Fantastic Four (1994)
The Galactus Saga on a cereal budget: Surfer's defection played straight, Doom as a Cold War thriller, 26 episodes of the best First Family hour ever filmed. Disney+.
Cast & Key People
Our Review
The First Family’s finest screen hour, and it is not particularly close. Cereal sponsor budget, 26 episodes, and an entire season spent on the Galactus Saga, the Silver Surfer’s defection played with genuine weight, Doom annexing Latveria into a Cold War thriller, Hala the war princess episodes that borrow Kirby without apology.
The voice cast nails the family’s bickering, Johnny is properly insufferable, Ben’s tragedy gets its real due in the longer arcs, and Galactus speaks in a register that still gives adults the chills. Doctor Doom in this one is the best Doom until the comics remembered him.
It streams on Disney+ in most months, where the 1994 Marvel vault mostly lives. If Marvel’s First Steps movie has the family in theaters, watch this the week before. 7 out of 10, an instant classic for four color purists.
