The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2025 - Issue 37

bitefilms NEWFILMRELEASES Jada Brookes examines some of the latest films now playing and those coming soon to the big screen. T he Matt Shakman-directed Fan- tastic Four: First Steps is less a reboot than a reawakening. Set in a 1960s-inspired alternate Earth, the film introduces Marvel’s First Family with a visual and emotional clarity that is nostalgic and boldly new. This origin story is a meditation on iden- tity, legacy, and the fragile bonds that tether us to one another, even when the cosmos threatens to unravel them. Pedro Pascal leads as Reed Richards, a man of impossible intellect and impos- sible guilt. His portrayal is restrained yet haunted, grounding the film’s more cosmic flourishes in a deeply personal struggle. Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm is the film’s emotional, introspective, commanding, and revolutionary anchor. Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm crackles with youthful bravado, while Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm brings a bruised tenderness to The Thing that lingers long after the credits roll. The film’s retro-futurist aesthetic, inspired by Jack Kirby’s cosmic tapes- tries, feels like a love letter to mid-cen- tury optimism and the anxieties of the Cold War. From the chrome-laced skyline of New Manhattan to the eerie serenity of the Negative Zone, every frame pulses with stylised wonder. Yet beneath the spectacle lies a story of intimacy: four people grappling with bodily transformation and purpose. Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and The Thing are forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond. They must defend Earth from a raven- ous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic herald, Sil- ver Surfer (Julia Garner). His plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it suddenly becomes personal. The action-adventure film also stars Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles. Release Date: 25 July 2025 https://www.disney.co.uk/movies/the- fantastic-four-first-steps The Fantastic Four First Steps