Following his recent review of DCU's "Superman," renowned Japanese game creator Hideo Kojima took to X (formerly Twitter) to lavish praise on Marvel's new film, "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." He not only described the movie as "truly Fantastic" but also hailed it as a successful and uniquely styled franchise reboot. His comments have generated significant buzz, especially as the film faces a substantial box office drop in its second week.
In his post, Kojima meticulously detailed the film's handling of 1960s futuristic imagination, noting the high consistency and stylistic control evident in everything from costumes, colors, and designs to streetscapes, TV shows, food brands, and even storage media like magnetic tapes and optical discs.
"It's not just the costumes, color schemes, designs, streetscapes, TV and animated shows, uniforms and spacesuits, rockets, and cars," Kojima wrote. "Even corporate names, food items (like cereals and sodas), and storage media (tapes, discs) all thoroughly embody the 60s aesthetic and sense of futurism."
He also mentioned that the film's overall atmosphere reminded him of the childhood TV series "Bewitched" and the family-centric animated movie "The Incredibles." Kojima suggested that this nostalgic and warm aesthetic represents a new trend for post-pandemic superhero films, moving away from the darker, more realistic approaches of the past.
Regarding the narrative structure, Kojima believes the film's smartest move was to introduce the characters' abilities and backgrounds through a fictional TV program within the movie, rather than relying on a lengthy origin explanation. 
"If they had meticulously described how they became superheroes from the very beginning, it would have become overly expository and dragged the pace," Kojima explained. "Like 'Superman,' this film cleverly skips that part, allowing the audience to jump directly into the plot at the point where they are about to welcome a 'new family member' (the beginning of chaos and crisis). This kind of setup is very smooth. As the 'reboot starting point' for this series, this work truly deserves to be called a 'Fantastic' first step."
Despite the strong critical reception, "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is facing box office pressure. Its estimated second-week gross dropped to $42 million, a significant 64% decline from its opening weekend. Nevertheless, the film has already surpassed $200 million globally to date, making it the highest-grossing MCU film this year, outperforming "Captain America: Brave New World."