Fantastic Faith: 3 Lessons from Marvel’s First Family in First Steps

(This post was originally created for Love Thy Nerd)

I remember sitting in middle school in gym class and seeing a trailer for a Fantastic 4 movie that would never be released. They rolled out the infamous “cart” that with a tv and vcr. I don’t remember what movie we watched, but I remember the preview for Fantastic 4 and waiting to see that movie for years. I was familiar enough with comic book history 30+ years ago to have a vague concept of who these characters were, and I was intrigued. At this point we’d basically just had big screen versions of Superman and Batman, so I was excited to see what this be like. It never got its chance to show what it could be (all though I hear you can watch it on Youtube).

It would be 4 years later before Blade finally picked up the torch to bring Marvel to the big screen. Since then, we’ve been through 2 different iterations of the 4, plus a bonus John Krasinski. And now it’s the part of the show where Pedro Pascall defends a specially enabled child against great odds. While that is a familiar theme, there were plenty of things that seemed familiar yet fresh in Fantastic Four. Even though this was the fourth full iteration we’ve seen of Marvel’s first family, it still was the first take for a whole new cinematic universe and the generations who see it. It was visually charming and had an authentic feel to the world it created. After spending a couple hours in this world, here are 3 reflections I took away from my foray into the Fantastic. 

Steal, Kill, & Destroy. 

Through some nice montages and highlight reels, we see that the Fantastic 4 have built themselves a near eutopia. Crime is down. Society is benefiting. Earth 828 is seemingly the most polished and pristine world we’ve seen in Marvel. It’s genuinely warm, fuzzy, and a smidge vanilla. That is until of course until the Surfer shows up, heralding Galactus’ arrival and Earth’s end. Just when things are at their smoothest someone shows up who literally is bent on destroying their entire existence.  Even when they try to talk to the Surfer or Galactus, reason isn’t an option. I think one of the constant disappointments or frustrations in our lives are the moments when we finally get things in one piece for a moment and then chaos happens. A car breaks down, an illness is found, a job is lost, or a celestial cosmic entity wants to show up and eat your planet.  It’s part of the story and the cycle of living. There’s going to be trouble.  Jesus spoke on two passages that always hit home for me with this.  

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” - John 10:10 

““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33 

Can’t Be Controlled by the Approval of Others 

Jesus makes these points throughout the book of John that living in this world will come with trouble and we will have to contend with a force that is actively trying to destroy any and everything good we’ve built. But the joy and the hope that comes with that horribly heralded news is that Jesus wants us to have full and abundant life and that He wants us to have peace regardless of what troubles the world brings at us.   People Pleasing. 

One of the wildest moments of the movie to me is when the 4 return to Earth after their unsuccessful negotiations Galactus. They are hastily thrown into a press conference. As they were being questioned about how things went down, Reed, with all the social skills of an actual Stretch Armstrong announces to the whole world that Galactus would have left them alone if they had simply given up their own child. Fam, that was not information that needed to be shared. They could have avoided a lot of conflict and disdain if they had just omitted that part of the report or stated that Galactus couldn’t be reasoned with. But nope. Reed awkwardly spilled all the tea, which left the whole world angry at the seemingly selfish nature of their choice. Considering we operate within a faith that hinges on a father sacrifices their child for the good of the world, it’s easy to see how some people might look at their choice with a strong side eye. 

Sue eventually makes a plea to the people; “I will not sacrifice my child for this world, but I will not sacrifice this world for my child.” They weren’t willing to make a choice simply because it made the rest of the world or Galactus happy. This was another thing that I found encouraging just because it’s so easy for us to feel that crippling weight and anxiety to live up to people’s expectations. As a chronic people pleaser myself, that’s the kind of pressure that would leave me debilitated. But the 4 stood together as a family, setting an example for us just as Paul did for the Galatian and Thessalonian churches. 

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” - Galatians 1:10.  

“For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.” - 1 Thessalonians 2: 3-4 

There will come many opportunities and circumstances in our lives where we will be pressured to make choices just to please others or check the boxes in their limited options. If we are truly living for God, people pleasing can’t be our guide or standard. We need to be able to boldly stand for the choices that please God, even if they make us look as awkward as Reed at that press conference.

Run to Refuge 

One of the things I appreciated most as the Fantastic 4 was reaching its climax was the fact they actually took time to do preemptive damage control. One of the biggest tropes in super powered battles is the colossal amount of damage, injury, and loss of life that happens every time a bad guy shows up for battle. Most stories like this don’t have the Dragon Ball Z effect of taking their battles somewhere unpopulated, and most heroes don’t have time to save squirrels like Superman. When the 4 realized their plan for facing Galactus was going to bring destruction to the hearts of thousands, they took the time to evacuate everyone to Mole Man’s underground realm of Subterrannea.

They didn’t wait until Galactus was about to make stains out of bystanders or before rubble reduced residents to residue. They provided refuge before everything hit the cosmic fan. This is a solid reminder for me because God is proclaimed throughout scripture to be a refuge, but so often we fail to seek refuge before the chaos. We end up being the one dude stubbornly trying to run under Galactus’ feet instead of safely with the mole folk. 

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High     will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,     my God, in whom I trust.”” - Psalm 91:1-2 

“God is our refuge and strength,     an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way     and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam     and the mountains quake with their surging.” - Psalm 46:1-3 

It was still alarming for the citizens to feel the shaking of their city from underground, but they remained safe (yay mole people architecture). For us, if we are willing to make the conscious choice to make God our refuge, we will find ourselves secure at even the most catastrophic calamities.  

This was a solid story about family, sacrifice, and what we do when we are faced with opposition greater than ourselves. We won’t always be able to choose the struggles and challenges we are faced with, but we will have the option to choose how we respond to them, and that response can make even the worst circumstances fantastic.