FANTASTIC FOUR: Ranking the Marvel Heroes’ Films

Recently, we held a poll for the best Fantastic Four movie – below is the ranking of all five productions, starting with the one that received the fewest votes. The winner didn’t actually have that big of a lead!

5. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) – 6.1% of votes

Sequels to comic book adaptations have the advantage of not needing to spend much of the film introducing characters. The focus can shift to the story, events, action, and showcasing the heroes’ spectacular powers.

That’s exactly what happens in the second installment of Fantastic Four. [Jacek Hałupka]

4. Fantastic Four (2015) – 7.3% of votes

This is a remarkably misguided adaptation that’s hard to defend even as a standalone work. Emotionless characters deliver incomprehensible lines about black holes and interdimensional travel in flat, detached voices. The actors show no desire to take part in this “adventure,” doing their best not to stand out so viewers can forget them more easily.

[Krzysztof Walecki]

3. The Fantastic Four (1994) – 17.1% of votes

Although it never reached official distribution (it was made so that the producing company could retain the rights to the characters), The Fantastic Four from 1994 has, for three decades, lived its own life thanks to pirated copies that surfaced shortly after news broke that the completed film would not be released in theaters. While it remains the first attempt to bring to the screen the adventures of these characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, anyone who has seen it likely couldn’t shake the feeling that the world simply wasn’t ready for the vision produced by cult B-movie creator Roger Corman. The Fantastic Four is a poor film — badly acted, even more poorly executed, narratively shallow, and… strange (Reed and his relationship with Sue, whom he met when she was a child…), yet surprisingly faithful to the original, at least visually. In fact, perhaps still the most faithful to this day. [Filip Pęziński]

2. Fantastic Four (2005) – 32.9% of votes

The 2005 Fantastic Four is an origin story whose framework somewhat resembles Sam Raimi’s earlier Spider-Man.

At the same time as the hero – or in this case, a team of heroes – is “born,” so is their greatest comic book nemesis (Raimi had the Green Goblin, here it’s Doctor Doom, who gains his powers), who will cause them plenty of trouble. On rewatch, I was surprised to find that Story’s film quite faithfully captures the atmosphere of the 1960s comics – which today might feel dated, but remain enjoyable and engaging. [Łukasz Budnik]

1. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) – 36.6% of votes

The MCU’s Fantastic Four can easily be watched without any knowledge of the broader universe – as a science fiction film with elements of disaster cinema. The space sequences are among the most spectacular in the MCU in years, and the stakes – saving the entire planet from the incoming Galactus – feel tangible. There’s room for emotional moments, and the message about the strength of family resonates beautifully. Vanessa Kirby’s portrayal of Sue is one of the best (perhaps the best?) female characters in the MCU. As a bonus – an absolutely stunning main theme by Michael Giacchino. [Łukasz Budnik]