July 30, 2025
2025 was a big year for Superhero movies. We saw the new Superman movie and the new Fantastic Four movie as well. Admittedly, I am a much bigger fan of Marvel/ MCU than DC. I grew up on Spider-Man, The Avengers, and Fantastic Four. I had a comic book collection with over 10,000 comics. When I was in High School, I sold the collection to get a Camaro. Today I no longer have the car or the comics. I kick myself all the time knowing what I had in that collection.
Alright, I could geek out all day, but that is not why you are on WeddingChaplain.com today. I want to focus on Fantastic Four: First Steps.
It was a franchise reboot that achieved what the other versions of the Fantastic Four had not. With Fantastic Four: First Steps, I was struck by the strong themes of family and marriage. I was genuinely impressed. How often do we see Hollywood not just acknowledge, but uplift marriage, parenthood, and family as heroic powers? That’s precisely what The Fantastic Four: First Steps does, and it couldn’t come at a better time. It is hard to find in movies, and especially hard to find in Superhero movies.
Most of the time, our heroes are strong, silent, mysterious, and lonely. In the DC universe, Bruce Wayne lives at Wayne Mansion and dwells in the Bat Cave by himself. Superman has a relationship with Lois Lane, but his home is the Fortress of Solitude. In the MCU, Peter Parker has to choose to save the world, but it means no one will remember him, including the girl he loves.
But at least in the MCU, there has been a shift towards making marriage and family a worthy goal. It is no longer the idea that the hero rides off into the sunset by themselves.
Captain America/ Steve Rogers, at the end of Avengers: Endgame, goes on a time travel mission to put the infinity stones back where they needed to go. But he uses the time stone to go back to the girl he loves. He settles down and gets married. In that same movie, after the world suffered a horrible defeat at the hands of Thanos, Tony Stark/ Iron Man packs away the armor and chooses to start a family. Hawkeye loves his wife and kids more than anything. Once he loses them, his life goes dark, and he begins to move away from the things that centered him. While the Avengers movies were about Defeating Thanos, there is a strong family theme that runs through them.
During the pandemic, when there was little available to watch, WandaVision became a runaway hit. It featured the marriage between Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch) and Vision (A powerful Android). Before you wonder how an Android and a Witch made it work, remember that it's a comic book; don't focus on the logic.
While all of those did well in portraying and uplifting marriage and family. The Fantastic Four outdid all of them. Fantastic Four: First Steps (directed by Matt Shakman) is a story set in a retro-futuristic 1960s Earth (Earth-828). It tells the story of an Astronaut family. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), his wife Sue Richards (Vanessa Kirby), Sue’s brother Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and family friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).
Many reviewers have caught on to the strength of the family themes. Parents Magazine in their review said: Parents review: “Family isn’t just part of the story—it’s the heart of the story … empowered depiction of motherhood as a superpower.” Parents.
Without spoiling the movie entirely, Sue is pregnant. There is a play on family and raising little ones in the title, Fantastic Four: First Steps. Because Reed and Sue have powers, it is assumed that their child will also possess special abilities. Common Sense Media praises the film in its review for its positive messages of teamwork, sacrifice, and integrity, which are common in comic book movies. But it is powerful that FF portrays Sue’s pregnancy as central to the story. Decider, in their review, suggests that the pregnancy is not just a personal twist, but it has cosmic stakes.
Hollywood rarely frames married life and parenthood in epic terms, but here, marriage is heroic. Their marriage is not an afterthought or an alter ego. Sue’s pregnancy and Reed’s concerns are central to the story. This makes their relationship deeply human and relatable. The Movie Blog sums it up beautifully: “The greatest power in the universe is family.”
One of the things that Reed stresses is that they enjoy spending time together at mealtimes. He says, “Sunday at seven, on the dot, no matter what. We are all here.” IN the 1960s, this would not have shocked anyone. The family meal was a much more commonplace occurrence. But when it lands on our ears in 2025, there is a sense of nostalgia that rose in me. Their secret power is not invisibility or elasticity; it is their focus on family.
One of the key scenes is when our heroes fly out into space to confront Galactus, the giant planet-eating bad guy. He has threatened to devour the planet that the Fantastic Four are dedicated to defending. The twist is when Galactus demands Sue’s unborn child. He wants the child’s power. If they give him the child, he will spare Earth. Not only do the Fantastic Four know how amazing their child is, but the universe knows it as well. Galactus attempts to force the team to choose between the safety of Earth and their families. The FF refuse and escape back to Earth to plan for Galactus’s arrival. Sue gives birth on the way home to Earth, right in the middle of the action.
Whatever life throws at us, we'll face it together, as a family
Throughout this process, Sue delivers some of the movie's best quotes. Sue declares, "I will not sacrifice my son for this planet, but I will not sacrifice this planet for my son," and her definition of family is "fighting for something bigger than yourself. Connecting to something bigger than yourself."
Sue, while reflecting on her own past loss and the importance of maintaining the family unit, says to Reed, "Ben has always been a rock. Johnny is... Johnny. And I am right here. Whatever life throws at us, we'll face it together, as a family." Even though they have different personalities, they share a commitment to facing challenges together.
Finally, when Sue is measuring her commitment to her son, she says, "My mother used to say, A mother would move heaven and earth for her child.'" This actually makes Sue the strongest of all of them. And the fact that Sue is the big hero at the end makes the story even more spectacular. Mom saves the day.
Would you like a superpowered marriage? What if our own marriages were seen as heroic adventures, not just everyday routines? You do not need cosmic rays. Start by planning mealtimes together as a family. Discuss your spouse and children with others. Make your family the centerpiece of your life, not just something you deal with when you are off the clock or at home. What you do at home with your spouse and children does have universal complications. You may not save the world, but you will undoubtedly make an impact.