What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Fantastic 4: First Steps
Matt Shakman · Film · 2025
If you loved The Fantastic 4: First Steps, start with The Black Fantastic (andré m. carrington, 2025) — a book on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Fantastic 4: First Steps across media.
What hooked you in The Fantastic 4: First Steps is the way high-stakes cosmic threats collide with the fragile, messy bonds of family.
Books on the same thread
The Black Fantastic
andré m. carrington · Book · 2025
Explores: Black Identity, Community, Imagination.
Much like the diverse perspectives within The Fantastic 4: First Steps, this collection uses speculative fiction to ground massive, weird concepts in the essential importance of community and identity.
The Martian
Andy Weir · Book · 2015
Explores: Resourcefulness, Human Ingenuity, Isolation.
If the scientific ingenuity used to survive cosmic threats in The Fantastic 4: First Steps fascinated you, you will appreciate this intense focus on individual resourcefulness amidst interstellar isolation.
Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir · Book · 2021
Explores: Amnesia, Planetary Survival, Xenobiology.
The Fantastic 4: First Steps balances vast space exploration with intimate character stakes, a dynamic mirrored here as a lone survivor faces an existential threat through pure scientific problem-solving.
The Forge of God
Greg Bear · Book · 2001
Explores: Extinction Event, Existential Threat, Humanity's Survival.
This story mirrors the existential dread found in The Fantastic 4: First Steps, pitting human resilience and our complex emotional landscape against an overwhelming and inevitable galactic extinction event.
Series on the same thread
Battlestar Galactica
Glen A. Larson · Series · 2004
Explores: Survival, Existential Threat, Humanity's Resilience.
The Fantastic 4: First Steps highlights the burden of protecting humanity, a theme perfectly captured by this fleet's desperate journey to save the last remnants of their kind from destruction.
Fallout
Graham Wagner · Series · 2024
Explores: Social Stratification, Survival, Moral Ambiguity.
Fans of the retro-futuristic aesthetic and high-concept world-building in The Fantastic 4: First Steps will find a similarly stylized, though much bleaker, exploration of how humans navigate broken, advanced societies.
IT: Welcome to Derry
Andy Muschietti · Series · 2025
Explores: Childhood Trauma, Ancient Evil, Group of Friends.
Set in the same era as The Fantastic 4: First Steps, this narrative captures that specific 1960s atmosphere while focusing on how a tight-knit group confronts an ancient, incomprehensible evil.
Pluribus
Vince Gilligan · Series · 2025
Explores: Existential dread, The cost of happiness, Reluctant hero.
If the weight of responsibility in The Fantastic 4: First Steps resonated, you will enjoy this satirical take on a reluctant hero forced to grapple with the fate of humanity.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Orphans
The Light and Tragic Company · Podcast · 2025
The Fantastic 4: First Steps explores the emotional core of surviving a harsh universe, a theme this audio drama expands upon through its focus on castaways and complex relationships.
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
Like the anthology-style wonder of The Fantastic 4: First Steps, these cinematic stories explore the human condition through diverse, imaginative lenses that challenge your perception of the known world.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Fantastic 4: First Steps set in the modern day?
No, The Fantastic 4: First Steps takes place against a vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world. The story focuses on Marvel's First Family balancing their heroic duties and family bonds while defending Earth from the space god Galactus and his Herald, Silver Surfer.
Who is the primary antagonist in The Fantastic 4: First Steps?
The primary antagonist in The Fantastic 4: First Steps is the ravenous space god known as Galactus. He is accompanied by his enigmatic Herald, the Silver Surfer, as they threaten Earth and force the members of the Fantastic Four to defend the planet.
What is the central conflict in The Fantastic 4: First Steps?
The central conflict in The Fantastic 4: First Steps involves the titular family attempting to balance their roles as heroes with their personal family bonds. This struggle occurs while they simultaneously work to defend Earth from the threat posed by Galactus and the Silver Surfer.
Who directed The Fantastic 4: First Steps?
The Fantastic 4: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman. The film depicts the family living in a retro-futuristic version of the 1960s while they prepare to face off against the space god Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, the Silver Surfer.