Is Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Rotten Tomatoes Score Proof That the MCU Is Back?

The Internet has changed the movie business in countless ways. Patrons can now order their tickets well in advance and have their concessions waiting for them before they pull into the parking lot. Another way the movie game is different nowadays is that aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes put dozens, if not hundreds, of reviews in one place. The Tomatometer has become a metric that many fans live and die by, with a low score sending them running for the hills and a high one getting them to check the next available showtime. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a complicated relationship with Rotten Tomatoes, and with The Fantastic Four: First Steps about to hit theaters, the pressure is on the movie to perform on the platform.

The odds were stacked against Marvel’s First Family, as the team had struggled to get critics on its side in the past. However, with the full power of Marvel Studios behind the property, things are looking up, with ComicBook calling First Steps the “best Marvel movie of the year.” The movie currently boasts an 88% Certified Fresh rating at the time of writing, putting it in the same league as several heavyweights.

Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ Rotten Tomatoes Score Blows Its Predecessors Out of the Water

Despite not being connected to the other big-screen adaptations of the Fantastic Four, it’s not to compare First Steps to Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Fan4stic. Tim Story’s two movies earned 27% and 37%, respectively, on the Tomatometer, which wasn’t even considered mediocre in the early 2000s. Superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and X2 were beloved despite their campy tones, and Fox didn’t have the same luck with the Fantastic Four. The poor reception to the first two movies put the team on the back burner until 2015, when Fan4stic hit theaters. Josh Trank’s controversial film, which had plenty of issues during production, was panned by critics, earning a 9% on the Tomatometer, one of the lowest in comic book movie history.

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First Steps is already far and away the most well-reviewed Fantastic Four film. Even adding up all the scores of the previous movies wouldn’t put them in striking distance of the team’s latest outing. The last hurdle that First Steps needs to clear is ensuring it’s considered good by MCU standards, not just comic book movie ones.

Marvel Studios May Have the Win It Desperately Needs in Fantastic Four: First Steps

It’s not a secret that the MCU hasn’t had much critical success in the last couple of years. Outside of smash hits like Deadpool & Wolverine and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Marvel Studios has been fighting for its life with critics. There was hope coming into 2025, but Captain America: Brave New World‘s 46% didn’t help matters. Well, the tide turned when Thundrbolts* released and lit up the Tomatometer with an 88%. Now, only a few months later, First Steps is starting a winning streak by grabbing the same score.

88% is impressive in general, but what makes the score even more interesting is that it’s in the same ballpark as a good chunk of MCU debut films. The movie that started it all, Iron Man, has an impressive 94%, while Guardians of the Galaxy, another project about space-traveling heroes, is sitting at 92%. When those movies came out, the MCU was dropping nothing but winners, and it may very well be returning to form in 2025. Marvel Studios picked a good time to get its ducks in a row because it’ll need all the help it can get ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday in 2026.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25, 2025.

What do you make of The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ Rotten Tomatoes score? Do you think the MCU is finding its groove again? Let us know in the comments below!