Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years. But it was a little odd to hear that Marvel also planned to make the Fantastic Four a major part of the MCU’s future. Hollywood’s long-standing obsession with presenting superheroes as grimdark figures was at odds with the Fantastic Four’s roots in the colorful, whizbang silver age of comics — which is what makes The Fantastic Four: First Steps so refreshing. But its core quartet of performances are solid and its visuals are stunning, which might be enough to catapult it to box office success. The Fantastic Four: First Steps also stars Matthew Wood, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Paul Walter Hauser, and Natasha Lyonne.