‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ in 4K Ultra HD celebrates style, story and comic book spectacle

Marvel Comics’ beloved first family returned yet again to live-action cinema in a critically acclaimed but only minor box office hit that looks to rebound with the movie’s special release in the home theater, ultra-high definition disc format in The Fantastic Four: First Steps — Cinematic Universe Edition (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, not rated, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 114 minutes, $49.99).

Director Matt Shakman’s movie, which is thankfully not an origin story, introduces viewers to the already fully empowered Fantastic Four, who are already saving New York City and the world from a variety of threats.

The four members of the superhero team are the brilliant and stretchy Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal); his wife, Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby); her fiery brother, Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch (Joseph Quinn); and good rocky friend Ben Grimm, aka The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).

The welcomed surprise finds Sue pregnant, but a metallic female Herald Shalla-Bal nicknamed the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) disrupts the family’s joy, arriving as a representative of the devourer of worlds, Galactus (Ralph Ineson), to let earthlings know that their planet is next in line for her boss’ dinner plans.

The team meets Galactus in deep space, and he will spare Earth if given Sue’s child, the cosmic-powered baby named Franklin, who was recently born in a spaceship no less.

Of course, she says no, but the greedy and scared humans want the team to give up the tyke, forcing Reed to rally the earthlings and set forth a high-tech plan to save Franklin as well as hide the planet from the god-like entity, as long as that metallic minion does not interfere first.

If any comic book fan ever wanted to know what Alex Ross’ illustrations from the seminal comic book series Marvels or his 64-page graphic novel “Fantastic Four: Full Circle” would look like in live action, they have come to the right movie.

Viewers get a serious dose of 1960s retro-futuristic production design, mixing the charm of a vintage Big Apple with flying cars, spaceships shooting off a launch pad in Manhattan’s East River and Reed’s wild technology.

Those in love with the comic book vintage series will find threads of designs from sequential art wizards Jack Kirby and John Byrne; will fondly embrace the introduction of the family’s loyal assistant created by Mr. Fantastic — H.E.R.B.I.E. (Highly Engineered Robot Built for Interdimensional Exploration) — as well as the Fantasti-Car; and might shed a tear watching a recreation of the first Fantastic Four’s first comic book cover from 1961.

Fans also get, by far, the most comic-accurate representation of The Thing ever created for a live-action movie. He looks ripped from his most traditional and classic version in comics.

And, my only nitpick on the wonderful film? I have seen enough of Mr. Pascal in pop culture movies to last me a lifetime. He is fine as Reed, but I can think of a dozen actors who would have been equally deserving and should have been given a chance. Enough already.

Ultimately, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is a movie about family and, thankfully, built for a family to successfully dive into a legendary comic book universe, lovingly starring Stan Lee’s 60-year-old pop art superstars.

4K in action: Home theater viewers can take an eye-popping examination, much like one might scrutinize a sequential art painting, through this vivid and detailed presentation built from a 4K digital intermediate.

The Fantastic Four universe comes to life not only through the 1960s costuming and location production design, but also when watching the multistory Galactus walk down a city street.

He creates enormous collateral damage in his wake as buildings are ripped to collapsed walls of bricks, shards of glass and buckling concrete, all worthy of inspection.

A few of the coolest visual moments highlight the Silver Surfer riding a wave of molten metal; Johnny’s mug reflecting in the Silver Surfer’s metallic face; and getting to look inside Sue’s midsection and see Franklin displayed as she makes her body translucent.

Color shines within viewing the amber glow as Galactus scans an area; the Fantastic Four’s spaceship shot into light speed; a spectral trail (like a light reflection) when Sue uses her force powers; and the varied amount of flame effects to bring the Human Torch to light.

One disappointment is the lack of displaying parts of the film in the full-screen IMAX aspect ratio, especially when the Silver Surfer arrives on earth and during Galactus’ rampage.

Best extras: First, listen to the optional commentary track with the director and production designer Kasra Farahani.

The two are often laser-focused on discussing the world’s design, such as details on the really functioning built Fantasti-Car based on turbine-designed vehicles (except for flight); the interior of the Baxter Building’s architecture; color palettes; the magic behind the full animatronic puppet H.E.R.B.I.E.; the breakdown of Reed’s laboratory; and Galactus, inspired by Kirby’s original design.

Although slightly frustrating as Mr. Shakman ignores Easter Eggs, some story themes and comic book comparisons, the track does not disappoint.

Next, a trio of featurettes covers a promotional overview of the film and its cast; more production design, including Mr. Farahani’s team building two-thirds of a vintage Times Square; and a look at secondary characters such as Galactus, Mole Man and the Silver Surfer.