Fantastic Four: First Steps
Marvel
It’s been a great year for superhero movies between Superman, Thunderbolts and now, apparently, Fantastic Four: First Steps (sorry Captain America, you’re not really part of the club).
After critics gave their take, with the movie clocking an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, audience scores have been rolling in for Fantastic Four, and it’s managed to snag one of the top audience scores in MCU history. That’s even more impressive, given that we seem to be past the “peak” of superhero movies, which climaxed in the Endgame era.
Here’s how Fantastic Four: First Steps stacks up in the overall MCU total. The double numbers are there for ties, making the list longer than ten films.
1) Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – 98%
2) Spider-Man: No Way Home – 97%
3) Guardians of the Galaxy – 94%
3) Deadpool and Wolverine – 94%
3) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – 94%
4) Thunderbolts – 93%
5) Fantastic Four: First Steps – 92%
5) Avengers: Infinity War – 92%
5) Captain America: The Winter Soldier – 92%
6) Iron Man – 91%
6) The Avengers – 91%
7) Avengers: Endgame – 90%
8) Captain America: Civil War – 89%
9) Thor: Ragnarok – 87%
9) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – 87%
9) Spider-Man: Homecoming – 87%
10) Doctor Strange – 86%
Fantastic Four: First Steps
Marvel
So, that’s technically a list of 17 movies, but that’s due to the ties. As you can see, Fantastic Four is just 1% away from tying this year’s Thunderbolts at 93%, and two points from being tied for third. But even if it drops a few percent, it’s certain to remain inside the top 10.
Between this and Thunderbolts, this is the kind of thing Marvel needs right now, given that, as you may notice, there are perilously few recent MCU films on that list. A couple (Deadpool and Wolverine being the latest besides Thunderbolts), but it’s certainly not the majority. However, Marvel certainly wants Fantastic Four: First Steps to earn a lot more than Thunderbolts, and that seems very likely given these early opening estimates. It’s unlikely to be a billion-dollar hit, but it should do quite well, it seems.
Despite thousands of reviews in, it is still relatively early. These are passionate fans who took the time to see the movie opening night on Thursday or during the day on Friday here. Though as we saw with the recent Superman, tying Fantastic Four at a 92% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, those scores kept steady through the longer tail of its release. I’ve heard little but very positive chatter on social media about Fantastic Four, praising the entire cast and especially Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm as helping to make the film…I almost said fantastic. I’m seeing it in a few hours and will report back with my own thoughts soon.
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