Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for Disney’s Marvel Studios’ “Fantastic Four: The First Steps.”

“Fantastic Four: The First Steps” depicts an alternate Earth, distinct from the Earth of previous Marvel films and from our own world. 

In this film, the world is seemingly a utopian society led by the Fantastic Four: Invisible Woman, Sue Storm; The Human Torch, Johnny Storm; Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards; and The Thing, Ben Grimm. Together, they demonstrate ideal traits of leadership and teamwork. Their combined strengths create a synergy greater than the sum of their whole, fueled by a connection of friendship and family. While the superhero family conveys connection at the micro-level, it also connects the world through a unified global identity at the macro-level. The world is mostly at peace in this Earth’s timeline, thanks to the international charter, the Future Foundation, which this movie indicates is led by Sue Storm. Citizens can be seen waving flags of the Earth and the Future Foundation’s logo, indicating a popular sense of global identity. All participating countries agreed to dismantle their armed forces, and have maintained peace for over four years since. However, some threats remain in this film, which the Fantastic Four are shown to protect everyday people from through heroic action and diplomacy. 

Early in the film, the team’s record of defeated foes is conveyed through a montage that showcases the heroes’ abilities. One villain featured, Mole Man, blames Reed Richards’ “endless pursuit of progress” for his crimes as he is being arrested. In the montage, a reporter claims, “Sue Storm brokers peace deal with Harvey “Mole Man” Elder, leader of the underground nation Subterranea.” Then, Mole Man admits, “I don’t trust surface dwellers, I never have, but I do trust Sue.” Mole Man’s gripe with Richards being remedied by trust in Sue shows how Sue convinces others to let cooler heads prevail. 

Though these heroes are capable of protecting and negotiating with threats domestic to the Earth, they are pushed to the limits when threatened by the extraterrestrial Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer. When faced with these opponents, the Fantastic Four’s strengths are put on display for the viewers to watch and learn from. Each of the four has a unique insight to offer the viewer: 

1. Invisible Woman, Sue Storm: Communication is Key

As mentioned earlier, Sue Storm brokered a peace deal with Subterranea’s leader, Mole Man, demonstrating how not all conflicts are solved through combat. Though the movie is not specific on the issues that Sue worked out with Mole Man, it is stated that he trusts her while he cannot trust most others. That may be due to Sue’s transparency in her diplomatic style, embracing radical personal honesty, to appeal to emotion and logic. This is later showcased when crowds gather around the Future Foundation headquarters, home to the film’s heroes. The crowd gathers to protest Sue and Reed’s decision to not give up their child to Galactus, thus putting the entire Earth at risk of being devoured. The gathering of concerned citizens is soon quelled once Sue makes her case to the public. She claims she will not sacrifice her child for this world, and she won’t sacrifice this world for her child. She also makes the emotional appeal about her and Johnny’s own parents. She reflects on how her mother would always say she would move “Heaven and Earth” for her and Johnny, that they would do the same for their family, and that humanity as a whole is an extension of their family. She states that they will “defeat this together, as a family.” Soon after, Richards is inspired by Sue’s mention of “Heaven and Earth” as a solution to move the Earth away from Galactus by building an array of teleporters around the globe with the help of all nations of the world. This speaks to the collective global identity experienced throughout the film, in contrast to the mostly national identities in our world. The global identity in the film is far from the global identity of our world, as the closest thing to relate it to occurs only every couple of years: the winter and summer Olympics. Similarly, the mobilization of building teleporter signals around the world can perhaps be compared to the rollout of 5G towers over time, but it pales in comparison to the mobilization within less than a week in the movie. The Future Foundation can be compared to the United Nations; however, both organizations are far apart. Our world is starkly different from the film’s as we have not just one all-encompassing supranational organization, but many. Competing with our world’s U.N. is U.S. President Trump’s Board of Peace, which speaks to the fractured sense of unity and degrading world order of our Earth compared to the film’s Earth. The Earth of the film clearly follows a rules-based order, which our world has been drifting away from for quite some time. Speaking across the aisle, to those you disagree with, as well as those you agree with, is a big takeaway from Sue’s character in the film. By doing so, the team is able to secure resources around the planet for the planetary teleporter and space in Subterranea for New Yorkers to evacuate to. As a counterpart to our world’s U.N. secretary general, Sue shows a much more hands-on approach for leadership. A leader who communicates truthfully and effectively, and fights for her people, is something our world could learn from. 

2. The Human Torch, Johnny Storm: Understanding Language Matters

While Sue is an effective leader for domestic human relations, Johnny is an effective ambassador for foreign relations, case in point, the herald of Galactus: the Silver Surfer. Johnny, like the others, has always been fascinated by space and is immediately infatuated with the Silver Surfer upon their first encounter. In this encounter, she speaks her language to him, with no other words; the only context is her message conveying the inevitable arrival of Galactus on Earth, which she communicates in English. As Johnny is curious about what she said to him, he continues to appeal to her throughout the film, while also deciphering intercepted messages from her homeworld and collecting messages from other civilizations destroyed by Galactus. This is showcased when the Silver Surfer returns to Earth later in the film, seeking Sue and Reed’s child. Torch confronts the Silver Surfer and gets her attention with a series of audio messages made in her language. He makes his case to her, followed by displaying the audio of a plethora of other families begging for their lives on other worlds that Galactus has devoured. This burst of audio brings to mind the whistles of Minneapolis protestors, which are intended to warn others of the presence of ICE agents. However, the more notable effect may be the unsettling unease created by the noise itself. The Silver Surfer is overwhelmed and flees, and is pursued by Johnny, who makes a final case to her, before she returns to Galactus. Ultimately, Johnny reaches her, and she asks Galactus to spare the child, but he denies it. Later on, when all seems lost, Johnny is prepared to sacrifice himself to expel Galactus. However, at the last moment, he is pushed aside by the Silver Surfer, whose real name Johnny learns is Shalla-Bal. Shalla-Bal successfully expels Galactus from the Earth, at the cost of bringing herself with him. This brings about the success of Galactus being defeated, which was only made possible by Johnny’s interest in Shalla-Bal and her native language. This can be contrasted with our world, where the U.S. President can’t be bothered to learn another language and relies on interpreters as he relies on others for most tasks, compared to the fantastic four’s hands-on approach to conflict resolution. Johnny’s efforts show the viewer the value of learning other languages and understanding foreigners. 

3. Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic: Innovate Your Way Out

Reed Richards blames himself for almost every failure he encounters, the prime example being the incident that forever changed his family. This incident and the idea of perfectionism seem to haunt him throughout the film. Throughout the film, the team has to pivot its plan for handling Galactus. At first, Richards pitches the teleportation plan at the cost of nearly a week’s worth of the world’s energy supply. To achieve this, Richards asks the world to conserve energy by shutting off all power so that enough power remains to supply the teleporter array. The “Worldwide Energy Curfew” is unlike anything our world, or theirs, has ever experienced. The closest thing in recent history is the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the world worked together to stop the spread of the virus and collaborate on a vaccine; however, that pales in comparison to the collective action displayed in the movie. Just by asking, Richards is able to shut down the world’s power grid for days, in hopes of transporting the planet away from Galactus. Despite our world knowing the threat of climate change and the benefits of a massive conservation of energy, such a collective effort seems impossible. The mass mobilization to build the array of teleporters is also a remarkable feat in the movie, the result of nearly every nation working together and pooling their resources to save their collective fate. This movie brings about a Panglossian level of optimism that such an effort might be possible if the right leaders were at the top to convince the people to do so. Unfortunately, our world can only recognize the shortcomings of global trade and the threat of global warming, but not much capacity to do anything about them. Case in point, as the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed, shutting off a majority of oil from the world’s supply chain, it has demonstrated how the world relies on a specific region being secure for trade, and how reliant the global economy is on oil, despite the writing on the wall of its volatility. Despite recognizing the negatives of this supply chain and climate change, the people of our Earth have been reluctant to do much to conserve fuel or reverse the effects of climate change to prevent environmental disaster, as Richards and team prevented the disaster of Galactus. When the teleporter plan fails, Richards doesn’t give up, keeps innovating, and hatches a plan to teleport Galactus, rather than the Earth. The fight with Galactus doesn’t go so simply. Richards is forced to continue innovating to find a way to stop Galactus and protect his family and the Earth. He ultimately is able to stave off Galactus long enough for the rest of the team to finish the job.  

4. Ben Grimm, The Thing: Take Action, However You Can

The Thing might get the short end of the stick when it comes to screentime or a character arc; however, there are still things to learn from Ben Grimm’s character. Grimm can be described as a source of motivation and morale for his family. Of the four, he seems to be the most engaged with the working-class people of the film’s world, and possibly the most in touch with everyday people, as they all continue to spend more time recluded in the Future Foundation building, much like today’s leaders removed from society at large. Grimm’s active involvement and relationships with others are leadership traits our leaders could learn from. During the mobilization of constructing the world’s teleporters, Grimm is on the ground with workers, calling anyone who can to action, echoing his father’s words, that if you don’t know what to do, pick up a tool and find something to do. This effort to rally the people is admirable, especially in our own world, which has become so disillusioned about taking action. Society can learn from this mindset that even if you can’t contribute with superpowers, you can still contribute your piece. In our world, viewers can interpret this to take more direct action in democracy, such as protesting, contacting elected representatives, organizing, voting and spreading awareness. Our leaders and society may also learn from Grimm’s motivational support and actions throughout the film. Grimm checks in with Richards and tells him not to blame himself for the catalyzing incident that granted the family their powers. Grimm also maintains a close friendship with Johnny throughout the film, further demonstrating his care for his family. The Thing exemplifies the group’s best teamwork when engaging Galactus in combat. The Thing does whatever he can in the moment to contribute, whether it’s chucking a gas tanker at Galactus for the Human Torch to subsequently ignite, or toppling a building to fall onto Galactus to give Invisible Woman a helping hand as she’s telekinetically pushing the villain back. From this, viewers can learn that there’s always something, or things, you can do to help others, even if it’s just stalling for a chance for more help to come in. 

The Fantastic Four evokes a sense of hopefulness and the possibility of change that has been lacking in recent media, both fictional and real, over the past decade. The highlighting of climate-related campaigns has seemed to wane in recent years as the profit costs or consequences of using technology seem to outweigh the costs or consequences of doing so. Rather than conserving energy by turning off the lights, it seems consumers are now encouraged to use multiple devices at once and consume as much as they can, much like the film’s antagonist, Galactus, the devourer. The Fantastic Four exemplifies a world where technology can thrive when used responsibly and even help save the world. When everyone does their part in the global family affair, whether it’s Galactus or climate change, disaster can be averted.