of his stuff either got cut or like
I wasn't too sure about the Rachel Rosman stuff.
Like, it was fine because it's like, Oh yeah, he he's like
(18:39):
affectionate towards this woman and he's like has a feelings
towards her. But like, that didn't go
anywhere. So I'm almost curious if like
some of that stuff got cut. Other than that, I thought it
was great. Yeah, I, I really loved, I, I, I
thought Johnny had a stronger role in this movie then Ben did
personally. And I think it comes to those B
plot things, right? Johnny's B plot was very
(19:02):
important to them figuring out how to get Silver Surfer on
their side, whereas Bens thing was just this kind of random
flirtation. I almost wish we had a moment
where Ben went back to the school and brought cookies right
just to show like, oh, there's the button on that right.
So he he saw that it was flirtatious and now he's going
(19:25):
to act on it. Like we didn't really have to
see them go on a date. We didn't have to see them fall
in love. But just give me that moment of
him realizing that he's more than just the thing.
He could also still live a life where he could fall in love.
Yeah, as well. I'm also just curious of like
why Rachel and not like Alicia Masters, which is I love Natasha
Lyonne. I think they're great.
(19:45):
Very underutilized in this movie, but it's an interesting,
you know, why why choice. But I guess they had to give him
like something else to do to make it seem like he's a living,
breathing character in this world outside of the family,
which I do appreciate that they attempted to do that.
If I had to rank the four can. Can we do that real quick, just
like? What are we ranking them on?
(20:07):
Just your ability, no OK powers because Sue would be top.
Like that's not fair. Just like who you liked, who you
thought was like what worked foryou in the movie.
Going from like 1:00 to 4:00. One being best, 4 being least.
I would have to go sue Johnny Reed thing or Ben.
I don't know why I said all their names except for.
(20:28):
That's literally my ranking, andI thought you were going to be
so surprised that I put Reed under Johnny.
No. And like, I feel like, I mean,
they're all very close. It's just really like what they
were, how they were utilized in the movie.
I think it's the dimensions theywere given, right, Right.
I think that is really the levelof dimensions, because like you
were saying earlier, Reed didn'treally have an arc in this.
(20:51):
He was just kind of nervous about stuff and figuring stuff
out. Yeah, like I again, I think they
did such an amazing job at Pedrobringing this to life, the
writers, everything like that. There was just some things that
like make Reed read that weren'tpresent.
And I get that. It's like story wise, right.
And this is the beginning. We're getting like baby steps
(21:11):
towards like these characters being integrated into everything
else. But there was just those moments
where I was like, OK, like I getthat Rita smart.
I need to see how smart. I need to see some of those
things. Cause almost everything that was
figured out, granted it was great that his family helped him
figure it out, but he didn't come up with some of that stuff.
There was no like he's so engrossed into his own brain and
(21:33):
figuring out a problem that he creates his own problems.
So there was none of that. But I, I get that it's story
wise. So he would have been higher if
I just got some of those little tiny read things that I have
grown to. Very much love the character.
I was very curious because you know how in some movies when
there's math, they actually bring someone that's a
mathematician in to figure out the equations to make it all
(21:56):
make sense. When he figured out that they
only had 37 seconds to get Galactus into that portal, he
like wrote one equation and I was like, is that real?
That's. Tremendous.
It's just like I was like, what's the validity of that?
So any mathematicians out there who listen to the pod, please
let us know. I mean, he said it with
confidence and I believed him. Yeah, so and.
(22:16):
When he wrote 37 seconds, in my head, I went, Oh my God, only 37
seconds. It's because that's impossible.
It's because it's such a specific number.
Well, I loved it. It made me nervous as a viewer
of that's not a big window of time.
And I, I, I like that that mirrors in the beginning, you
know, when he's looking for thatiodine, Sue is in, you know, on
(22:37):
the toilet basically waiting forthe 12 seconds to go by for the
pregnancy test. So it's like, you know, he said
something like, that's a very specific time, and then he gives
them a very specific time later on.
I just mirrored read. Oh, I feel so special.
Didn't even realize it. OK, so characters, right, We got
those out of the way. Let's talk about kind of just
the broader story, right? Let's talk about just some of
(22:58):
the themes that they they put out here.
Let's talk about Galactus and Silver Surfer.
How did you feel about Franklin kind of being the central point
to this movie? I thought it was interesting.
You know, I always sometimes see, especially in long standing
shows and movies, when they throw a kid into it, it always
feels like almost like a Hail Mary to just throw something new
(23:21):
in there to save a plot. I mean, full House, Sailor Moon,
like those are always my examples of like there's just
kids for some reason. You.
Don't like Chippy Moon anyway, Go on.
OK, let's not start that, but I so that always kind of makes me
feel a little odd. But I think in this movie,
(23:42):
because he is literally introduced from the beginning,
it really does revolve around him.
So I thought that it all made sense.
You know, going forward, it's very interesting to see what
Franklin will be right, what he will he become because Galactus
was willing to not eat an entireplanet as long as he could have
(24:06):
Franklin. He says that I don't know if I
believe him. You think he'd still snack?
I think he'd still do a little, yeah.
I mean, who, who does he answer to?
You know, like I think the cool thing about Galactus and
involving Franklin, which I was honestly surprised there's a
storyline. I can't remember the writers off
the top of my head, but there's like a Earth X and this entire
storyline it turns, so it turns out that Franklin is Galactus.
(24:28):
Like that's one of the big reveals of that storyline.
And it was really interesting that they kind of took from that
and put it into this movie because this whole thing is
like, he would be the successor.I could finally stop his hunger
and he could be the successor. And that's kind of why he wants
Franklin, which I thought was really interesting for him to
do. In the comics, Franklin and
Galactus have an interesting relationship.
(24:49):
Like sometimes he'll go off to Galactus and talk to him because
they're both these beings and kind of just forces of nature.
Like Galactus, I believe is the director maybe kind of put it
perfectly. And he said like Galactus is
like a force of nature. He's like a hurricane, like he's
a villain, but it's like you don't vilify the hurricane,
right? It's just like it's a thing that
(25:10):
happens. So I thought that was really
interesting that they made that comparison and having Franklin,
who we know from in the comics is just, he's can do anything.
He he can create galaxies, he create anything.
He he literally there's a whole storyline where like he's a
mutant, but there was a storyline that found out like
(25:32):
he's not really a mutant. He actually made himself a
mutant because that's just what he felt like he belonged to and
everything. I think he's now a mutant still,
or maybe not. It's very confusing.
Who are you? Franklin, Right?
Having Franklin, going back to the original point, having
Franklin kind of be a central point, made sense from like a
comic book reader standpoint. The only thing I will say is
that there was some very, like, I don't know, just baby CGI
(25:55):
babies just don't ever look good.
It was just bumming me out a little bit, especially in the
third act when he revives Sue. I was like, yeah, this is like
Franklin Renesme. Like it's just, it's like
verging on that just a little bit.
I got the head shape right. Yeah, but there was like.
Moments where like the head was like moving weird.
I was like, I know that they do it so these infants can convey
(26:20):
emotion because infants don't normally do that.
I get it. But like we didn't need the baby
to be CGI most of the time. So that's like my biggest
complaint with Franklin is like,I'm cool with them involving
Franklin, just like use the realchild yet when sue.
Is laying there lifeless. Reed brings Franklin to her and
he goes, he's holding the baby and he goes to put Franklin on
(26:43):
her chest. And it looked like some sort of
weird blue computer bubble that he was just like placing on her
chest. That's when I noticed it most in
a lot of the facial expression things.
I was willing to let that go. I'm like, OK, you know, it's a
baby. Like you said, they can't convey
emotions. But that handling the baby, that
was, that was something. It was interesting.
To see like the baby look worse than the giant rock man.
(27:09):
Like that was odd to. Me, but you know, aside from
that I oh the beard, yeah, the beard looked great.
The beard is awesome. Yeah.
I I think having him be kind of one of the the driving forces.
So this was interesting because then you have, like, the
conflict with Reed, who is sees a lot of things as numbers and
equations and stuff, be confronted with his entire
family looking at him. Like, are you seriously
(27:31):
considered considering giving our child up to save the planet?
And I think it's an interesting problem for a group of heroes
like this, and especially a herolike Reed to confront.
Yeah, I mean this. Movie is the trolley problem.
Yeah, right. Are they willing to give up
their son to save all of humanity?
And obviously it's a difficult position, which we understand.
(27:53):
But I think that's really, again, where we see the
difference a lot of the time between Reed and Sue is, you
know, part of me almost wonders,is Reed, is he just a genius?
Is he a genius on the spectrum? Is because he's not able to
really. He's thinking that is one of the
options. He's not saying that's not the
option I want to do, but we haveto realize that that is an
(28:13):
option. Yeah, there's.
I would highly suggest people reading Ryan N's Fantastic Four.
He's the current writer on Fantastic Four and what the
fantastic thing is that Ryan hasdone for that character is
really show kind of his like autistic tendencies and kind of
putting that more on the forefront and being like, you
(28:35):
know, he he is on the spectrum to some degree.
And it's not necessarily a hindrance to him.
It's actually what also has helped him with his, you know,
brain and everything like that. So I like that they did include
you kind of get a little bit of a feeling of like, oh, like he
does view the world differently.He reacts to situations a little
(28:57):
differently. And I liked that they added that
in here because, again, Reed didn't get a lot of screen time.
And when he did, there's those kind of silent conversations
that Sue, knowing Reed so much, understood.
And it all came down to like, what are we going to do about
Franklin? And he doesn't.
He didn't want to say it out loud, but like, he can't help
but think it right. Yeah, I also felt.
(29:18):
Like I noticed that relationshipwhen they get back from get
finally getting away from Galactus and Silver Surfer and
they land and and she's holding Franklin because as Noah said,
she gives birth in space and he's kind of looking to her to
be like in my in when I'm watching him, it's almost I'm
going like, don't you want to dothis?
(29:38):
Don't you want to be the one that's on the microphone?
Because for him, they're going to ask him these questions and
he's going to tell them the answers point blank.
Well, but also like. Fuck them for like expecting
them to want to say something. After that I was like God let
them breathe. I know they just.
Got off the ship they're like, oh, here's a practice
conference, by the way. OK, hold on, let's.
Backtrack 'cause we were, I justnoticed that we're like left
(29:59):
Galactus and yeah, we've alreadytalked about the four.
We'll talk about them again. Well, I I think one of.
The themes of one of the things that I was thinking about is
just the the Silver Surfer and Galactus, right?
So Silver Surfer is in a really interesting position here
because I think that there is there's a blur of right and
wrong here, right? And so we learn a little bit
(30:21):
Silver Surfers background and basically to save her planet,
she becomes the Herald. But now she's just dooming all
the other planets. Yeah, she said something.
I can't remember if it was to Johnny or not.
There was like some like any time she was talking, there's
just so much spectacle happening.
I need to watch this movie againbecause I was just so amazed
with what was happening that like, I wasn't like, I guess
(30:44):
like downloading what she was saying into my brain, but I
believe she had said something of like, you know, when you've
done this for as long as I have,it gets easier.
And like, because that's like when Johnny was like, take me
instead, like I'll be the sacrifice.
And he's like, why are you doingthis?
And that's when she kind of tells him like she's kind of
lost her humanity. She's not a human, but she's
(31:04):
lost that. I I guess morality to her
because she's done it so much, but she still has that like
subconscious part of her where she heralds the world's, but she
heralds Galactus, but she warns these worlds of like tell your
loved ones, but you've always wanted to tell them, keep them
close. And this is a mercy that I'm
giving you. So that still seeps through for
her. But I it's so interesting.
(31:26):
It's interesting. Because it, it's almost like she
is, she made the same decision that we watched the Fantastic
Four make to save her one child or one world.
She's willing to kill millions of other beings, right?
And so she's been through it already.
She knows the decision, she knows what it's become.
(31:47):
And I really thought Julia Garner, I thought that she did
it very tenderly, you know, handled everything very
carefully, really having that, almost that, that back story,
that sadness, that numbness thatcomes with everything that she's
done. And I, I really love that
portrayal. Also, you know, not to mention
(32:09):
the surfing was awesome. I just want to.
Say that like, I have put this on social media already, but
like, I cannot stop thinking about their first, you know,
face to face with Galactus. And the entire sequence leading
up to them getting back to Earthwas probably the best thing that
has ever happened in a Marvel movie.
(32:31):
It is so incredibly well done. There's like an interesting love
letter to like Interstellar in there.
The chase sequence is absolutelyamazing.
But seeing Charleball surf on the lava, I guess it was I yes,
like, yes, surf in space, but surfing on lava, I'm like, it is
(32:52):
a surfboard. It is a surfboard.
It was, it was incredible. I mean, they literally they
honored the name Silver Surfer in this right?
And I even just loved how powerful she was when she just
would glide into their ship or into any place.
She just. But it was like gently.
It wasn't menacingly. It's like, I need to talk to
(33:13):
you. Well, she.
Yeah. She.
Barriers don't mean anything. Yeah, she's very much like and
well, this shows you what Galactus powers is like.
He gave her an an ounce of disabilities and what she can do
right. So like this is just a force
that's beyond comprehension and beyond, you know, even doors
(33:34):
like she can just go through things right.
I thought it was really cool. I think that they showcased her
ability and her formidity reallywell and Julie Gardner, she's
just so good. And it was it looked good in the
trailers. We I was kind of worried a
little bit like it kind of looks, it looks fine, but it
doesn't look as good as I hoped it would.
(33:56):
But the final product in the movie, seeing it on like IMX and
just seeing her like raise up out of the lava and then chasing
them through that wormhole, I was like, this looks absolutely
amazing. And I don't want to question why
she has makeup on because why not?
She wants to look. She wants to look good while
she's heralding the end of your life, you know, and even just
going back to the way it, it looked when Johnny, when she's
(34:18):
leaving Earth after she's delivered her message, when
Johnny flies up to her and and later on when he's trying to
explain to them what he saw, he's like, I saw stars.
I I saw myself. And it's like it was
mesmerizing, right? It was really mesmerizing.
I just have to mention though. The just Galactus as a whole,
Ralph Ennis voices and motion capture, I'm assuming of
(34:41):
Galactus it. I'm so happy we got a physical
version of Galactus, not Cloudactus, cloud Galactus,
whatever we want to call it fromRise of the Silver Surfer.
But I the just the first visual of his eyes glowing when they're
standing there and you get just the massive scale of Galactus.
You see him up there and you seeeven the Silver Surfer next to
(35:03):
him, just how tiny they are compared to him.
It was just it made me so happy.There's two moments in this
movie where I legit like had tears in my eyes.
It was it almost at the beginning, just the montage.
I was like, this is just so amazing.
I'm so happy about this. But it was the entire like
Galactus sequence. I was just like, holy shit.
(35:24):
And then the moment in where Sueand Reed have that conversation
and when she was like you being you hurts me.
I was like, that is so fucking cool that they included because
yeah, it's it's easy to make them seem like they love each
other the whole time, but how you make it relatable is you
have them have conflict within their relationship.
And I was like, y'all got Reed and Sue.
(35:45):
You got it. You got it so well, but I just I
just think that they they nailedso many visual aspects of this
and even just some of the themesof it, but I just can't get that
image of Galactus. Oh, it's just so good.
I think it's safe to say. That we really like the
relationship between Reed and Sue because we keep going back
to it. We could do.
We could. Literally do an entire episode
(36:05):
on Reed and Sue. You know 1.
Of the interesting things about Galactus was although he was
large and menacing, I actually didn't find him that scary.
What I personally found scary was impending death, that
tension that was running throughthe whole film of how much they
were trying, but they couldn't stop him.
What his? Arrival was going to bring is
(36:27):
what scared me the most. You know, he he said something
where he's like, I just have like this unending insatiable
hunger and I was like, been there, done that.
But he really is like almost a static figure that represents
the end did was there. For Galactus, because I had, I
had some interesting feelings about this, but I just want to
(36:47):
put this out there. Did you feel like he worked
better in space? Kind of sitting there like on
the thing, but. Also worked.
When he was on the ground, like walking through New York, Like
did both of those work for you or would you have preferred like
kind of not him being physicallyon the ground, I think.
I personally think he worked better in space.
(37:07):
Yeah. Because I think when he came to
Earth, that portion of the film wasn't very long.
It was handled fairly quickly, and it was very much a kind of
like a Godzilla moment, a Kaiju moment.
But it didn't wreak that much havoc.
Yeah. I mean.
I think they were smart with getting Molemen on their side
(37:29):
and letting people go down to Subterranea, which also I just
wish he was in it more. Like just so good, so funny
scene stealer. But yeah, I think I liked seeing
him physically walk through it because I think it, it gave
scale and it gave like literal weight to like what he can do
physically, right? But also like there were some
(37:51):
weird, like kind of not tender moments, but interesting moments
of like, does this guy ever leave his seat up there?
Because he he drops down and oneof the first things he does is
he sees the Statue of Liberty and kind of like looks at it and
then keeps walking. Like he's never seen something
like that where like he's just taking it in right and like he
gets to gets to the coast and hepicks up this the ground and he
(38:13):
like kind of sniffs it and then he keeps walking.
So he's almost like a a like baby legs.
He's just like, wow, what is allthis place?
Oh, wait, I have a thing to do. So it was interesting.
I think it worked, but it also, again, to your point, it did it
was handled pretty quickly. The third act.
While it had some. Amazing moments, I think was the
weaker portion of the movie. Yeah, I and.
(38:35):
I was just like, I'm trying to just wrap my head around the
scale of Galactus, who seemed sohuge in space and then like, was
big on Earth, but not as big as I thought he was.
Yeah, the scaling was. A little interesting.
I think they just had to do it for like, how are we going to be
able to see our heroes dealing with something this big, but
(38:55):
also make it manageable because there's just four of them,
right? Like, they're going to have to
be able to, like, interact with them.
Yeah, I mean speaking. Of that third act and act and
just the action in general. It felt like an action light
Marvel film. I again, obviously really
enjoyed it, but it felt like there was the montage in the
beginning, there was the spaceship part and then there
(39:18):
was the final act did that. Do you think for most audiences
that's not going to be enough Action I.
No, I mean, I think. Some people are going to
question why there isn't as muchaction because again, this is a
comic book movie. The unfortunate thing with that
and people thinking that is like, not, not every comic book
(39:38):
and not every set of characters is The Avengers.
The Avengers literally are always going to have action
because that's the point of all of them getting together.
Something is going to end the universe and the world, whatever
it is. So the Fantastic Four have never
really been that. They've never been action first.
They've always been figuring things out either
(39:59):
diplomatically, scientifically, whatever.
So I enjoyed it. I didn't think that there wasn't
that much action because I just,I wasn't expecting that.
I think they balanced it well. Do I wish that like they didn't
necessarily have that like fightwith Galactus at the end?
I don't know because I don't know what the end of.
The conflict would have. Been, but I think they had to
(40:21):
add something like that in there.
It's kind of one of those things.
It's like, oh, of course it endswith like a ACGI fight.
You know, I think we needed that.
Though personally, not that I'm saying that it lacked action,
but we needed that big final. Yeah, yeah, I was.
Just surprised that like that was what it LED up to and then
it was handled relatively quickly.
But I can't deny it. Like that scene Sue stole the
(40:42):
show with pushing Galactus and then also with Silver Surfer
coming in and pushing Johnny outof the way.
Amazing, great, fantastic. I I do think we will see them
again. I hope so, because they.
Didn't necessarily kill them or destroy them, they just sent
them somewhere. Well, you can't.
I don't. I mean, I'm assuming this is
inferred, but you can't you you shouldn't kill Colectus because
(41:03):
he's part of an integral balanceof the universe.
You can't kill him. So like he has to be around, he
has to do what he does. But like the whole thing is like
trying to evade him or trying topersuade him or whatever.
Is there ever a time where? Galactus is like more level
headed about it. Depends on the writer.
Yeah, I mean, a lot of times he's like kind of like left the
world alone because he gets thwarted every time and stuff
(41:26):
like that. But yeah, it it depends.
Most of the time he's like this.He got that one little sniff.
Of Earth. And now he he's got the taste he
wants. Franklin.
Yeah, he wants Franklin. Yeah.
Yeah. So I mean, I think, I think
antagonist wise, I think they did such a good job.
OK, so kind of wrapping it up, right?
There's so much we could talk about, right?
(41:46):
I, I am so surprised that Earth 828 still exists.
I am so surprised because now I have no idea how the Fantastic
Four are going to get to our timeline we've been in because
I, I think myself and quite a few people we've mentioned this
on the podcast before. I think we all assumed that like
(42:09):
that world would die and that's how our Fantastic Four come into
secret Wars or in Doomsday, right?
So now seeing that like the Earth still is around, how does
it connect to the end credits scene on Thunderbolts?
Where'd they see the Fantastic Four ship coming towards Earth?
So I it's very interesting like that doesn't connect and I'm
(42:31):
curious of why they made that choice and.
You know, again, huge spoilers. The after credits scene, one of
them is that Doctor Doom appearsin the Fantastic Four's living
room, right, with an older Franklin.
I think it's four years later. And so I think we're led to
believe that that's the Robert Downey Junior Doctor Doom.
(42:52):
I don't think it's. Actually, Robert Downey Junior,
hence why we didn't like see hisface right, but it's
representing. Him.
No. Yeah, yeah.
Maybe that's what I'm wondering.Is it another?
How many Doctor Dooms can will there be in Doomsday?
I mean, is that a thing? Multiple Dooms?
Well, I don't know. Well, I mean, we're dealing with
the multiverse, right? I who's to say that this doom is
(43:12):
from their Earth or from anotherEarth?
Why does he want Franklin? How does he know about Franklin
'cause he's popular, right? Well, the, the four year jump is
interesting. I think like they want to age up
this kid, which is fine, but it does seem like that we're not
getting Valeria. Like it's just going to like
Franklin's just going to be the kid, at least for a while.
(43:32):
So that's that's going to be interesting to see that like
it's just going to be, does she have powers?
Nope, she's just insanely. Smart.
She's like up there with like Rhode Island, Rhode Island.
And I mean, she's she rivals Reed sometimes.
It's it's really funny. In the comics, Doom and and her
have a really close relationship.
It's really interesting. Yeah, Yeah, that's wild.
(43:54):
Fantastic. I love it yeah, but I think
yeah, I the where it left is interesting.
I'm very curious to see how it'sgoing to connect to doomsday.
Obviously she's he shows up in their living room.
I I did think like the the cloakand the mask looked a little.
Bad but. Like you said last minute.
(44:17):
Costume department, they're like, whatever, yeah, I mean, I
just. Don't want to be like blindly be
like excited about it, right? I think, like, part of what we
do is like critique and like, you know, talk about it.
While I am excited that just seeing Franklin and Doom
interact with each other, I was like, that was like, I don't
know if we needed that. Do you think they're smashing?
Franklin and Valeria Valeria like together maybe?
(44:41):
I so then that would. Bum me out.
That would really bum me out, tobe honest, because I think you
need both just, I mean, just from a perspective of that.
But you could like, if Doom and Franklin are going to have that
relationship, then we're not getting her.
Like, there's just, we're going to get her.
That's a bummer, yeah. Which is sad, but I'm.
Excited to see Franklin come into his God like self.
(45:02):
And if we're going to get the conflict of like Reed putting
inhibitors on him and that's going to create a whole thing,
yeah, let me be who I want. To be father, yeah.
So any OK? Final thoughts Final thoughts
for Fantastic Four. First steps, give them Oh.
I thought overall it was a very strong movie.
I think that it hit a lot of themes well.
(45:23):
I loved the look of it. I loved the styling in the
costumes. I was all in for this retro 60
look. I think I'm just the question
mark is how the heck does this? Come together.
I I. Really appreciated the the look
of it, the aesthetic, like, I don't necessarily know like
(45:44):
story wise, if it mattered really, but I like that like in
the 60s, they thought this is what the future would look like,
so they just put it in the 60s. I I think that was really clever
and like these are the heroes ofthat time, right?
So I don't know, I just I love that I think final thoughts.
I couldn't be happier, honestly,like I know I had some like
these are things that I wish we would have gotten right.
Like I've thought about this kind of movie for such a long
(46:07):
time that I'm like they came so incredibly close to this being
perfect that like I'm amazed at like what we got because it
could have easily went S but I know I I hope that it's they
they're handled with care with the Russo brothers and when
we're going to see them in the next two adventures movies.
So I'm very excited, but like, oh, please do him justice.
(46:30):
Yeah, it was. It was definitely a strong first
step, yeah, I think. Seeing them interact with
everybody is going to be wild. Yeah, it's going to be fun.
And are they going? To be like, what the heck is a
computer? You know, kind of, I mean, I
almost. Think that like maybe it's going
to be like a Carol Danvers situation where like she kind of
came in like as this unknown person to The Avengers during
(46:51):
like Infinity War and end game. So I'm curious if that's going
to be a simpler thing that happens where they show up and
they're like, look, this is what's going on 'cause they know
Doom and they're going to be like, what?
Who are you and why are you wearing blue uniforms?
You know? So it's going to be, oh, it's
going to be fun. I just wish list right now.
I just cannot wait for Jen Walters and Ben Grimm to
(47:16):
interact with each other. I can't wait for Johnny Storm
and Spider Man to interact together.
Those are friendships that I just love so much.
The buds, they need their. Buds.
And then, of course, no more. With Sue, that's right.
OK, correct me if I'm wrong. Noah looks like Johnny Storm,
but is Reed I look like thing but M Sue.
(47:38):
Oh yeah, it's kind of. Yeah, similar, right.
There was something that you didsay we're driving back home from
the movies and you said, you know what, I understand you more
after seeing that movie. And I was like, what?
Why? And you're like, because of how
Reed acts. And I was like, oh shit, I'm
found out like damn it. But I mean, he was a very
integral part to me growing up. So I guess I just wanted to
(48:01):
become Reed. Well, you did it.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't know if that's
good or not. Turn on Galactus.
OK, Yeah. Yeah, you.
Want. To see it close up, look at
that. Yeah, it's so big.
Oh my God, when you. Hold it like, 'cause the
perspective, it makes it look small back there, but when you
hold it, it's huge. That's incredible.
(48:23):
It's so good. I was so happy.
I didn't want to get it. And then my birthday's coming
up. It was in the middle of the
movie. Derek leaves and comes back with
it. And I was, I almost cried.
I was like, how dare you gave itto me?
You have to see the picture. Of him holding it when we're
walking back to the car. It's adorable.
This is probably our longest. Episode we've had in a while,
but how fitting by the way, I I'm.
(48:45):
So sad we didn't do him service.Herbie is just incredible.
He's so cute, he's so helpful. I love him.
He survives. It's fantastic.
I didn't mention. Michael Gugino's score, I think
that was one of the first thingsthat I said after the movie.
I said that score is absolutely masterful.
It is so insane how good that score is.
(49:08):
There is a. Song.
What is the name of that song? Herbie's Lullaby.
No, no, no. The one that's like let us be
devoured or something like that.That's what it's called.
They made it for the movie. Oh my God, I was.
Like no, that's bad. I'm sure there.
Is like, there's so many things that we didn't talk about.
There's so much in this to discuss.
Like let us know what your favorite part was.
Let us know what we didn't mention that you really loved
(49:28):
Lynn. We love Lynn.
Lynn is like kind of like their publicist.
Oh right, she's or. Like therapist.
Or whatever therapist from Ted Lasso T.
She was so good. OK, we have to go.
Tell us what you think. Goodbye.
Welcome to a Bite of I'm Derek. That's Noah.
And today we are ecstatically talking about the Fantastic Four
First Steps. Oh man, OK, did that hype it up?
But this was the movie I've beenlooking forward to for a long,
(00:22):
long, long, long, long time. Before we get into everything,
it's going to be a spoiler fields review.
We're going to discuss the movie.
So if you have not seen it, please go watch it.
Or if you don't care, continue forward.
Make sure you're following us. Make sure you leave review.
Make sure you do all those amazing things.
Tell us what your favorite moment.
Who is your favorite member thatstuck out to you in the movie
down below? If you're on Spotify, you can
(00:44):
watch us as well and comment on there.
I think now they added like common threads.
So anyway, exciting stuff. So spoilers ahead.
Big earth shattering warning or heralding this episode with a
spoiler warning. So yeah.
Let us officially take a bite ofthe Fantastic Four first Steps,
written by Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson and Jeff
(01:05):
Kaplan, and of course, directed by Matt Shackman.
Four years after the fateful flight that gave them powers,
the Fantastic Four are regarded as heroes who protect, educate,
entertain and lead. The family have much to
celebrate with the announcement that Sue and Reed are expecting,
but when an unexpected visitor covered in Chrome heralds the
world's destruction, the quartetjump into action, but soon learn
(01:30):
that saving the planet may come at too high a price.
And it sure did. OK, so before we get into
general thoughts, I need to ask you a question.
Oh God, what is it like to see your favorite actor playing your
favorite character from your favorite franchise?
I don't know, because like, I, yeah, I mean, I as anybody knows
(01:54):
me knows I love Pedro Pascal andI'm never going to be on the
bandwagon that is feels like he's overexposed.
I feel like he's underexposed. OK, He can be in everything, he
said. Pants.
Off expose him. No pants.
I it was a weird experience because I think, and this is
going to go into general thoughts, right?
I, I think going into this movie, I tried my hardest not to
(02:17):
have my expectations so high because we've seen fan forstick
the two movies prior from fox. They're fine.
They have their moments, but they're not good, right?
I had such high hopes for this and they exceeded my
expectations in a lot of ways. And then some ways I'm like, so
maybe this is just baby steps toget to some of the stuff that
(02:39):
I'm really looking forward to. But I, it was a, it was an
emotional experience. I would say.
I, I was, I left the theater, I think kind of speechless almost.
I was carrying this Galactus head out and I was just like,
that happened. We live in a world now where
Fantastic Four was done right. And I don't know, I'm just, I'm
just happy about it, yeah. It was delightful to watch you
(03:01):
experience that. I think me on the other hand, I
hated it. No, I'm kidding me on the other
hand, I went in with and everything.
I went in with no expectations, just kind of seeing what it
would become and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I think that it the style of it looked fantastic.
I thought that the themes were really great.
(03:22):
I love these 4 characters set kind of in this timeline of the
MCU that isn't this crazy other timeline that we've been
watching for how many, what do they call them cycles series?
No. Oh, phases, phases.
There you go. We're 37 movies in to the MCU
and you didn't know faces. I don't know, it's too much.
(03:45):
It's too much. So it, I felt like it was a
breath of fresh air as far as Marvel is concerned.
And I and I really, really like that.
And so, you know, at the, the lead of this entire film.
Well, actually it's interesting,right?
Because we have our 4 main characters and I think that we
all see Reed as the lead. Did you feel like Reed was the
(04:07):
lead? Yeah, but also, no, I, I I think
he, he Co parented the lead a little bit with Sue for sure.
And I really liked the characterizations that they went
with for these characters because we're where the movie
picks up is we don't get an origin.
I love that, you know, it's, it's a really interesting
feeling having a Superman movie that did this and a Fantastic
(04:29):
Four movie. We've gotten iterations of these
characters before. This is like the fourth attempt
that Marvel has, or just anybodyhas tried to do the Fantastic
Four. So we know their origins, right?
They go up into space, get hit with cosmic rays, which whatever
that means, and come back with the powers.
And so the rest is history, right?
So I love the movie starting offthat way, but I was really
(04:50):
curious how they were going to interpret them and what that
dynamic was going to be like. And I think they did a good job.
I think that there was some surprises with Johnny Storm.
I was like, are they just going to make him like a hot head like
Chris Evans and like just a fuckboy?
No, he actually had character indeath.
Reed, while he is the leader, itvery much seemed like Sue was
(05:12):
the more public facing leader, right?
She was the head of the the faceof the Future Foundation.
She gave that amazing speech with everybody.
So I I liked the position that they put Reed in.
I think, like with Pedro being this huge star, it could have
been very much a Pedro Pascal movie and I'm glad they reeled
(05:33):
it in a little bit and gave everybody else a moment.
Yeah, I definitely see that. And I liked, I like what you're
saying as well about not needingto literally see their first
steps as these characters, because that's what so many of
these Marvel films and just superhero films in general have
been. And so it's so interesting when
we already know these charactersright, where they've been around
(05:55):
for decades at this point. It's like, we get it, we know.
So to be able to see them kind of already strong in their
position and being so widely respected, I think was really
nice. And I also think that they did a
good job of us knowing their familial relationship as this
quartet, right? We weren't guessing who is who.
(06:15):
That was already laid out withinlike the 1st 10 minutes of the
movie. We got their relationship.
I mean, the movie really kind ofbegins, you know, after that
montage that we see with Reed and Sue finding out that they're
pregnant, and we go to family dinner and right away we get the
dynamic of the four of them. Yeah, I, I this movie had a lot
(06:37):
riding on its shoulders unfairly, I think.
But also it's just the name of the game because it's like
starting a new phase. It's ushering in a new kind of
era of the MCU. It's characters everybody knows
a lot, a lot of like superheroesthat we know or just themes and
stuff like that. We owe to the Fantastic Four.
We owe to Jack Kirby and Stanley.
So without them, really a lot ofthis stuff when it happened, The
(06:59):
Incredibles wouldn't be a thing.Like Disney and Pixar didn't
have the rights to Fantastic Four.
So they're like, OK, let's make a Fantastic Four without the
Fantastic Four. So it's like fun to just see
their just kind of effect throughout history.
And So what I really liked that Matt Shakman did was he gave us
that family stuff up front and he was like, just so you know,
(07:21):
they're all going to be like, it's all about this family
chemistry and dynamic. And the opening scene being
read, not knowing where the yellow iodine is.
It's such a relationship thing. There's one person that always
knows where everything is. And the other person just is
like, I know it's here because the other person put it there,
but I'm just going to keep trying to find it.
Listeners slash watchers out of the out, the two of us, our
(07:44):
relationship. Who do you think knows where the
iodine is? Comment below.
I you just kind of blew my mind.I never realized that The
Incredibles, it is the FantasticFour.
Yeah, it's just a literal family.
Franklin, Jack. Jack.
Yeah, I need to sit with this a little bit.
And it's, it's very apparent. And it's also the end of that
(08:05):
movie after Syndrome and everything.
At the end of that movie, the underminer comes up.
Who is Mole Man. Yeah.
It's all making sense. You didn't know that.
No, I never realized that, but it's like literally they just
kind of switched the roles around, right.
So last, the girl is Reed and. That's how they got around.
This thing, Wow, that's just blew my mind.
So I think that they had to balance a lot in this, right?
(08:27):
It's it's this family dynamic, it's this superhero dynamic,
it's this world ending storyline.
While also one of the things that I really found super
interesting was that they are sobeloved by the public and I'm so
used to seeing in superhero movies.
There's always a backlash, right?
(08:47):
We have a little moment of that in this, but it's nothing too
intense. Our girl, you know, Sue, goes
out there and she just politely talks to everyone and they're
like, you know what, Sue, you'reright.
But I I liked living in a world where they are truly being seen
as heroes. Yeah.
And I think what was cool that they showed, so this is like in
a 60s retrofuturistic alternate timeline, 8 to 8 is the Earth
(09:12):
that they're on the universe andall of that.
So I liked that they were able to give this like utopic
worldview. And I do think that there's like
other layers that may have been cut.
There's clearly things that havebeen cut from this movie.
We talked on our Patreon episodeabout Red Ghost being cut from
this. He does get a mention.
But it really does seem like as you're watching this movie, like
Rachel Rosman seems like she hada more important role.
(09:35):
Natasha Lyonne, the mole man seems like he could have been a
little more. But I think like on the surface,
because what I was trying to getto is like mole man and like
subterraneous seems like they, Idon't know, like that's where
like the lower class is at as opposed to everybody up top is
like in this weird. Like we're not going to really
(09:56):
acknowledge it because we've allpushed them down.
So there's like things in this world that I think it's all
fleshed out and it's all living in.
But I liked that they gave us that 60s retrofuturistic feel
because it made it so separate from the rest of the MCU.
And with it being not in the sacred timeline, we got to just
sit with these characters and not worry about all this other
(10:17):
stuff that's happening with likeThunderbolts and everything
else. Yeah.
And one of the things that I also really enjoyed about this
60s retro thing is the idea of being able to be strong and not
have to be Thor, you know, you not have to be Chris Hemsworth.
And I think Hemsworth and I think that is really a nod to
(10:42):
the superhero of the 60s, right?When it didn't have to be this
giant muscly person. When I think of things like, you
know, I always go back to my my retro references, The Twilight
Zone. There's one episode where
there's this utopic world where at a certain age you get to
become beautiful, right? And it's just like you have a
(11:03):
couple of bodies to choose from.None of the bodies are giant and
muscly. They're like kind of these felt
men. And I felt like, you see that,
you know, with Reed and Johnny, they are kind of these normal
looking guys, albeit very handsome and powerful, but their
body types felt like they fit what a hero looked like in the
(11:24):
60s. Yeah.
I mean, I, I think let's get into like the characters a
little bit, right? You know, I, I really liked the
look of them. I liked the dynamic.
I do wish we would have gotten alittle more.
I think we got some of it. Having the joke at the end with
the thing and Johnny and Reed trying to put the baby seat into
the car was really funny. I wanted a little more of that.
(11:45):
But with the the runtime being brisk, I think we got what we
got and it was really good. A brisk 2 hour runtime?
Well. It was an hour and 55 minutes
including credits. So sorry, we're we're looking at
like an hour and 45 hour 40, which is short.
I'm just saying it's very short to it to introduce a whole new
world and everything. I wanted more.
(12:06):
OK. But yeah, so I think with Reed
specifically, I I really liked how they didn't make like it
seems like he didn't really necessarily have too much of an
arc in this. It was more of a beginning of
Reed because we have Secret Warscoming out.
That's it seems now after this movie, they're going to really
do the Doom and Reed type sayinghe could eventually at some
(12:29):
point become the maker. I don't know, that's like an
evil version of Reed. But I liked how they kind of
kept him in this the same role going through the entire thing.
Like he didn't really necessarily have a character arc
because we're introducing this team, right?
But I think his powers looked great.
It looked a little goofy at times, but stretching does look
goofy. But it looked good.
(12:50):
Yeah, I thought it looked reallygood, too.
I mean, any time he uses stretching powers, I was really
excited. And I think that they did a good
job of not overusing the stretching powers, right?
There were certain times where he reached across the room or
reached across the ship, and that felt like, OK, that's fun,
right? But he didn't do it every time
he reached for something. Yeah, I, it's like interesting.
(13:11):
It's like, I liked what we got. And I'm like for the movie, it
wasn't so action forward, so it made sense that like some of the
heroes showed their powers a little more.
I I do wish we would have gottenlike a scene or something with
like Reed secluding himself in alab trying to figure out this
problem and like, his whole bodyis like stretched everywhere.
It's just such a, a, an image that I have in my head just
(13:32):
reading the comics of like, maybe we will get that later on.
I hope we do, but like that was one thing I was missing from
Reed. I just wanted like the weird
icky feeling stretching because he uses his body in weird ways.
And I will say that I felt like he stretched a lot lengthwise,
but he never really stretched with wise like, right?
He never got big and flat and like became a parachute or
(13:55):
something like that. So I think maybe they could have
had more fun in that regard. But when it comes to Reed, I
feel like much like a, a lever, right or, or a balancing act
here, we have to also talk aboutSue because I feel like Reed is
very much tinkering behind the scenes.
It's like he's so is it right brained, left brained?
(14:16):
He's 1/2 of a brain that is doing mainly the all the
intricate details and running algorithms and things like that.
Whereas Sue has to kind of take the brain and then translate it
to the heart, right? So she needs to be front of
house, he's back of house. And I feel like they balance
themselves in that way and they understand each other.
I think it's so funny that he can get so deep into trying to
(14:39):
figure things out, right? He one of his missions in this
movie is that he wants to see the baby inside.
Sue. Right.
Your wife is the Invisible Woman.
Yeah. It's like he's so caught up in
it that he can't stop to think that, oh, there's an easier
explanation or a way of doing this.
Well, he just wanted to be sure it was like, safe, right?
And I, I mean, yeah, it's like, understandable.
(15:00):
But it's also like, sometimes you just can't have an answer
for everything. And I love that Sue was able to
be like, look, he is fine and whatever happens, it will
happen. It's okay.
Right. But he's so stuck in black and
white, and I think that's why heneeds Sue in his life, because
she could show him the Gray and she can show him the easier way
out. And I really loved Sue in this
(15:22):
as a character. I think that she really is the
one that's holding them all together.
At least that's what it felt like.
For me, yeah, I loved her characterization.
I liked her powers. There was a moment where there's
a big moment at the end, especially with Galactus, where
she's like pushing them and it'slike 2 blocks and it's amazing
and it's showcasing her abilities and her powers.
(15:42):
I do wish with her powers. I just want to touch on that a
little bit. Like there was just a little
more like construct with her force fields because it was
almost a little hard to tell like exactly what was happening
and moving, but I liked the iridescent look of it.
I thought that was original and unique invisibility, amazing.
But like her finally getting thescreen time and like the
(16:05):
showcasing of how amazing and powerful and just integral to
this group and just to the greater cause of whatever the
MCU is trying to do right is. I love that they showcase that
she's giving birth and had to make the entire ship that's
going by a black hole invisible while giving birth in anti
gravity. Like are you kidding?
(16:26):
She's also pushing the celestialgiant hungry world devouring
creature two blocks into like a teleporter.
Are you kidding me? She died.
But well, you know, that's one of the things it's like we were,
I think we we were always sayingmaybe in our own discussions of
like, oh, gosh, I hope there isn't a point like a very Jean
Grey moment where she uses her powers, but it's too much and
(16:49):
she faints, right. So we got that, but not
necessarily. I mean, she pushed so hard that
she died. That's a little different than
just like being like, oh, I'm sotired.
Now she didn't faint. No, she died.
She died. And and I think for Sue in this
movie, she she is both the literal mother, she's the
figurative mother, she is the mother of all of this.
(17:11):
And I think that it's just such a special thing in a superhero
movie to see a woman be so powerful and be able to take
charge of so many of the situations.
I just want to see Wanda sue andthrow Agatha in there too.
Like just these powerful mother doing their like back bendy like
ability. I would just love that they
(17:32):
would. Be amazing with our children.
Yeah. And then I mean, of course, we
can't not talk about the four without the other two.
Ben and Johnny. I loved both of them.
I thought Evan Moss Baccarat wasabsolutely made for this role.
Just perfect. Joseph Quinn as Johnny.
Very surprised. I knew I was going to like him.
I think he's attractive. Some people are just like, he's
(17:54):
like, yeah, it's not as hot as like Chris Evans, like, yeah,
but he's still like, good looking.
But I thought he brought this really cool, like almost like
Roth Hudson, like old school, like kind of, I don't know, just
yeah. And I I love that they gave him
AB plot of like, look, I am hot and yes, I go after women and I
(18:17):
get very distracted by that. But also I just want Reed and
Sue to see value in me and I want to be an integral part to
this team. The thing I was disappointed in
that it did feel like some of his stuff either got cut or like
I wasn't too sure about the Rachel Rosman stuff.
Like, it was fine because it's like, Oh yeah, he he's like
(18:39):
affectionate towards this woman and he's like has a feelings
towards her. But like, that didn't go
anywhere. So I'm almost curious if like
some of that stuff got cut. Other than that, I thought it
was great. Yeah, I, I really loved, I, I, I
thought Johnny had a stronger role in this movie then Ben did
personally. And I think it comes to those B
plot things, right? Johnny's B plot was very
(19:02):
important to them figuring out how to get Silver Surfer on
their side, whereas Bens thing was just this kind of random
flirtation. I almost wish we had a moment
where Ben went back to the school and brought cookies right
just to show like, oh, there's the button on that right.
So he he saw that it was flirtatious and now he's going
(19:25):
to act on it. Like we didn't really have to
see them go on a date. We didn't have to see them fall
in love. But just give me that moment of
him realizing that he's more than just the thing.
He could also still live a life where he could fall in love.
Yeah, as well. I'm also just curious of like
why Rachel and not like Alicia Masters, which is I love Natasha
Lyonne. I think they're great.
(19:45):
Very underutilized in this movie, but it's an interesting,
you know, why why choice. But I guess they had to give him
like something else to do to make it seem like he's a living,
breathing character in this world outside of the family,
which I do appreciate that they attempted to do that.
If I had to rank the four can. Can we do that real quick, just
like? What are we ranking them on?
(20:07):
Just your ability, no OK powers because Sue would be top.
Like that's not fair. Just like who you liked, who you
thought was like what worked foryou in the movie.
Going from like 1:00 to 4:00. One being best, 4 being least.
I would have to go sue Johnny Reed thing or Ben.
I don't know why I said all their names except for.
(20:28):
That's literally my ranking, andI thought you were going to be
so surprised that I put Reed under Johnny.
No. And like, I feel like, I mean,
they're all very close. It's just really like what they
were, how they were utilized in the movie.
I think it's the dimensions theywere given, right, Right.
I think that is really the levelof dimensions, because like you
were saying earlier, Reed didn'treally have an arc in this.
(20:51):
He was just kind of nervous about stuff and figuring stuff
out. Yeah, like I again, I think they
did such an amazing job at Pedrobringing this to life, the
writers, everything like that. There was just some things that
like make Reed read that weren'tpresent.
And I get that. It's like story wise, right.
And this is the beginning. We're getting like baby steps
(21:11):
towards like these characters being integrated into everything
else. But there was just those moments
where I was like, OK, like I getthat Rita smart.
I need to see how smart. I need to see some of those
things. Cause almost everything that was
figured out, granted it was great that his family helped him
figure it out, but he didn't come up with some of that stuff.
There was no like he's so engrossed into his own brain and
(21:33):
figuring out a problem that he creates his own problems.
So there was none of that. But I, I get that it's story
wise. So he would have been higher if
I just got some of those little tiny read things that I have
grown to. Very much love the character.
I was very curious because you know how in some movies when
there's math, they actually bring someone that's a
mathematician in to figure out the equations to make it all
(21:56):
make sense. When he figured out that they
only had 37 seconds to get Galactus into that portal, he
like wrote one equation and I was like, is that real?
That's. Tremendous.
It's just like I was like, what's the validity of that?
So any mathematicians out there who listen to the pod, please
let us know. I mean, he said it with
confidence and I believed him. Yeah, so and.
(22:16):
When he wrote 37 seconds, in my head, I went, Oh my God, only 37
seconds. It's because that's impossible.
It's because it's such a specific number.
Well, I loved it. It made me nervous as a viewer
of that's not a big window of time.
And I, I, I like that that mirrors in the beginning, you
know, when he's looking for thatiodine, Sue is in, you know, on
(22:37):
the toilet basically waiting forthe 12 seconds to go by for the
pregnancy test. So it's like, you know, he said
something like, that's a very specific time, and then he gives
them a very specific time later on.
I just mirrored read. Oh, I feel so special.
Didn't even realize it. OK, so characters, right, We got
those out of the way. Let's talk about kind of just
the broader story, right? Let's talk about just some of
(22:58):
the themes that they they put out here.
Let's talk about Galactus and Silver Surfer.
How did you feel about Franklin kind of being the central point
to this movie? I thought it was interesting.
You know, I always sometimes see, especially in long standing
shows and movies, when they throw a kid into it, it always
feels like almost like a Hail Mary to just throw something new
(23:21):
in there to save a plot. I mean, full House, Sailor Moon,
like those are always my examples of like there's just
kids for some reason. You.
Don't like Chippy Moon anyway, Go on.
OK, let's not start that, but I so that always kind of makes me
feel a little odd. But I think in this movie,
(23:42):
because he is literally introduced from the beginning,
it really does revolve around him.
So I thought that it all made sense.
You know, going forward, it's very interesting to see what
Franklin will be right, what he will he become because Galactus
was willing to not eat an entireplanet as long as he could have
(24:06):
Franklin. He says that I don't know if I
believe him. You think he'd still snack?
I think he'd still do a little, yeah.
I mean, who, who does he answer to?
You know, like I think the cool thing about Galactus and
involving Franklin, which I was honestly surprised there's a
storyline. I can't remember the writers off
the top of my head, but there's like a Earth X and this entire
storyline it turns, so it turns out that Franklin is Galactus.
(24:28):
Like that's one of the big reveals of that storyline.
And it was really interesting that they kind of took from that
and put it into this movie because this whole thing is
like, he would be the successor.I could finally stop his hunger
and he could be the successor. And that's kind of why he wants
Franklin, which I thought was really interesting for him to
do. In the comics, Franklin and
Galactus have an interesting relationship.
(24:49):
Like sometimes he'll go off to Galactus and talk to him because
they're both these beings and kind of just forces of nature.
Like Galactus, I believe is the director maybe kind of put it
perfectly. And he said like Galactus is
like a force of nature. He's like a hurricane, like he's
a villain, but it's like you don't vilify the hurricane,
right? It's just like it's a thing that
(25:10):
happens. So I thought that was really
interesting that they made that comparison and having Franklin,
who we know from in the comics is just, he's can do anything.
He he can create galaxies, he create anything.
He he literally there's a whole storyline where like he's a
mutant, but there was a storyline that found out like
(25:32):
he's not really a mutant. He actually made himself a
mutant because that's just what he felt like he belonged to and
everything. I think he's now a mutant still,
or maybe not. It's very confusing.
Who are you? Franklin, Right?
Having Franklin, going back to the original point, having
Franklin kind of be a central point, made sense from like a
comic book reader standpoint. The only thing I will say is
that there was some very, like, I don't know, just baby CGI
(25:55):
babies just don't ever look good.
It was just bumming me out a little bit, especially in the
third act when he revives Sue. I was like, yeah, this is like
Franklin Renesme. Like it's just, it's like
verging on that just a little bit.
I got the head shape right. Yeah, but there was like.
Moments where like the head was like moving weird.
I was like, I know that they do it so these infants can convey
(26:20):
emotion because infants don't normally do that.
I get it. But like we didn't need the baby
to be CGI most of the time. So that's like my biggest
complaint with Franklin is like,I'm cool with them involving
Franklin, just like use the realchild yet when sue.
Is laying there lifeless. Reed brings Franklin to her and
he goes, he's holding the baby and he goes to put Franklin on
(26:43):
her chest. And it looked like some sort of
weird blue computer bubble that he was just like placing on her
chest. That's when I noticed it most in
a lot of the facial expression things.
I was willing to let that go. I'm like, OK, you know, it's a
baby. Like you said, they can't convey
emotions. But that handling the baby, that
was, that was something. It was interesting.
To see like the baby look worse than the giant rock man.
(27:09):
Like that was odd to. Me, but you know, aside from
that I oh the beard, yeah, the beard looked great.
The beard is awesome. Yeah.
I I think having him be kind of one of the the driving forces.
So this was interesting because then you have, like, the
conflict with Reed, who is sees a lot of things as numbers and
equations and stuff, be confronted with his entire
family looking at him. Like, are you seriously
(27:31):
considered considering giving our child up to save the planet?
And I think it's an interesting problem for a group of heroes
like this, and especially a herolike Reed to confront.
Yeah, I mean this. Movie is the trolley problem.
Yeah, right. Are they willing to give up
their son to save all of humanity?
And obviously it's a difficult position, which we understand.
(27:53):
But I think that's really, again, where we see the
difference a lot of the time between Reed and Sue is, you
know, part of me almost wonders,is Reed, is he just a genius?
Is he a genius on the spectrum? Is because he's not able to
really. He's thinking that is one of the
options. He's not saying that's not the
option I want to do, but we haveto realize that that is an
(28:13):
option. Yeah, there's.
I would highly suggest people reading Ryan N's Fantastic Four.
He's the current writer on Fantastic Four and what the
fantastic thing is that Ryan hasdone for that character is
really show kind of his like autistic tendencies and kind of
putting that more on the forefront and being like, you
(28:35):
know, he he is on the spectrum to some degree.
And it's not necessarily a hindrance to him.
It's actually what also has helped him with his, you know,
brain and everything like that. So I like that they did include
you kind of get a little bit of a feeling of like, oh, like he
does view the world differently.He reacts to situations a little
(28:57):
differently. And I liked that they added that
in here because, again, Reed didn't get a lot of screen time.
And when he did, there's those kind of silent conversations
that Sue, knowing Reed so much, understood.
And it all came down to like, what are we going to do about
Franklin? And he doesn't.
He didn't want to say it out loud, but like, he can't help
but think it right. Yeah, I also felt.
(29:18):
Like I noticed that relationshipwhen they get back from get
finally getting away from Galactus and Silver Surfer and
they land and and she's holding Franklin because as Noah said,
she gives birth in space and he's kind of looking to her to
be like in my in when I'm watching him, it's almost I'm
going like, don't you want to dothis?
(29:38):
Don't you want to be the one that's on the microphone?
Because for him, they're going to ask him these questions and
he's going to tell them the answers point blank.
Well, but also like. Fuck them for like expecting
them to want to say something. After that I was like God let
them breathe. I know they just.
Got off the ship they're like, oh, here's a practice
conference, by the way. OK, hold on, let's.
Backtrack 'cause we were, I justnoticed that we're like left
(29:59):
Galactus and yeah, we've alreadytalked about the four.
We'll talk about them again. Well, I I think one of.
The themes of one of the things that I was thinking about is
just the the Silver Surfer and Galactus, right?
So Silver Surfer is in a really interesting position here
because I think that there is there's a blur of right and
wrong here, right? And so we learn a little bit
(30:21):
Silver Surfers background and basically to save her planet,
she becomes the Herald. But now she's just dooming all
the other planets. Yeah, she said something.
I can't remember if it was to Johnny or not.
There was like some like any time she was talking, there's
just so much spectacle happening.
I need to watch this movie againbecause I was just so amazed
with what was happening that like, I wasn't like, I guess
(30:44):
like downloading what she was saying into my brain, but I
believe she had said something of like, you know, when you've
done this for as long as I have,it gets easier.
And like, because that's like when Johnny was like, take me
instead, like I'll be the sacrifice.
And he's like, why are you doingthis?
And that's when she kind of tells him like she's kind of
lost her humanity. She's not a human, but she's
(31:04):
lost that. I I guess morality to her
because she's done it so much, but she still has that like
subconscious part of her where she heralds the world's, but she
heralds Galactus, but she warns these worlds of like tell your
loved ones, but you've always wanted to tell them, keep them
close. And this is a mercy that I'm
giving you. So that still seeps through for
her. But I it's so interesting.
(31:26):
It's interesting. Because it, it's almost like she
is, she made the same decision that we watched the Fantastic
Four make to save her one child or one world.
She's willing to kill millions of other beings, right?
And so she's been through it already.
She knows the decision, she knows what it's become.
(31:47):
And I really thought Julia Garner, I thought that she did
it very tenderly, you know, handled everything very
carefully, really having that, almost that, that back story,
that sadness, that numbness thatcomes with everything that she's
done. And I, I really love that
portrayal. Also, you know, not to mention
(32:09):
the surfing was awesome. I just want to.
Say that like, I have put this on social media already, but
like, I cannot stop thinking about their first, you know,
face to face with Galactus. And the entire sequence leading
up to them getting back to Earthwas probably the best thing that
has ever happened in a Marvel movie.
(32:31):
It is so incredibly well done. There's like an interesting love
letter to like Interstellar in there.
The chase sequence is absolutelyamazing.
But seeing Charleball surf on the lava, I guess it was I yes,
like, yes, surf in space, but surfing on lava, I'm like, it is
(32:52):
a surfboard. It is a surfboard.
It was, it was incredible. I mean, they literally they
honored the name Silver Surfer in this right?
And I even just loved how powerful she was when she just
would glide into their ship or into any place.
She just. But it was like gently.
It wasn't menacingly. It's like, I need to talk to
(33:13):
you. Well, she.
Yeah. She.
Barriers don't mean anything. Yeah, she's very much like and
well, this shows you what Galactus powers is like.
He gave her an an ounce of disabilities and what she can do
right. So like this is just a force
that's beyond comprehension and beyond, you know, even doors
(33:34):
like she can just go through things right.
I thought it was really cool. I think that they showcased her
ability and her formidity reallywell and Julie Gardner, she's
just so good. And it was it looked good in the
trailers. We I was kind of worried a
little bit like it kind of looks, it looks fine, but it
doesn't look as good as I hoped it would.
(33:56):
But the final product in the movie, seeing it on like IMX and
just seeing her like raise up out of the lava and then chasing
them through that wormhole, I was like, this looks absolutely
amazing. And I don't want to question why
she has makeup on because why not?
She wants to look. She wants to look good while
she's heralding the end of your life, you know, and even just
going back to the way it, it looked when Johnny, when she's
(34:18):
leaving Earth after she's delivered her message, when
Johnny flies up to her and and later on when he's trying to
explain to them what he saw, he's like, I saw stars.
I I saw myself. And it's like it was
mesmerizing, right? It was really mesmerizing.
I just have to mention though. The just Galactus as a whole,
Ralph Ennis voices and motion capture, I'm assuming of
(34:41):
Galactus it. I'm so happy we got a physical
version of Galactus, not Cloudactus, cloud Galactus,
whatever we want to call it fromRise of the Silver Surfer.
But I the just the first visual of his eyes glowing when they're
standing there and you get just the massive scale of Galactus.
You see him up there and you seeeven the Silver Surfer next to
(35:03):
him, just how tiny they are compared to him.
It was just it made me so happy.There's two moments in this
movie where I legit like had tears in my eyes.
It was it almost at the beginning, just the montage.
I was like, this is just so amazing.
I'm so happy about this. But it was the entire like
Galactus sequence. I was just like, holy shit.
(35:24):
And then the moment in where Sueand Reed have that conversation
and when she was like you being you hurts me.
I was like, that is so fucking cool that they included because
yeah, it's it's easy to make them seem like they love each
other the whole time, but how you make it relatable is you
have them have conflict within their relationship.
And I was like, y'all got Reed and Sue.
(35:45):
You got it. You got it so well, but I just I
just think that they they nailedso many visual aspects of this
and even just some of the themesof it, but I just can't get that
image of Galactus. Oh, it's just so good.
I think it's safe to say. That we really like the
relationship between Reed and Sue because we keep going back
to it. We could do.
We could. Literally do an entire episode
(36:05):
on Reed and Sue. You know 1.
Of the interesting things about Galactus was although he was
large and menacing, I actually didn't find him that scary.
What I personally found scary was impending death, that
tension that was running throughthe whole film of how much they
were trying, but they couldn't stop him.
What his? Arrival was going to bring is
(36:27):
what scared me the most. You know, he he said something
where he's like, I just have like this unending insatiable
hunger and I was like, been there, done that.
But he really is like almost a static figure that represents
the end did was there. For Galactus, because I had, I
had some interesting feelings about this, but I just want to
(36:47):
put this out there. Did you feel like he worked
better in space? Kind of sitting there like on
the thing, but. Also worked.
When he was on the ground, like walking through New York, Like
did both of those work for you or would you have preferred like
kind of not him being physicallyon the ground, I think.
I personally think he worked better in space.
(37:07):
Yeah. Because I think when he came to
Earth, that portion of the film wasn't very long.
It was handled fairly quickly, and it was very much a kind of
like a Godzilla moment, a Kaiju moment.
But it didn't wreak that much havoc.
Yeah. I mean.
I think they were smart with getting Molemen on their side
(37:29):
and letting people go down to Subterranea, which also I just
wish he was in it more. Like just so good, so funny
scene stealer. But yeah, I think I liked seeing
him physically walk through it because I think it, it gave
scale and it gave like literal weight to like what he can do
physically, right? But also like there were some
(37:51):
weird, like kind of not tender moments, but interesting moments
of like, does this guy ever leave his seat up there?
Because he he drops down and oneof the first things he does is
he sees the Statue of Liberty and kind of like looks at it and
then keeps walking. Like he's never seen something
like that where like he's just taking it in right and like he
gets to gets to the coast and hepicks up this the ground and he
(38:13):
like kind of sniffs it and then he keeps walking.
So he's almost like a a like baby legs.
He's just like, wow, what is allthis place?
Oh, wait, I have a thing to do. So it was interesting.
I think it worked, but it also, again, to your point, it did it
was handled pretty quickly. The third act.
While it had some. Amazing moments, I think was the
weaker portion of the movie. Yeah, I and.
(38:35):
I was just like, I'm trying to just wrap my head around the
scale of Galactus, who seemed sohuge in space and then like, was
big on Earth, but not as big as I thought he was.
Yeah, the scaling was. A little interesting.
I think they just had to do it for like, how are we going to be
able to see our heroes dealing with something this big, but
(38:55):
also make it manageable because there's just four of them,
right? Like, they're going to have to
be able to, like, interact with them.
Yeah, I mean speaking. Of that third act and act and
just the action in general. It felt like an action light
Marvel film. I again, obviously really
enjoyed it, but it felt like there was the montage in the
beginning, there was the spaceship part and then there
(39:18):
was the final act did that. Do you think for most audiences
that's not going to be enough Action I.
No, I mean, I think. Some people are going to
question why there isn't as muchaction because again, this is a
comic book movie. The unfortunate thing with that
and people thinking that is like, not, not every comic book
(39:38):
and not every set of characters is The Avengers.
The Avengers literally are always going to have action
because that's the point of all of them getting together.
Something is going to end the universe and the world, whatever
it is. So the Fantastic Four have never
really been that. They've never been action first.
They've always been figuring things out either
(39:59):
diplomatically, scientifically, whatever.
So I enjoyed it. I didn't think that there wasn't
that much action because I just,I wasn't expecting that.
I think they balanced it well. Do I wish that like they didn't
necessarily have that like fightwith Galactus at the end?
I don't know because I don't know what the end of.
The conflict would have. Been, but I think they had to
(40:21):
add something like that in there.
It's kind of one of those things.
It's like, oh, of course it endswith like a ACGI fight.
You know, I think we needed that.
Though personally, not that I'm saying that it lacked action,
but we needed that big final. Yeah, yeah, I was.
Just surprised that like that was what it LED up to and then
it was handled relatively quickly.
But I can't deny it. Like that scene Sue stole the
(40:42):
show with pushing Galactus and then also with Silver Surfer
coming in and pushing Johnny outof the way.
Amazing, great, fantastic. I I do think we will see them
again. I hope so, because they.
Didn't necessarily kill them or destroy them, they just sent
them somewhere. Well, you can't.
I don't. I mean, I'm assuming this is
inferred, but you can't you you shouldn't kill Colectus because
(41:03):
he's part of an integral balanceof the universe.
You can't kill him. So like he has to be around, he
has to do what he does. But like the whole thing is like
trying to evade him or trying topersuade him or whatever.
Is there ever a time where? Galactus is like more level
headed about it. Depends on the writer.
Yeah, I mean, a lot of times he's like kind of like left the
world alone because he gets thwarted every time and stuff
(41:26):
like that. But yeah, it it depends.
Most of the time he's like this.He got that one little sniff.
Of Earth. And now he he's got the taste he
wants. Franklin.
Yeah, he wants Franklin. Yeah.
Yeah. So I mean, I think, I think
antagonist wise, I think they did such a good job.
OK, so kind of wrapping it up, right?
There's so much we could talk about, right?
(41:46):
I, I am so surprised that Earth 828 still exists.
I am so surprised because now I have no idea how the Fantastic
Four are going to get to our timeline we've been in because
I, I think myself and quite a few people we've mentioned this
on the podcast before. I think we all assumed that like
(42:09):
that world would die and that's how our Fantastic Four come into
secret Wars or in Doomsday, right?
So now seeing that like the Earth still is around, how does
it connect to the end credits scene on Thunderbolts?
Where'd they see the Fantastic Four ship coming towards Earth?
So I it's very interesting like that doesn't connect and I'm
(42:31):
curious of why they made that choice and.
You know, again, huge spoilers. The after credits scene, one of
them is that Doctor Doom appearsin the Fantastic Four's living
room, right, with an older Franklin.
I think it's four years later. And so I think we're led to
believe that that's the Robert Downey Junior Doctor Doom.
(42:52):
I don't think it's. Actually, Robert Downey Junior,
hence why we didn't like see hisface right, but it's
representing. Him.
No. Yeah, yeah.
Maybe that's what I'm wondering.Is it another?
How many Doctor Dooms can will there be in Doomsday?
I mean, is that a thing? Multiple Dooms?
Well, I don't know. Well, I mean, we're dealing with
the multiverse, right? I who's to say that this doom is
(43:12):
from their Earth or from anotherEarth?
Why does he want Franklin? How does he know about Franklin
'cause he's popular, right? Well, the, the four year jump is
interesting. I think like they want to age up
this kid, which is fine, but it does seem like that we're not
getting Valeria. Like it's just going to like
Franklin's just going to be the kid, at least for a while.
(43:32):
So that's that's going to be interesting to see that like
it's just going to be, does she have powers?
Nope, she's just insanely. Smart.
She's like up there with like Rhode Island, Rhode Island.
And I mean, she's she rivals Reed sometimes.
It's it's really funny. In the comics, Doom and and her
have a really close relationship.
It's really interesting. Yeah, Yeah, that's wild.
(43:54):
Fantastic. I love it yeah, but I think
yeah, I the where it left is interesting.
I'm very curious to see how it'sgoing to connect to doomsday.
Obviously she's he shows up in their living room.
I I did think like the the cloakand the mask looked a little.
Bad but. Like you said last minute.
(44:17):
Costume department, they're like, whatever, yeah, I mean, I
just. Don't want to be like blindly be
like excited about it, right? I think, like, part of what we
do is like critique and like, you know, talk about it.
While I am excited that just seeing Franklin and Doom
interact with each other, I was like, that was like, I don't
know if we needed that. Do you think they're smashing?
Franklin and Valeria Valeria like together maybe?
(44:41):
I so then that would. Bum me out.
That would really bum me out, tobe honest, because I think you
need both just, I mean, just from a perspective of that.
But you could like, if Doom and Franklin are going to have that
relationship, then we're not getting her.
Like, there's just, we're going to get her.
That's a bummer, yeah. Which is sad, but I'm.
Excited to see Franklin come into his God like self.
(45:02):
And if we're going to get the conflict of like Reed putting
inhibitors on him and that's going to create a whole thing,
yeah, let me be who I want. To be father, yeah.
So any OK? Final thoughts Final thoughts
for Fantastic Four. First steps, give them Oh.
I thought overall it was a very strong movie.
I think that it hit a lot of themes well.
(45:23):
I loved the look of it. I loved the styling in the
costumes. I was all in for this retro 60
look. I think I'm just the question
mark is how the heck does this? Come together.
I I. Really appreciated the the look
of it, the aesthetic, like, I don't necessarily know like
(45:44):
story wise, if it mattered really, but I like that like in
the 60s, they thought this is what the future would look like,
so they just put it in the 60s. I I think that was really clever
and like these are the heroes ofthat time, right?
So I don't know, I just I love that I think final thoughts.
I couldn't be happier, honestly,like I know I had some like
these are things that I wish we would have gotten right.
Like I've thought about this kind of movie for such a long
(46:07):
time that I'm like they came so incredibly close to this being
perfect that like I'm amazed at like what we got because it
could have easily went S but I know I I hope that it's they
they're handled with care with the Russo brothers and when
we're going to see them in the next two adventures movies.
So I'm very excited, but like, oh, please do him justice.
(46:30):
Yeah, it was. It was definitely a strong first
step, yeah, I think. Seeing them interact with
everybody is going to be wild. Yeah, it's going to be fun.
And are they going? To be like, what the heck is a
computer? You know, kind of, I mean, I
almost. Think that like maybe it's going
to be like a Carol Danvers situation where like she kind of
came in like as this unknown person to The Avengers during
(46:51):
like Infinity War and end game. So I'm curious if that's going
to be a simpler thing that happens where they show up and
they're like, look, this is what's going on 'cause they know
Doom and they're going to be like, what?
Who are you and why are you wearing blue uniforms?
You know? So it's going to be, oh, it's
going to be fun. I just wish list right now.
I just cannot wait for Jen Walters and Ben Grimm to
(47:16):
interact with each other. I can't wait for Johnny Storm
and Spider Man to interact together.
Those are friendships that I just love so much.
The buds, they need their. Buds.
And then, of course, no more. With Sue, that's right.
OK, correct me if I'm wrong. Noah looks like Johnny Storm,
but is Reed I look like thing but M Sue.
(47:38):
Oh yeah, it's kind of. Yeah, similar, right.
There was something that you didsay we're driving back home from
the movies and you said, you know what, I understand you more
after seeing that movie. And I was like, what?
Why? And you're like, because of how
Reed acts. And I was like, oh shit, I'm
found out like damn it. But I mean, he was a very
integral part to me growing up. So I guess I just wanted to
(48:01):
become Reed. Well, you did it.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't know if that's
good or not. Turn on Galactus.
OK, Yeah. Yeah, you.
Want. To see it close up, look at
that. Yeah, it's so big.
Oh my God, when you. Hold it like, 'cause the
perspective, it makes it look small back there, but when you
hold it, it's huge. That's incredible.
(48:23):
It's so good. I was so happy.
I didn't want to get it. And then my birthday's coming
up. It was in the middle of the
movie. Derek leaves and comes back with
it. And I was, I almost cried.
I was like, how dare you gave itto me?
You have to see the picture. Of him holding it when we're
walking back to the car. It's adorable.
This is probably our longest. Episode we've had in a while,
but how fitting by the way, I I'm.
(48:45):
So sad we didn't do him service.Herbie is just incredible.
He's so cute, he's so helpful. I love him.
He survives. It's fantastic.
I didn't mention. Michael Gugino's score, I think
that was one of the first thingsthat I said after the movie.
I said that score is absolutely masterful.
It is so insane how good that score is.
(49:08):
There is a. Song.
What is the name of that song? Herbie's Lullaby.
No, no, no. The one that's like let us be
devoured or something like that.That's what it's called.
They made it for the movie. Oh my God, I was.
Like no, that's bad. I'm sure there.
Is like, there's so many things that we didn't talk about.
There's so much in this to discuss.
Like let us know what your favorite part was.
Let us know what we didn't mention that you really loved
(49:28):
Lynn. We love Lynn.
Lynn is like kind of like their publicist.
Oh right, she's or. Like therapist.
Or whatever therapist from Ted Lasso T.
She was so good. OK, we have to go.
Tell us what you think. Goodbye.
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