First Steps’ Is Already Beating ‘Superman’ Where It Counts

Fantastic Four vs Superman
Credit: Disney / Warner Bros

The dust has yet to settle on Marvel’s latest MCU entry, but Fantastic Four: First Steps is off to a strong start this weekend. In terms of critical reception, it’s doing about the same as James Gunn’s Superman, at least as far as Rotten Tomatoes is concerned.

That film kicked off with a critic score just over 90% before slowly dipping down to its current 84%, with 449 reviews (you can read mine here). The film has over 10,000 Verified User reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 92% “Popcornmeter” or audience score.

Fantastic Four: First Steps only has 247 critic reviews at the time of this writing, which means we’re likely going to see its current 89% critic score either go up or, more likely, dip down by the time all those reviews are online. The “Popcornmeter” is also at 92%, with over 2,500 user ratings. This is unlikely to change much.

All told, it’s looking like both films will be pretty much neck-and-neck when it comes to critical reception. So what about where it really counts? So far, at the box office, Fantastic Four: First Steps has tiptoed out into the lead. The film pulled down an impressive $24.4 million in previews Thursday, nearly $2 million over Superman’s $22.5 million haul.

Analysts predict Fantastic Four is on track to make between $100 and $110 million opening weekend, with another $90 to $100 million internationally. Strong preview numbers could mean these predictions are a touch on the low side. Superman earned $125 million domestically its opening weekend with a $95 million international haul for a total of $220 million worldwide. It was the third largest opening weekend of the year at the domestic box office, following Lilo & Stitch ($146 million) and A Minecraft Movie ($162 million).

It looks likely after such strong previews that Fantastic Four will edge out Superman for opening weekend especially if the film performs better in international markets. But it will be very close. Either way, strong word of mouth is apparently doing wonders for both DC and Marvel this summer. Superhero fatigue – often cited as a reason for lackluster box office numbers and mediocre reviews – is clearly not the primary culprit when it comes to audience disenchantment over superhero movies. Rather, it’s the lack of compelling offerings from these studios over the past six or seven years on top of a struggling post-pandemic theater industry that’s really to blame.

Both the DCEU (now DCU) and MCU have been struggling to win over audiences, with two Marvel disappointments out already this year in Captain America: Brave New World ($12 million in previews, $88.5 million opening) and Thunderbolts ($11.5 million previews, $76 million opening).

Further Reading