‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Outscores ‘Thunderbolts*’ to Become This Year’s Top-Rated Comic Book Movie

The new movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps has already hit theaters in some countries, and the early reviews are very positive.

Right now, it holds an 89% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, based on over 174 reviews. The critics agree that the film benefits from a strong cast and a cool 1960s style, saying it “does Marvel’s First Family justice.”

This score puts Fantastic Four: First Steps just ahead of Thunderbolts*, which currently has an 88% approval rating. Among other comic book movies this year, Superman comes in third with 84%, while Captain America: Brave New World is much lower at 46%.

Even though Thunderbolts* got good reviews, it didn’t perform well at the box office. By mid-July 2025, it had made around $382 million worldwide, which is low for a Marvel movie. According to reports, the film needed to earn $425 million globally just to break even.

Marvel’s head, Kevin Feige, said part of the problem was that people thought they had to watch a lot of other Marvel content to understand Thunderbolts*, which wasn’t true. He explained that this confusion hurt the movie’s ticket sales.

Overall, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is getting strong praise and is now the highest-rated comic book movie of the year on Rotten Tomatoes.

‘First Steps’ is directed by Matt Shakman and written by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer.

The main actors are Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn. Other actors include Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, and Ralph Ineson, who plays the villain Galactus. In the movie, the Fantastic Four must protect their 1960s-style world from Galactus, a giant cosmic threat.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps had its first show in Los Angeles on July 21, 2025, and will be released in the U.S. on July 25. It is the first movie in Marvel’s Phase Six and got mostly good reviews. A sequel is already being planned.

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