The Couch Critics
The Couch Critics is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan, along with a rotating door of eclectic co-hosts, dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critics bring thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan and friends guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critics
Family Bonds and Cosmic Powers: The Fantastic Four's Triumphant Return
After twenty years of misfires and disappointments, Marvel has finally done right by the First Family of comics. "Fantastic Four: First Steps" gives us something refreshingly different – a superhero team that's already comfortable with their powers, already working together as a cohesive unit, and already putting family bonds at the center of everything they do.
The podcast crew dives into what makes this adaptation succeed where others failed. From the retrofuturistic aesthetic to the perfect casting choices (Pedro Pascal's vulnerable yet brilliant Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby's powerhouse Sue Storm), the film captures the essence of what the Fantastic Four should be. We explore how skipping yet another origin story allows the movie to focus on character development and cosmic threats, particularly through the introduction of Franklin Richards – Reed and Sue's unborn child who becomes central to Galactus's plans.
Our hosts compare this version with previous Fantastic Four films, particularly the much-maligned 2015 "FanFourStick" and the campy 2005/2007 iterations. The conversation highlights how this version finally gets the family dynamic right – showing the team's bickering as authentic rather than forced, their powers as complementary rather than conflicting, and their mission as unified rather than fractured.
The discussion covers key moments that showcase each character's abilities, from Johnny Storm absorbing fire from a burning building to Sue's climactic confrontation with Galactus. We also explore the significant Easter eggs and post-credit scenes that connect to the broader MCU, including Robert Downey Jr.'s surprise appearance as Doctor Doom and the setup for Secret Wars.
Whether you're a longtime Fantastic Four fan disappointed by previous adaptations or a casual viewer curious about Marvel's latest offering, our breakdown gives you everything you need to understand why this film has successfully rehabilitated the franchise after years of cinematic disappointments.
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The weekend's here. It's time to unwind. Grab your snacks, leave the week behind. Blockbusters classics, they're all on the way. Let's kick it off with Cinema Saturdays.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, welcome to a brand new episode of the Couch Critic. This is Cinema Saturday and it is a special one because we are talking about one of the most highly anticipated movies of the summer. Taj already gave the intro, so I'm not going to try to sing it again. He did it perfectly. Gave the intro, so I'm not gonna try to sing it again. He did it perfectly. We're talking about fantastic four. But he didn't say the full title the first steps, or first steps so fantastic for the first steps, or fantastic for first step, I don't know.
Speaker 2:So that's what we're talking about today, and it is just number 11 million of the marvel cinematic universe, and before we can talk about what we thought about it, we have to go over the synopsis.
Speaker 3:Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond. The Fantastic Four must defend Earth from a ravenous space. God called Galactus and his enigmatic herald, silver Surfer, silver Surfer, silver Surfer, silver.
Speaker 2:Surfer, silver Surfer, silver Surfer, silver Surfer. Fantastic Four First Steps stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, mr Fantastic, vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, invisible Woman. Iban Mas Bakrak don't know if I said his name right as Ben Grimm the Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny.
Speaker 3:Storm slash Human Torch.
Speaker 2:So this is a comic book family that has had multiple iterations, both in animation, live action. So let's, before we talk about this movie, let's talk about our thoughts of the 2005 I believe 2005 to 2007 first and sequel. So have we seen those before?
Speaker 4:Yes, I just watched them right before. We watched First Steps again for the first time in a while.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Also, I realized that I didn't introduce everyone who's here. I did say Todd's name, so before we talk about even those things, let's introduce ourselves. Hi, I'm Nathan and this is.
Speaker 6:This is Mitch.
Speaker 2:Okay, and we also have Lexi, lexi and last but certainly not least, the person who gave us our little intro is Taj Yay. So yeah, 2005, 2007, we had Fantastic Four, and then we had Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer. Lexi already gave her a sweet review of those movies. She thought they were trash. I re-watched the first one. I did not re-watch the sequel. I re-watched the first one just to remind myself of how much I didn't like it, because and here's why I didn't like it I understand it's a comic book movie. I get it, I. I think I liked it a little more this time I watched it than I think the first time I did. It was just, it was too corny for me. They just tried. I think they tried too hard.
Speaker 6:It's very campy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and visually I think it's aged kind of well. I mean, obviously some of the Mr Fantastic stretchy stuff look kind of weird now. But, mitch, what did you think of 2005, 2007 movies.
Speaker 6:It holds 2005 holds some nostalgia for me. I've always been a big fan of Doctor Doom. Doctor Doom is my favorite Marvel character in general. I would reach over and grab. I have an action figure actually sitting over there. I love Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom. I think he is my saving grace of the whole film.
Speaker 3:I love him in that role may he rest and sadly die, yeah, recently but no, I I think that it it's.
Speaker 6:It was all about like them infighting, and I feel like both movies were that way. Rise of the silver surfer was that way too. It was like they were never like in sync with each other. They they played on that a lot and I agree it. It was the early 2000s, so it there was a lot of camp in superhero movies at the time and I just it wasn't really well received that I. I also like chikla as um as the thing. Yeah, I mean he, he played it incredibly well well and it came out.
Speaker 2:it came out around the big boom of comic book movies. They had Spider-Man, they had Batman. I believe the first Batman movie came out around that time too, Batman Begins. I mean not the very first Batman.
Speaker 5:Same summer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they were surrounded by all these comic book movies, so it kind of got lost. I think it got kind of pushed back a little bit because, yes, everyone knows fantastic four, but spider-man and batman are slightly more important. Taj, what did you think of the 2005-2007 fantastic four movies?
Speaker 4:oh, I love them and I part of the reason and I figured part of that was just like rose colored glasses, because I was like a child when I watched them, and so that was part of the reason I wanted to to watch them again, just to to kind of reestablish my memory, and also because of my attachment to those movies versus today, because when this cast for this one was initially released I was like, aesthetically I much prefer the first one as far as casting. But going back and watching them I was like, oh no, this pretty much more or less holds up. I my issues with those in retrospect are things like freaking.
Speaker 4:I felt like Invisible Woman getting a nosebleed every damn time that she used her powers. That pissed me off because, like Jesus, why are you like? And I'll give you the first movie, because they just got their powers. But it felt like also in the second movie, every single time she used her power she got a nosebleed. It's like, damn, I, I get some of it, but my gosh, I feel like you can't use your powers about being invisible. But, like, I love the idea of thing being prosthetics as opposed to cgi, because it just it is less work for cgi, and also because it's practical. It pretty much, for me at least, it holds up, because it was mostly practical.
Speaker 1:I agree so.
Speaker 4:I like all that and I think like to me and this is based on especially my limited knowledge then and like even some of what I know now like the people were who they were like Chris Evans being Johnny Storm. It was because of his performance as johnny storm that when he was announced to be captain america, I was like why the hell would they do that? That doesn't make any sense because of what his personality was as johnny storm and because it worked as johnny storm. So when I found out about captain america, I was like this is stupid. And then I agreed to love him as cap but, like initially with the casting, I was like ew, why? That seems dumb, because he's Johnny Storm and that doesn't seem to match his personality. But yeah, so for me I love it.
Speaker 4:I think my biggest gripe is what a lot of people's biggest gripe was, for Rise of the Silver Surfer was the cloud for Galactus. However, with re-watching it and doing some research because I was watching it with my friend Greg come to find out that the director for Rise of the Silver Surfer he had plans and there was a lot of plans for them to do more movies, of course, before things were panned and all that whatnot. But I saw things that I'd never seen before. Galactus's shape and shadow and silhouette is in the film. You see it the very first time. You see the cloud when he passes over the first planet that he he passes. You see his silhouette and so his head's there and it's been there the entire time. It's not like a new thing that they wouldn't add it. It was there. And then at the very end, when he comes to earth and to destroy the planet and silver surfer ends up joining the fantastic four, you see his, his outline in the fire. So he was there the whole and apparently the plan was for him to like actually reveal himself in a spinoff movie or something like that.
Speaker 4:So, like, I think that that is something that was for one. He maybe was too ambitious of a thing for him to do, but, like, I like the idea of it. It just is unfortunate that, like, clearly enough people weren't paying attention or didn't see it or whatever, and so, like, so many people don't even realize that that happened because, again, it was not until I watched it last week that I knew that that was a thing and stuff like that. And I'm just like, in retrospect, I'm like, oh well, shit, I personally, not everyone else because, like, again, if you didn't see it, you didn't see it and also we didn't know what his plan was. But, like, I personally feel like I owe him an apology because I've always been so hyper-focused on, oh, that stupid-ass cloud, that stupid-ass cloud, and it's like, well, no, but he, there was more to it than just a stupid-ass cloud.
Speaker 2:Well, if you're listening, director of Fantastic Four, the Rise of Silver Surfer, taj, would like to apologize for being so upset about the quote stupid-ass cloud that kept on saying so thank you for your hard work. But I do remember they were starting to announce that they were going to do a spinoff of the Silver Surfer but because of box office of that sequel didn't really reach what they wanted it to, they kind of canceled it right away and then they waited 10 years to try to reboot it with FanFourStick.
Speaker 6:Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to steal your thunder on that one, but it's FanFourStick, it's, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, fanfourstick, with the most random choice in casting. Like all four of them, I was like what I didn't understand, and so we can talk briefly about what we thought about it. What did we think of the 2015 FanFourStick?
Speaker 6:Horse crap. Yeah, it wasn't Just throwing it out there. Also, I don't like.
Speaker 5:I would rather watch Smurfs 15 times over and over again. Didn't watch that movie ever again in my lifetime.
Speaker 2:And you gave Smurfs a negative 100.
Speaker 5:I know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was, I think it's. I think the director just didn't know, didn't have a real plan, and I saw it in theaters because I was like, hey, fantastic Four, maybe they'll get it right which I'm not saying, they got it wrong in 2005 and 2007, but maybe they'll do a new spin on it. I think they're trying to do kind of this was around the time that comic book movies are trying to be more dark and gritty and more realistic and stuff like that, and it just didn't fit to me. And it just didn't. It didn't fit to me.
Speaker 2:And I'm really I'm really interested because, you know, all three of us kind of poo pooed not really poo pooed completely, but kind of poo pooed the 2005, 2007 and Taj loved them. So I'm I'm really interested to see. Yes, I care about Lexi and Mitch's opinions, but I'm really interested to see. Hodge, what did you think of the 2015 fan four stick?
Speaker 4:so I typically, as we saw with the first two, I typically have a higher threshold for movies that people deem are bad, and a lot of times I have the opposite opinion of said movies. And so I went into the 2015 one thinking the same thing, because I missed it in theaters. I wanted to see it in theaters, but I missed it. I didn't see it until I got it on DVD a little while later and I was like surely everyone's over-exaggerating about how bad this movie is, because people over-exaggerate about everything. And then I watched it and I was like, oh, this is one time that I have to society. This was, this was bad. This was objectively bad. This wasn't just like some people are hyper opinionated and blah, blah, blah, or they don't like that human torch was black. Nope, none of that. It just was bad. It just was bad.
Speaker 4:And I didn't re-watch that one, but I did, today, watch a video of some guy who did re-watch it for like a breakdown of the movie, because Fantastic Four is relevant right now, and he watched it like three times in order to make his video. And just listening to him go through everything, because he touched on all the plot points, and I was like oh, this is, I think, even worse than I remember. Somehow. It was even worse because he mentioned that they're the Fantastic Four, if you will. For all of 20 minutes of the movie they fight Doom. In the last 20 minutes you don't even see Doom for most of the movie, yikes.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, it was pretty bad and I don't even remember that much of it, like that's how bad it was. I remember I guess they were trying to make you feel for Doctor Doom the majority of the movie, you know, because they have that, hey, let's feel sympathetic for the villain, that mindset, and, like you said, they're hardly the Fantastic Four of the entire movie.
Speaker 3:And then when they are.
Speaker 2:Ben Graham looks like crap. It's just.
Speaker 5:And he's naked. Why is he not wearing?
Speaker 4:pants. It's not that big of a deal because it's not like you see the thing, but why is he not wearing pants?
Speaker 2:Because it was based in realism. Taj the thing would not wear pants, because they need for you to see the thing.
Speaker 5:He was a weapon for the military. We did not need to see the thing. We cannot imagine what the thing was. We did not need to see it, his name's the thing.
Speaker 2:for a reason, guys.
Speaker 4:I told you about that plot point. They were using him as a weapon for the military On the screen. When they fast forward time and show you that he's been a weapon for the military, he has 43 confirmed kills. He's a mercenary for the military. What is that plot point? That's nonsense. Everyone feels about 05 and 07 is how I feel about that movie. What, what in the?
Speaker 5:hell.
Speaker 2:No, I will say. Compared to 2005, 2007, those movies are highly better than 2015. There's no question about that. I think 2005, 2007 is question about that.
Speaker 2:I think 2005-2007 is all about nostalgia. Like you said, rose-colored glasses. You're seeing it, you're re-watching it, you're remembering how it made you feel to see these characters on the big screen for the first time. And yeah, it's all warm and fuzzy. And then you see 2015,. You're like why would you do that to the characters that I fell in love with in 2005, 2007? But so we could talk about that movie for a whole other podcast, probably. But let's not talk about it because we're not talking about that. We're talking about Fantastic Four, the first steps. Finally, marvel has the rights to it. They're able to do them justice. Now the real question is do we think Marvel did the Fantastic Four justice? I have my thoughts, but I want to hear from you guys first. So whoever wants to go first?
Speaker 5:Yes, I think maybe Okay.
Speaker 6:Yes, Finally Abso-freaking-lutely yes.
Speaker 2:Finally. So Lexi, expand on your yes.
Speaker 5:So it was good from the beginning to the end. It looked great. Like the visuals don't get enough credit. Like the visuals in that movie looked fantastic. The storyline, the plot they pulled from the actual comic book material that they had and it tried to go off script.
Speaker 2:Like it was really good I I do want to say, before we continue, we will be spoiling this movie. It's been out for a week, so if you haven't seen it yet, we will be spoiling it. So if you don't want to listen, go away, watch the movie, come back and then you can continue. So, with that being said, Mitch, you also agree apps are first, whatever you said.
Speaker 6:Apps are freaking lootly, yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:So expand? Why do you feel that way?
Speaker 6:because, like Lexi said it, it pulled a lot from the comics. I think it really captured each character. Reed Richards, the overthinker I thought that that was very much and the the pain that he that you know I feel like his pain for what he did to them is present through the whole movie. Like you know, this is the world they, this is their life now. But I loved the camaraderie of the four of them. There wasn't infighting. They were the fantastic four, not the fantastic split up. Let's bring the band. It wasn't a bring the band back together movie, which was nice.
Speaker 6:The visuals I agree the visuals were great. I loved we got to see Galactus. Whether we saw the silhouette or not in 2007,. It was great to finally see one of the most iconic bad guys in Marvel on screen and done incredibly well. I can't say enough good things about this movie. I just saw it again today and just left like, yeah, it did everything. A Marvel movie hasn't done for us since endgame, where we're excited to go see it and then we're left. I don't want to jump all the way to the end but then we're left with, oh my god, I can't wait for what's next. It did everything right and taj.
Speaker 2:What did you think? Did you enjoy it and if so, why, if not?
Speaker 4:I actually hate it. No, I'm just kidding. No, I loved it too. I thought it was fantastic, as Lexi said, I think so much of it was. I'm personally okay with origin stories. I know a lot of us because we've seen a lot of these movies before. We don't need origin stories and I don't necessarily disagree with that thought process, but I'm okay if there is one thought process, but, like, I'm okay if there is one. But I also very much think that there is so much to the heroes, already having lived in the world and having experienced being who they are for a decent amount of time, similar to superman.
Speaker 4:Superman is three years in this one's four years in to them establishing their role in the world and and and dealing with their powers. Because to me, what comes with that and what makes this movie so great for me is things like the, the way in which they are accustomed to their powers and they use their powers. Because I feel like in the in 05 and 07, they did a pretty solid job for Mr Fantastic as far as utilizing his powers on a day-to-day level and being very clearly comfortable with his abilities and stuff like that. I felt like that was everyone in this movie. It usually is just focused on him or one character in general for superhero movies, but everyone was accustomed to their powers. In this one I'm just like, yes, thank you, it's not just Mr Fantastic that can stretch his damn hand under a door. Freaking johnny can light his hand on fire and well, thing is always the thing. So like he's always strong but like he's not breaking everything. He picks up now looks like that's funny for the first you know 30 minutes of the movie, or like for the first movie where it's a it's an origin movie. So like he has to become accustomed to being as strong as the thing and stuff like that. So he can break everything in the first one but in the next movie he shouldn't break anything because he's been a thing for a couple years, and so I appreciate all of those things. I like that very much and I also love the fact that, like you said, I like that.
Speaker 4:We finally got to see Galactus and I liked how strong they were, because I think it's something that and it's because I don't read the comic books like everyone else. Like a lot of my knowledge for superhero stuff comes from everything but the comics basically. So TV shows and cartoons and movies and I liked just how strong they were, because I've always been aware of who Galactus is and aware of how strong he is and it's always because of my limited knowledge. I've always been like the fantastic force who, like he's typically associated with he's so strong. How in the fuck are you, sorry, how in the heck are they? They are they able to combat him? And, like in this movie, it's like oh, okay, I can see. I can see that, how that could happen. That makes a lot more sense here with the way that things unfolded in this movie and I also love, aesthetically, the retrofuturism of the setting that was so great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, to go off of what Mitch said, I liked how this movie made me feel and the way I mean that is. It's the same way with the Superman movie. A lot of people poo-pooed the Superman movie for different reasons, whatever, we're not going to talk about that, but the Superman movie felt like a comic book movie. It felt fun, it felt hopeful, it felt inspiring. That's what this Fantastic Four movie was too. It felt like a comic book movie.
Speaker 2:You felt for the characters, characters, but all the same time they they leaned on the fact that it's obviously a comic book movie based on these randomly ridiculous over-the-top characters, and I, I agree, I liked, I liked how they already had their powers, just like you said with superman, I I like how they they already assume that majority of the people going to see this movie are going to see this, how they, they already assume that majority of the people going to see this movie are going to see this movie because they already know these characters, and so we don't need a handhold of how they became who they were, even though they did give us like verbal background of how they became who they were, and I and again like you said, taj, I'm glad that they showed them actually using their powers to save the day, not just get into a room, like you said with Fantastic Four in 2005, like using his hand just to open a door. They actually used their powers to beat up bad guys. And I think probably the coolest part was when there's like a fire at a building and Johnny is just like consuming all of the fire from the building. I'm like Holy crap, I would never have thought that human torch had that kind of power. And like just seeing Pedro Pascal as Mr Fantastic no matter how how you feel about how him being cast in almost everything nowadays, but like actually seeing him use his powers.
Speaker 2:And I know a lot of people have been kind of like saying that it was mostly a sue storm movie, but I I thought it was awesome how strong she was at the end and it makes sense in the context of the story being told. So we're we're gonna get right into that. So this movie is all about. When the movie starts, sue Storm is pregnant and you, you find out they're gonna have this baby and yes, it's in the comics. They Franklin.
Speaker 3:Richards.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, franklin Richard so what did we think about that? I I'll start with this one. I loved how pro-family this movie was like. You don't really see that in movies in general nowadays. You don't really see that in movies in general nowadays and you don't really see that in comic book movies. I loved how this movie even though I will say something I didn't like and this could just be the fact that I saw Superman a couple weeks ago and that movie was like non-stop action and this movie is more story driven, more family driven. So I mean like or dislike, whatever, but I loved that the driving force was the family dynamic of this fantastic. So what did you guys think of the introduction of Franklin Richards and, yeah, your thoughts about the family dynamic of the film?
Speaker 5:I did. Like I said I think I'm the big comic book lover, so I knew as soon as I seen him, like, okay, this is how they're gonna set up Dr Doom. So when the post-credit came out, I was like, and here we are, because, like, if you know anything about the comics, like Dr Doom had a very particular love for said child, so I liked it. I think it was cool. I like the fact that, yeah, I can see how it had less action in Superman, but because we haven't had in my opinion sorry, taj a good Fantastic Four movie, I think it needed to bring back what Fantastic Four was and they were always like a family unit anyway. So I do like the fact that.
Speaker 6:Yes, that was the strongest part about the movie. The stronger they were as a family unit made me smile even more. And then, seeing it again today, it just I was like, yep, there it is. You know, you saw more of it. Like there were moments like when Johnny Storm, like when he's figuring out the language, and you know, there were moments where he's like, guys, I figured something out and they're like, no, we're working on this. Now he doesn't get like upset and go, you don't listen to me. He was like, oh, yeah, we're doing this right now.
Speaker 6:And then when the thing happened, when the silver server came and started, you know, destroying, he just like, you know, I'm just putting this plan into action. He didn't have to get their approval, he already knew what he was doing. And they were just like, oh, he did that. Okay, there was no, there was not. This like I need to be seen story in this movie. They've been, they're a unit, they're the Fantastic Four and that's the coolest part about it and that's how it is in the comics. Lexi, you're right, they are a, they are a strong foursome.
Speaker 2:And Taj. What are your thoughts?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I agree with everything that was said. I very much love the family aspect. I'm super excited for Franklin because he's someone that, again, I know by hearing other people speak on him and seeing small clips speaking on how important he is or how powerful he is and all that whatnot. I'm super excited for that and that we are already here because, like rewatching the other ones, I think that the natural progression for the 05 and 07 was that he was coming in the next one. Now, granted, because of the way the movies were made then, I don't necessarily think that they would have achieved what we, as the fans that are, or especially people that are more informed about his character, I don't think that he would have reached what people wanted him to be. I think that he will in this world because Galactus already wanted him and told them how strong he was already and he was in the womb. So I think that that's super important. I very much love the family dynamic of it and I think that that was very important because, like Mitch was saying earlier, there wasn't the need for infighting and stuff like that, because, personally, my least favorite plot device for any form of media is infighting. I cannot stand to see people that are supposed to be on the same sides fighting each other. I loathe it because I'm a Hulk fan and in so many versions of Hulk they always end up having to fight him, and I can't stand that. So I love the fact that they weren't bickering with each other and screwing the whole planet over because they were stepping on each other's toes and stuff like that. So I do, I agree, and this is not a complaint, this is just huh. I like this choice as well, as I'm okay with the other choice.
Speaker 4:As far as Johnny and Thing's relationship, because I love that they were so friendly and kind to each other in this one. I think that that was very fascinating and fresh, if you will, because, like I'm perfectly fine with their teasing relationship in the other two movies, I think that that also works. There's room for both, I think, but I think that totally works for the world that they're creating in this one. It's absolutely fine that they're not the bickering couple, if you will, and that they're just their buds, their best buds. I very much like that. The only real teasing was in moments like him trying to get him to say it's clobbering time and that's funny and silly and lighthearted, as opposed to crumpling his car and making Ben feel ugly. But that's totally different. I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think in, I think in this one, like they're bickering, like all of them they're bickering, was like how a family would bicker.
Speaker 5:Right.
Speaker 2:It wasn't it trying to be demeaning to each other. It was, like you said, johnny, trying to get him to say clobber in time and just like little inside jokes and little like how families are, and so I think that really leaned heavily on the family dynamic. And, yes, that in post-credit scene with apparently it was announced that that was actually, it wasn't a double dressed as doom, that was here robert downey jr dressed up as dr doom for that split second, because it was actually directed by the russo brothers, who are direct, oh that's awesome
Speaker 2:just directing the first one which sets up secret wars, which I'm not a comic book person either. But of course, as soon as I saw this movie I like dove right into all the lore of frank franklin richards and it's going to be insane, like it's in game. In game was like top tier. But if, if they do what I, what I've been reading about, and like what has kind of already been announced, if you saw all the actor chairs in a row, all the people being announced that are going to be in either Doomsday or Secret Wars.
Speaker 2:That movie is going to make me pee my pants multiple times with excitement about everything that's going to happen in that movie.
Speaker 5:It has potential to be better than Endgame.
Speaker 2:It does, especially the fact that it's resetting everything They've already announced. They're basically going to do a soft reboot of the MCU, and so I don't know. Personally, I think it should be like their swan song and that should be the end of it. But obviously that's not what they're planning, and if the movie obviously does as well as I believe it will do, obviously they're going to go with the money, and they're already saying that X-Men is going to be one of the first movies they do after Secret Wars. So obviously that's not going to be it, but I think that would be kind of a cool way to end. Everything is kind of rebooting it and then just leaving it as is, but I'm I'm super excited about it.
Speaker 2:I really did enjoy this movie. I'm gonna go back a little bit to the how. I love how this movie is very family oriented and I love how we've had two comic book movies that are very family oriented. And so you know cause I, I, I'm, I'm a dad, I got kids and so like to see a movie that promotes family and just a strong bond with family. Superman does a really good job at promoting adopt, adopting families, and so it's just really cool to see that in theaters. So do we have any final thoughts on Fantastic Four, first Steps before we rate this epic movie.
Speaker 5:I have a question Did anyone not like something about the movie? We talked about how good it was? Was there anything you wish you could have changed?
Speaker 2:where Sue Storm just goes. Epic. On Galactus, I will say this, and I don't know if I necessarily agree with it, but Mitch said himself that Galactus is like one of the most powerful villains in the whole MCU. How do you feel about the way they kind of just easily pushed him through the black hole at the end? And I'm not saying it was easy for Sue Storm. Obviously she had to give it all she had, but do we feel like they kind of lessened him as a villain? Or obviously he'll probably come back.
Speaker 6:I think he's going to come back. He's coming, he's coming back. Yeah, he's coming back. I think he's coming. He's coming back with vengeance. I think, mm-hmm, he is.
Speaker 5:I think they did it that way to leave the door of when he will come back.
Speaker 4:It's not an if, it's a win right, yeah I think, um, because I was talking to my friend, because like I think like it wasn't a gripe, but like I do think that, like I'm not mad at anyone, that's like, oh, that seemed a smidge too easy, like I don't think it was like bad or anything like that, because it wouldn't make me drop any star ratings or anything like that, but like if someone had a little bit of pushback about, I wish there was a little bit more umph to that than just her being, which I love, how strong she was.
Speaker 4:But if they just wanted something else, much more than just her being that strong, I'm okay with that sort of caveat, if you will. But I do think personally I I think my, my theory, part part of my theory is because it's a teleporter thing. I think that they sent him to Doom's world and Doom is here at the end of the post-credits scene Because the Galactus came from their world and he came to get Franklin. It's part of my working theory, if you will, on the whole thing.
Speaker 2:Because for sure I agree he'll be back.
Speaker 4:Well, here's the thing about that, though it on the whole thing, because it's for sure I agree he'll be back.
Speaker 2:Well, here's the thing about that, though it's kind of been confirmed and again they could just be teasing us, but it was confirmed that the Robert Downey Jr Doctor Doom is from the same fantastic world.
Speaker 2:Here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking Doctor Doom is going to use the teleporting thing himself to go to the main MCU that we're used to, and if you've seen Thunderbolts you saw the post-credit scene for that you see that they see the Fantastic Four ship coming to their Earth, and so I think that is them traveling to our Earth to get Franklin back, because I think that Robert. Downey Jr's Dr Doom, traveled to our main.
Speaker 6:I call it ours, but our main mcu well, it is the sacred timeline, right, it's a good timeline and so the 60s fantastic four are going to travel through time to get franklin back and they've already hinted at that in the in the very first, like the montage thing, he talks about multi, multi-multiverse. He talked about them right there.
Speaker 2:So I can't wait. And also just one more thing, actually two more things. Did you notice the cameos that they had for the original 1994 fantastic four movie?
Speaker 5:I didn't, but um, when I went back and saw TikTok videos, someone pointed it out and I'm like, oh wait, they were there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also number two did you notice that during the UN meeting there was an empty seat from Latveria?
Speaker 4:Latveria, that I did notice. Yeah, yep, I noticed that one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was like, oh, oh, dr James is not there Because we didn't want Robert Downey Jr to be sitting right in that seat. So anyway, yeah, it was. It was totally awesome. I don't know if it's like a movie that I'm like, oh, I want to go see again in theaters, but it's definitely worth going to see, at least once, if you haven't, and then watch it as many times as you can. When it comes to Disney+, those are our thoughts, our likes and dislikes of Fantastic Four. First Steps who wants to give a rating? First, you can spin a wheel.
Speaker 4:Taj, I'd say I'd give it. Wait out of what.
Speaker 2:Out of five Out of five stars Out of Hmm, I'd say, I guess probably four and a out of what.
Speaker 4:Sorry, out of five Out of five stars Out of, I'd say, I guess, probably four and a half out of five.
Speaker 2:Nice. Okay, let me spin that wheel again.
Speaker 3:Lexi.
Speaker 5:Ooh, I would give it a solid five, especially because I didn't have that many. I didn't have high expectations for it to be good because I didn't have that many. I didn't have high expectations for it to be good because I didn't like the last 3 but I would give it a 5 5 out of 5.
Speaker 2:Okay, and spin the wheel one more time, mitch this is just to be funny.
Speaker 6:But a 4.4 no, that's a joke.
Speaker 2:I'm waiting for the fun. What's the fun?
Speaker 6:Well, they're both four, fantastic four. Ba-dum-bum, there's four people. You know, I thought we were playing the whole four thing.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 6:I try to be funny. I'm not funny. You know this, See. I would have to say I mean, do I want to give it a perfect score? I've seen it twice now and I loved it. Yeah, you know, Lexi, I'm with you. Perfect five.
Speaker 2:Well, see, I'm going to go old school, I'm just going to go for a straight four. No movie is perfect. There were some aspects that I could have used a little bit more action, but darn it. The family dynamic. I loved it and it was a very good movie, but I'm going to give it a four out of five. So those are all four of our thoughts on taj. You want to do it fantastic? Wait, wait, hold on, let me do it again. And so those are our thoughts on fantastic. Yes, and that is our first cinema saturday of august. That means I only have like a couple weeks left until school starts back up. I think, mitch, you've already started back school by the time this episode drops.
Speaker 6:You're about to start back school or I'm about to, so yeah yeah next it is, but it is sunday oh yes, lexi, you as well.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, wow, I'm a jerk, lexi is also. She's also a teacher, and so next cinema sunday is another. Oddly enough, you may not agree with this, this is another highly anticipated movie for me. It's coming out the naked gun reboot with liam neeson. I seriously can't wait. I think and I've been trying to stay off social media because they've been like dropping clips, like so many clips from this movie I'm like stop it, stop, stop, stop. So I can't wait. I'm a big fan of the originals. No one can top Leslie Nielsen, like no one's gonna be able to top him.
Speaker 3:But I think Liam Neeson will do a pretty good job because he's but I think Liam Neeson will do a pretty good job, because he's just it's yeah, I can't wait, so that looks great.
Speaker 2:Cinema Sunday and then this Tuesday you can listen to me and maybe somebody else, I don't know, I never know who's going to be on the show my our thoughts on 12 dates of Christmas Cause it's all Christmas movies on Tuesdays on the Couch Critic, where every movie gets its close-up and it's time to stay.
Speaker 1:Let's escape with Cinema Saturdays. So grab a seat, let the credits play. We'll see you next for Cinema Saturdays.
