Matt Shakman

In The Fantastic 4: First Steps (2025), the four heroes already share a home at the top of the Baxter Building, and Shakman skips the business of explaining their powers. Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach seem accustomed to one another rather than newly assembled for a film. We warmed to them because that ease makes the household convincing before the danger arrives. Shakman's strength is getting us interested in the people before asking us to worry about them.

His television work included 43 episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia between 2007 and 2017. Cut Bank (2015), an ensemble crime drama, was his first feature, but the clearest route towards his superhero work runs through television. His Game of Thrones episodes in 2017 brought large-scale fantasy action; WandaVision (2021), all nine episodes of it, brought the period sitcom. These are different jobs, and his willingness to adapt helps explain why the family in First Steps gets as much care as its surroundings.

The early-1960s setting of First Steps lets Shakman pursue that interest in period styles through rounded rockets, flying cars and domestic detail. Nona Khodai and Tim Roche keep the film moving across its 115 minutes. Michael Giacchino's brass-and-drum score has a tune worth remembering, and the restraint in its use lets it count when it swells. We can see the value of a director who does not treat conversation as a delay before the next emergency. The trouble is that the family needs sharper things to argue about.

The creature threatening the planet is the least interesting element of First Steps, and Shakman's care with the household cannot make it otherwise. We would like to see him given a script that makes those family conversations more difficult. Try First Steps if superheroes are already your sort of company.