The Best Fantastic Four Movie Wasn't Even Made By Marvel

There are spoilers ahead for "The Fantastic Four: First Steps."

The Fantastic Four are amongst the most important comic book characters of all time, foundational pillars of what would become Marvel Comics, and some of the most powerful and popular characters in the Marvel Universe. Yet they've had some very bad luck when it comes to feature film adaptations, with three attempts (plus a fourth one that was never released) that have failed to really make an impact or properly capture what makes the original characters fun — even if the 2005 film is not that bad!

Now, Marvel Studios hopes the fourth time is the charm, and it seems to be working. "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is a vastly different take than the last three movies, and also different from any recent Marvel movie. Though it chooses style over substance, the style is so distinct and unique that it makes this a fascinating superhero movie. The retro-futuristic aesthetic and the stunning (award-worthy) production design create a world unlike any we've seen in the last 20 years. Plus, the focus on fun, hope, and family makes for a film that, as /Film's Witney Seibold described in his review, "balances the team's necessary, wimpy corniness with astonishing spatial adventures, emerging as one of the better superhero films of the year."

Still, as many good ideas as "First Steps" has, it is still not the best "Fantastic Four" movie we've ever seen. That's because the most perfect representation of the Fantastic Four already happened in a movie over 20 years ago, and it wasn't even made by Marvel.

That's right: The best "Fantastic Four" movie is still Pixar's "The Incredibles."

It's been 21 years since "The Incredibles," but it remains one of the best American animated movies of the 21st century. A big gamble for Pixar at the time, it was the company's first movie entirely about humans and its first movie that came from an animator who hadn't started out at the studio. "The Incredibles" is not just a, well, incredibly good animated movie, but also an incredibly good superhero movie. It oozes style without losing its substance, paying homage to the Golden Age of comics with an exquisite late '60s, early '70s aesthetic. It paid off big time, and saved the box office by becoming the biggest original superhero movie.

When "The Incredibles" first came out, many critics and audiences pointed out how similar it seemed to a Fantastic Four story, and the comparison pop up again juxtaposed against "First Steps." Beyond the fact that both movies are about a family first and superheroes second, the fact that they have very similar powers is noticeable. Mr. Fantastic is basically a male Elastigirl, The Thing is just Mr. Incredible but made of rock, Sue Storm's powers are similar to Violet's, and (this will be important in a bit) Reed and Sue's son, Franklin, is baby Jack-Jack.

Both movies have a retro-futuristic look, being set in alternate versions of the 1960s full of wonder and cool technology. And they both have an in medias res opening with a montage showing the history of their respective universes, showcasing the heroes' feats through news footage. This helps establish the movies' worlds and makes them feel full of history and detail. Both films also feature interrogations of the place of superheroes in society, with "The Incredibles" being set after the government decided not to pay for the property damage caused by heroes anymore and forced them into hiding, while "First Steps" is set in a world clearly made better by the work of the Fantastic Four. (Both also feature a mole man villain.)

But possibly the biggest similarity is how both movies feature an all-powerful creature that becomes a key part of the story's climax: a baby.

A significant part of the story of "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" has to do with Reed (Pedro Pascal) and Sue's (Vanessa Kirby) son, Franklin. Even before the child is born, he is being targeted by Galactus (Ralph Ineson), the Devourer of Worlds. Galactus believes the child has immense cosmic powers, perhaps as great as his, and is willing to let Earth survive if the Fantastic Four deliver the child to him to become his successor. By the end of the film, when Sue sacrifices herself to push Galactus into a portal that sends him far away, she is quite literally brought back to life via Franklin's powers.

In the comics, Franklin Richards is considered one of the most powerful beings in the universe (and in one continuity, he becomes Galactus), even capable of creating entire new universes. He is the Marvel equivalent of Akira from "Akira."

Though not exactly as powerful, baby Jack-Jack from "The Incredibles" serves a similar narrative function in the climax of the movie when we discover that the seemingly only normal member of the Parr family is actually its most powerful. After defeating the Omnidroid, Syndrome attempts to kidnap Jack-Jack to raise him as his sidekick, but he is killed after the baby develops every single power you can think of and kicks Syndrome's ass. "The Incredibles II" doubles down on this by giving the baby even more powers, making for one adorable yet very dangerous toddler.

Even after 20 years, "The Incredibles" remains a stellar piece of superhero cinema and the best "Fantastic Four" movie that doesn't feature the Human Torch (though Jack-Jack does have Johnny's powers).