Marvel has finally remembered how to make a movie again like its Phase 1 films with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

First Steps avoids the worst MCU habits, embraces classic family values, and aims high with cosmic stakes—but familiar missteps in the final act diminish what could have been.

First Steps” is the third Marvel movie to hit theaters this year, but it packs way more hidden references and nods than “Captain America: Brave New World” or “Thunderbolts.” It’s not on the same level of Easter eggs as last year’s “Deadpool and Wolverine,

First Steps" just introduced the most powerful being in the MCU and was pretty nonchalant about it. Franklin Richards - the newborn son of Reed and Sue Richards – made his debut in the latest MCU film and drew the immediate attention of big bad Galactus.

First Steps' includes two post-credits scenes. Here's how that big reveal sets up what's coming in Phase 6 of the MCU.

During an early montage that fills in the backstory of the four years the Fantastic Four have been protecting the world, we see the team appear on various magazine covers heralding their exploits. One such cover is for a publication named Now Politics, with Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) pictured as a respected diplomat in the world of Earth-828.

The best thing about First Steps is the aesthetic. It’s far and away my favorite part of this film, and that’s a problem because as much as I do enjoy a solid retrofuturistic aesthetic, it’s not enough to make a mediocre movie worth watching. This is all style over substance.