Fantastic Four: First Steps just might be Marvel’s most pro-family movie yet. The bond between Reed and Susan Richards is rock solid, and the joy they share as they prepare to have their first child is heart-warming. Along with Susan’s younger brother Johnny Storm and Reed’s best friend Ben Grimm, the Four make a tight-knit family unit, going to great lengths to protect Baby Franklin — and their fellow citizens of Earth — from existential threats. The movie’s core message is heard in Susan’s words as she describes why the Four work so well together: “It’s about fighting for something bigger than yourself,” she says. “Whatever life throws at us, we’ll face it together, as a family.”
But just as the credits roll and we’re ready to declare the movie a real winner, along comes a curveball in the bonus scene that may leave us scratching our heads. It’s now four years later, and Sue is reading The Hungry Caterpillar to Franklin in their living room. When he asks for more, Mom calls to H.E.R.B.I.E, the family’s helpful robotic assistant, to fetch another book to read. We see H.E.R.B.I.E hold up an old copy of Charles Darwin’s famous 19th century volume On The Origin of Species. Mom says that’s not the book she’s looking for, but comments that they love reading that one too. Having found the story she had in mind, Sue returns to the living room and, in typical Marvel fashion, the scene concludes with a little foreshadowing to set up the next installment.
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