We’re so back

OK. So, that title is a little misleading. I just kinda needed something that relates to the content, but it’s not actually about regularly writing here. That would be great, but I haven’t written anything since the start of the Pandemic and that was 5 years ago. Let’s be real, people.

We’re so back

(editor’s note: There is no editor. This is literally a first draft, stream-of-consciousness writing about the MCU. If there are errors and inconsistencies, that is why. Sue me.)

What this title is in reference to is the Marvel cinematic universe. The MCU has gotten a lot of what I consider to be unfair criticism over the last 5-or-so years. That doesn’t mean that everything that came out was great, but there were a lot of really good, enjoyable pieces during the Multiverse Saga. THERE ARE GOING TO BE SPOILERS EVERYWHERE ABOUT RECENT MARVEL PRODUCTIONS INCLUDING THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED.

I feel as though the Multiverse Saga is a little more intellectual than action-oriented and for a large part of the audience that wasn’t what they wanted. Add in the way of society now – engagement farming, ragebaiting, etc., and it makes a lot of sense. Negative reviews, Cinema Sins, general podcast culture, everything involved – it all points to negativity driving engagement and engagement brings in money.

Then you add in that Disney has dared to showcase a slightly more multicultural cast and, Heaven help us, a few female-led vehicles and the incel, neckbeard, losers got immediately outraged about something being woke. Ergo, Disney is busted. Marvel is washed.

The internet isn’t reality, but it can influence opinions. And boy did it ever over the last few years. You know what was a really, really enjoyable MCU film that got absolutely shat upon even before it came out? As in, literally got review-bombed to say it sucked before release? The Marvels. Was The Marvels perfect? No. It had some cringey stuff and tried too hard at times, but it was also incredibly fun with three really strong leads in Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel), Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel), and Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau/Photon). Brie Larson has been the object of losers on the internet for years. Iman Vellani is Pakistani. Teyonah Parris is African American. I wonder what they all have in common (and what two of the three have in common)?

Marvel fandom, post-Endgame, has become just about as toxic as Star Wars fandom. At times, I have been woefully ashamed of being a fan of both IPs. Hell, even before Endgame, it was well known that former Marvel head honcho Ike Perlmutter didn’t want to make Captain Marvel or Black Panther because he didn’t think anyone wanted to see a woman or an African-American lead (and, of course, Rest in Power to the legend, Chadwick Boseman).

I am a forty-year-old white man. I desperately want more films written, directed, produced by, and starring women, minority populations (ethnically as well as LGBTQIA+), and anyone with a voice who has not been regularly heard or seen over the last, oh, couple hundred years. Just because I am a middle-aged white man doesn’t mean the entire world has to be middle-aged white men. For frickin’ sake, we’re talking about Space Mutants and their Happy Associates. Now all the losers and dorks are coming after me for my takes. Get bent. I’d call all y’all worthless piles of shit, but I think more highly of my shit than I do you bums.

Back to the point – the Multiverse Saga.

It hasn’t been perfect. Quantumania? Not great, Bob. Fun? Sure. Not a great film. Certainly not one I was longing to see again. Thor: Love and Thunder? It was fine. It was fun. I haven’t had an urge to re-watch it. I especially feel it was a waste of a talent like Christian Bale on Gorr the God Butcher (an excellent character that deserved more and better).

And then there’s Marvel TV. I, personally, have been a huge fan of most of the shows. Even the weakest show, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (again, my opinion), was better than originally viewed when I recently re-watched it. Most recently, we got to experience Ironheart. What an incredible program that got, effectively, no build and no love, but, possibly, could be one of the most important things to come from the MCU.

All that being said – we cannot ignore the absolute GOATs of Marvel TV: WandaVision and Loki (both seasons). Those aren’t simply great Marvel shows, they are fantastic programs. I would also include Agatha All Along, but we need to see what additional payoff there is from the series, but it was fantastic (especially if you are a fan of musicals).

Why have I enjoyed the Multiverse Saga more than the average bear? Well, I feel there are a few reasons. The first is that I’m not a bigoted shithead. The second is that I’m also not a moron (see point one). The third? Because I realize that the world exists and that collectively between the global Pandemic (more on how that influenced Falcon and the Winter Soldier shortly) and then the WGA and SAG strikes, lots of things had their productions GREATLY affected. When you (the editorial you) remember how different things were from 2020-2022 (and beyond), you take into account that maybe film and television weren’t all they could have been because of those external factors. For better or worse (mostly worse), we have collectively developed amnesia about the Pandemic AND have gone back to life pre-Covid and film and television was simply lagging behind because those are major endeavors and take time to write, direct, star in, produce, edit, etc.

Consider The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Made during the worst of the Pandemic. Hot off the heels of Endgame and Captain America, Steve Rogers, returning the stones, living his life with Peggy, and bequeathing the shield to Falcon (Anthony Mackie’s character Sam Wilson, a little too on-the-nose referred to as Uncle Sam in Falcon and the Winter Soldier), the Pandemic hits. Now you have a story where the entire B-plot (and what may even have been the original A-plot) revolved around people returning from The Blip and there’s a worldwide Pandemic and people dying across the globe and shortage of medicine and supplies and people being treated as refugees in their own homes…

Yeah.

They didn’t want to do that story while people’s Meemaws and Peepaws were dying alone in hospitals and nursing homes, while Cousin Jimmy and Uncle Elroy were on ventilators, and people were wearing latex gloves and washing their boxes of cereal because we knew very little about Covid-19. It’s almost like the real world had a profound effect on the media we consumed. I have no doubt had the original scripts and plans for Falcon gone through without a global pandemic actually happening, it would have been a bomb ass show.

So, I have really enjoyed the Multiverse Saga and especially enjoyed WandaVision and Loki. In WandaVision, we dealt with real human feelings and Elizabeth Olsen is a hell of an actress. Her depth of character dealing with grief and loss is so profoundly universal that it makes the show re-watchable on many levels. From a narrative standpoint, it also gave us the first Omega-level mutant in The Scarlet Witch. And the teaser at the end, which set up the good-but-not-great Multiverse of Madness (which I enjoyed as a Sam Raimi film, less so as a Marvel film), really established the true idea of there being a Multiverse.

Likewise, Loki wasn’t as “enjoyable” of a series, but I do feel it was a better, and I daresay masterfully, written story. From Loki’s arc of being a villain of chaos to his eventual “sacrifice” to create the Tree of Life, it was a stroke of genius.

And that’s where we hit the other speedbump in the Multiverse Saga.

Jonathan Majors.

What an absolute disappointment he turned out to be. Not because of his talent. My God is that man talented. And not because of the writing. The material was good. He, himself, turned out to be a disappointment. With his conviction of misdemeanor assault and harassment, Disney had to part ways with him.

Let’s establish that domestic violence is never acceptable and his cancelation was justified. What I am about to say pertains to what his loss meant for Marvel and Disney. Majors’ portrayal of He Who Remains, Kang the Conqueror, and Victor Timely were top tier. And those characters were all integral to The Multiverse Saga. And what is our ultimate payoff for all those hours of building?

Owen Wilson’s character of Mobius M. Mobius saying in an off-hand comment at the end of Loki Season 2 that a He Who Remains variant in “616-adjacent realm” had caused a stir, but it was handled.

Done. Dusted.

Time to start over. Again.

And now we have the real big bad of Marvel – Victor von Doom. And how did Marvel handle that? Well, we don’t know yet. We know Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU as the famed masked villain. We know The Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has become Avengers: Doomsday. We know at the reveal of Dr. Doom that RDJ said “New mask, same task.” We can only speculate what that means (I assume it to be a continuation of putting a suit of armor around the Earth, as Doom, the liberator of Latveria, feels he is the only person capable of such a feat).

So why did I say, about 1500 words ago, that “we’re so back?”

Because The Fantastic Four have arrived.

As of this writing on the evening of July 24, 2025, I have just come from an IMAX screening of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. I desperately want to see it again to really appreciate all the details I missed the first time while just enjoying the show.

I am going to discuss plot details AND SPOILERS ARE AHEAD. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE, TURN BACK NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a masterpiece that truly must be seen not only because it is a visual feast, but also because it is a true stepping off point for a new age of the MCU. The subtitle of “First Steps” was not just a tongue-in-cheek joke about baby Franklin Richards. It truly was more of a beginning than anything.

The story is set in the universe of Earth 828 (a nod to the birthday of F4 creator Jack Kirby’s birthday). It is set four years after the incident which turned Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Sue and Johnny Storm into Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, The Invisible Woman, and the Human Torch (respectively). We didn’t need a long backstory and how they came to be. They just were. The film begins with the revelation by Sue that she is pregnant after two years of unsuccessful attempts. Reed Richards, the smartest man in the universe, is woefully unprepared for such a task. He can (and does) perfect teleportation. He confirms the existence of parallel universes (to an audience of bored children). Yet he can’t grasp fatherhood.

Johnny Storm even jokes that Reed is out of his depth with this one aspect of life. And here is where some disconnect may exist for some. I do not have any children, but a lot of friends and extended family have had kids. I know, in a conceptual sense, what life is like for new parents. And that is where so much of the film’s heart lives. The montage and supercut of Reed approaching fatherhood from a hyper-rational perspective was funny. Seeing all of the babyproofing of the Baxter Building was really lighthearted and fun and also massively relatable for people. Pedro Pascal as a bumbling doofus in this one aspect of life is perfection, because his Reed Richards, while not what I would have chosen initially, is perfect. But if we really want to talk about perfect, let’s acknowledge the pure energy and love that Vanessa Kirby put into her role as Sue Storm. Her performance is pitch-perfect at every turn making you feel genuinely worried about the stakes of their adventure. You feel that Franklin really is HER child, not just a baby in a movie.

And that brings us to the climax of the film. Again, SPOILERS

The Fantastic Four’s plan to teleport Galactus to another place millions and millions of light years away to be left without his ship is at a critical moment. Galactus has seen through their plans. He has taken baby Franklin. And this is the moment that we see Sue Storm’s true power isn’t just her force field. Her true power is that of a mother’s love. She uses every ounce of her strength to push Galactus into the transporter that it literally takes her life. Despite Reed’s attempts at CPR, Sue Storm has died.

Until.

Until baby Franklin reaches out for his mother. And he is laid upon her still breast. Then with the Power Cosmic, he alters reality and returns Sue Storm to life. As we have seen countless times in comics – nobody stays dead forever. But now Franklin has shown just a soupcon of his power. He’s a literal baby and he was able to bring his mother back from the dead.

Of course, Franklin is another Omega-level Mutant who has the ability to bend, warp, and change reality. Think Wanda Maximoff on steroids. All the steroids. In the multiverse. In a baby.

And where does it lead all of us?

To Doctor Victor von Doom.

The first credits teaser features Sue reading a book (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) to now 4-year-old Franklin (we jumped ahead in time). She finished the book and went to get him a new one. There’s a joke about how they read Darwin’s On The Origin of Species yesterday. Then there’s a sound. A familiar sound. Like a timedoor opening in Loki (or Deadpool & Wolverine). Sue returns to the living area only to find that Franklin is reaching out to an unknown person. An unknown person in a green cloak and hood with a metal mask in his hand. Dr. Doom has arrived in the MCU.

But remember – all of this story takes place on Earth 828. How does this all connect? Do not forget about the credits scene from The Thunderbolts (which was also an excellent film) which featured an extra-dimensional object arriving within their universe – the Excelsior ship bearing the mark of the Fantastic Four. We are now on a collision course, or, dare I say, an incursion between universes.

Fantastic Four: First Steps was not just “the next Marvel movie.” It was the start of the new age of Marvel. Yes, we still get to experience some of our old friends, like Thor and Loki, but we have a new cast of characters and an exciting universe to build. We will have to say goodbye to some but, like Sue Storm, nobody stays dead forever. And that is where we are all headed with Doomsday and Secret Wars.

Franklin Richards is the catalyst to finish the multiverse saga and will re-create reality at the conclusion of Secret Wars, allowing for dead characters to return, fresh faces to take the places of beloved characters, and usher in all new friends and foes alike. And none of that would be possible without the genius of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps, at its heart, is a film about family. How important family can be. How nobody is ever ready to be a parent. How nobody is ever ready to face difficulties, but our family is there to pick us up. How family doesn’t just mean blood and shared genetics, but who we choose to put into our lives, be they friends, religious affiliations, or just passersby on the street. Vanessa Kirby’s heart can be seen in Sue Storm’s actions. Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm is everyone lovable-most-of-the-time Uncle. Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm is subtle with his isolation, loneliness, and sorrow. Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards is believable, honest, and awkward enough to be vulnerable. And that doesn’t even get into the subdued-yet-powerful performance of Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal, the Silver Surfer, or the terrifying portrayal of Galactus by the deep, deep, deep-voiced Ralph Ineson.

It’s not a perfect film, but I didn’t expect it to be. A few characters felt a little underdeveloped, such as Natasha Lyonne’s character, but with rewrites and changes being made late in development, that tends to happen. There were a few instances where the CGI was a little obvious, but, again, it didn’t ruin anything. And there will be neckbeards on Reddit and 4chan claiming that Marvel is washed because of one scene or another. The clown from The New York Post (yes, that rag) gave the film 1.5 stars, called it forgettable, and compared Galactus to Megatron. Sometimes it’s important to remember that people will often be negative about something because it generates engagement, not because something is actually bad. Here I am, talking about this dork and his negative review.

Maybe you will see the movie and hate it. There are some that I’ve hated that others have loved. “Wedding Crashers” is one of them. We are allowed to have our own opinions, even that clown from The Post. I absolutely adored this film and cannot wait to see it again. I hope you feel likewise, but what’s family for if we can’t disagree?