The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

[TheCatt]

Spoiler to explain the woke thing, but involves the end of the movie, so don't click unless you want that ruined for you.

I didn't find that woke so much as something about the power of mom's love for her child. Which is, ostensibly, super unwoke. Also, everyone contributed, and Johnny was willing to sacrifice himself, etc and so much more of a person than, say, the 2005 movie. Yeah, no woke here.

It was good, not great.

[Leisher]

I like that we're discussing this within spoiler tags. We're just better people...

Considering all the lead up included a lot of woke talk from the cast, it's hard to not see certain things and pull away woke. This was especially true in that finale when the men were essentially sidelined, physically so in one instance. Really hard not to see a message shoved in everyone's face there, again, due to the heavily woke interviews given before release. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Marvel did say they didn't use Norrin Radd because they didn't want to waste him, which does indicate a dismissiveness towards the female SS.

In fact, I'll even help your argument and point out that the men were the brains. It was Reed's trap, Johnny cracked the language barrier and convinced FSS, and Ben cut the final handhold that Galactus had to stop being pushed.

Still, the fact that we're even discussing this shows how damaged Marvel's reputation is and probably the leading reason why this movie isn't doing well. They traded audience respect and goodwill to push "The Message" and now nobody is willing to give their movies a shot.

Anyway, I do rather like the mom aspect of the finale. Sue Storm is typically not that strong, but motherhood... Still needing some assistance to win the day also helped. That being said, let's take a peek at Galactus' powers because that finale is still one giant stretch of the lore:

Galactus is one of the most powerful entities in the Marvel universe, a cosmic being whose power is immense and often described as near-infinite. He possesses vast cosmic abilities, including manipulating energy, matter, and even reality itself. While his power can fluctuate based on his hunger, at his peak, he is a force to be reckoned with, capable of destroying planets and even entire galaxies.
Here's a breakdown of Galactus's power:
Cosmic Powerhouse:
Galactus is powered by the consumption of energy from planets, and his power is directly linked to his hunger.
Reality Manipulation:
He can manipulate reality, time, and space, and even create life.
Telepathy:
Galactus possesses immense telepathic abilities, capable of overwhelming even powerful telepaths like Thanos and Odin.
Planet-Sized Strength:
He can withstand planet-busting attacks and even survive collisions with entire planets.
Not the Strongest, but Near the Top:
While not the absolute most powerful being in Marvel (Celestials, The Living Tribunal, and others are stronger), he is consistently ranked among the top tiers.
Vulnerable When Hungry:
When severely depleted of energy, Galactus becomes vulnerable and can be defeated by powerful beings.
Neutral Force:
Galactus is often portrayed as a force of nature, neither inherently good nor evil, but rather a cosmic entity with his own needs and motivations.

Galactus should have honestly won that fight without even breaking a sweat, which is why in the original comic Reed has to threaten him with the "Ultimate Nullifier", but that's not good cinema. Hell, it wasn't even good in the comic.

Pedro Pascal is an interesting problem for Marvel right now.

He's overexposed, very odd, very woke, and so on, but he's also an excellent actor. I think he did a great job as Reed, despite not really fitting the look of the character. He's also 50.

Do they kill him off in Doomsday? I think it'd be a smart move. He's a huge name, so it'd make an impact. He's a big salary, so Disney would be happy. If he sacrifices himself for Franklin, you get cool bookends in the FF story...

[TheCatt]

Galactus should have honestly won that fight without even breaking a sweat, which is why in the original comic Reed has to threaten him with the "Ultimate Nullifier", but that's not good cinema. Hell, it wasn't even good in the comic.

Yeah, we definitely got Galactus light.

At the end of the day, I thought the contributions were balanced, reasonable, etc, etc - not woke.

[Leisher]

I'll relent to the balanced comment. The cast is definitely far more woke than the final product.

Marvel needs to be gearing up for X-Men. That'll be their real shot to save their reputation.

[TheCatt]

The cast is definitely far more woke than the final product.

First time in Hollywood?

[Leisher]

That's a whole other subject, but I've seen multiple YouTubers, X people, streamers, reporters, yada yada yada (mostly people in the business or with contacts in it) say that there are a lot more conservatives in Hollywood than people would ever imagine, but the people with power are extreme left, and thus, the conservatives typically stay silent for fear of being blacklisted.

There's a word for the intentional alienation and suppression of people just because they have different political beliefs than you, but I'll be damned if I can remember it. It's one of those words you never hear because people don't throw it around frivolously!