Summary
Marvel Studios' latest film,Thunderbolts*, was a massive success, but the upcoming one isn’t as promising, according to an insider. An entertainment scooper shared the reaction they heard from a source who had the privilege of attending the test screening forThe Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Marvelspoiled their fans this year by delivering three films.Captain America: Brave New Worldwas released in February and while it received a mixed reception from critics, it was a commercial success. Its second film,Thunderbolts*, was a massive hit. It dominated the box office with $76 million on its July 03, 2025, opening weekend. It wasn’t surprising because even before its release, there werepositive talks about the film following its test screenings. There were high expectations for the upcomingFantastic Fourreboot, but the early test screening reactions did not align with the hype.
The test screening was set in Los Angeles,Murphy’s Multiversereported. The outlet noted that based on the unified responses, theFantastic Four: First Stepswas fortnight and similar to the story from the comics. Additionally, Ralph Ineson’sGalactus, the big bad in the film, is reportedly “terrifying.” The outlet quoted one of the viewers, who found the plot “Lovecraftian” with a “cosmic horror angle,” giving it “a lot of personality.” However, just like Sneider’s source, Murphy’s Multiverse also acknowledged that the film wasn’t perfect, noting its “lack of character development.” It didn’t reportedly take advantage of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic’s (Pedro Pascal) power, as well as Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm/The Thing.
The reaction toThe Fantastic Four: First Steps' test screening was disappointing because many expected it to be as cool and great asThunderbolts*. However, that’s the good thing about test screenings; they will help Marvel spot the film’s weak spots and gauge audience reaction. Marvel usually responds to test screenings, so they will likely address some criticisms against the movie. As Sneider said, they will fix the poor CGI in June and that’s possible. However,fixing CGIcould take weeks or even months, and there are only eight weeks until the film is released. Marvel Studios can likely fix the bad CGI by reworking the visuals, improving the integration with real footage for a smooth transition, and editing the flawed scenes. However, it’s nearly impossible for them to rewrite the story and address the issue of the lack of character development because that will be a major rework of the script. They might be able to work on that if they delay the film, which is unlikely to happen but possible. It all depends now on Marvel’s decision after the initial reactions toFantastic Four’s test screening.
The Fantastic Four: First Stepswill hit theaters on Jul 28, 2025.
