Fantastic Four: First Steps Film Under Fire After Actors’ Comments

Disney has just gotten the “Snow White” controversy to die down (thanks to “Minecraft”), and already they have a new kerfuffle to deal with. The Mouse House is betting heavily on their new Fantastic 4 film, “Fantastic Four: First Steps.” Now, the potential audience is speaking out after comments made by two of the film’s actors, Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman) and Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch).

What did they say?

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, both actors talked about “their versions” of the famous comic book characters. Their comments have left fans a bit concerned about the new film.

Vanessa Kirby mentioned “gender politics” regarding the comic book origins of the characters, and Joseph Quinn mentions his kinder, gentler, less womanizing version of the Johnny Storm character.

Kirby discusses Sue Storm’s portrayal in the 1960s and gender politics, 

“If you played an exact ’60s Sue today, everyone would think she was a bit of a doormat. So figuring out how to capture the essence of what she represented to each generation, where the gender politics were different, and embody that today, was one of the greatest joys of this.

I’ve always been really interested in the mess of femininity, and how can you be both? How can you be all the things? Not just the tough, invincible, powerful woman, but also a mother who gives birth, which is itself a superhero act. I love that these characters are real humans in a messy family who argue and try to work it out and get things wrong.”

Quinn gave these comments when speaking about his character’s previous portrayals and how it needs to be changed “culturally.”

“He’s a man that leads with a lot of bravado, which can be an affront sometimes. But also he’s funny,” Quinn says. “Myself and [Marvel Studios boss] Kevin [Feige] were speaking about previous iterations of him and where we are culturally. He was branded as this womanizing, devil-may-care guy, but is that sexy these days? I don’t think so. This version of Johnny is less callous with other people’s feelings, and hopefully there’s a self-awareness about what’s driving that attention-seeking behavior.”

Fans are not happy.

I think the Johnny Storm thing is especially infuriating because Storm’s womanizing wasn’t done because it was “sexy in those days”. It’s part of his character. It reinforces his childishness & immaturity.

You can have bad character traits without the film endorsing them.

— Maw (@TheEbonyMaw) April 11, 2025

Why watch slop when Marvel Rivals does their characters way better

— 𝕺𝖜𝖑𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖎𝖆𝖘🇨🇱🇪🇸 (@0wlAfter) April 11, 2025

It’d be nice if they’d just decide to respect the IP instead of social engineering but whatever. I still may or may not go. Depends on what it actually turns out to be.

— HoorayBacon™ Unchecked (@HoorayBacon) April 11, 2025

Why is it so hard for them to adapt the characters as they are in the original stories? It’s like they go out of their way to stress points that take away from the story.

— SillySandyAJ🌸🃏💜💚❤️ (@SillySandyAJ) April 11, 2025

You would think that the actors would be getting bored with these themes. Movie goers have been bored or annoyed by them for quite awhile now. As a normie, I find the Fantastic Four to be boring heroes, and feel Superhero movies in general are no longer must see events.

— YouDontHaveToWatch (@StarsAndBars123) April 11, 2025

Sounds like another flop.

— Steven Arellano (@UberPhreak) April 11, 2025

I used to be furious. Now I just don’t care anymore. I’m checked out.

— Joanne C. (@JojoLovesAndy) April 11, 2025

This was bound to happen. It won’t be long before we find out that Ben Grimm’s catchphrase is now “It’s let’s sit down and talk about it time!”. I also suspect that Sue will be the real genius behind Reed, she’ll be caught late one night correcting his formulae or something…

— Legendary Hamster (@LegendaryH80858) April 11, 2025

Oh….. well now my interest is killed

— Benjamin Loken (@BenjiLoken1999) April 11, 2025

This is why Disney needs to make sure their actors are not speaking. Because, even if the movie doesn’t focus on the political points mentioned, the fact they mentioned them means that people assume it’s another agenda-driven Disney/Marvel film. It’s more Phase 4  and less Phases 1-3.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!