The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Every decade, it seems, The Fantastic Four returns in a new attempt to translate the Marvel comic book series to cinema—and after the dismally received pre-MCU  and Fox outings, is the third time the charm? If Michael Giacchino’s score has anything to do with it, it just may be. Right at the beginning, we hear an angelic choir with a major chord and a minor sixth inflection to imbue the trailer immediately with an epic sensibility. (And that even when all we see so far is an interior of the Fantastic Four’s headquarters—the Baxter building.) The pointillistic, arpeggiated voices complement Reed Richards’ measured, mildly eccentric mannerisms that are reminiscent of the kind of OCD that seems to possess every narrator of a long-winded Wes Anderson monologue, right down to the emphatic “-t” at the end of “no matter what”.

The charm offensive continues as Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s riff on The Thing makes clear reference to Ebon’s best-known character from popular series The Bear. Note the impossibly delightful sound of rock against rock as he licks his lips, and the meta-diegetic bell that seems to indicate The Thing’s taste response. In this world, the calm, measured response of the characters’ dialogue provides an effective foil to the fantastic retro-futuristic visual universe that Marvel Studios has concocted.

At 0:37 the stakes are raised a little more, with epic percussion (and the release date title card) leading to broader, wider scenes and more dramatic lighting and scenarios, such as Richards working at a vast chalkboard full of equations. The minor sixth / major third combination returns with repeated downward arpeggios in the strings, which continues through a montage as we hear dialogue between Reed Richards and Susan Storm: Richards expresses mild misgivings over how they received their powers and whether they’re welcome while Storm provides reassurances. During Storm’s speech, the arrangement turns uplifting, if not outright triumphant, with prominent brass and strong stepwise motion between major chords.

At 1:15 we get one more reprise of that main melodic motif with a rapid montage, culminating in the choir returning with the chord progression heard at the beginning—this time, unabashedly singing “Fantastic Four”. It’s hard not to draw comparisons to the recently released trailer for James Gunn’s Superman—rather than attempt to accommodate in myriad ways for the cinematic medium, the version of Fantastic Four Marvel presents here leans into stylishness that’s arguably requisite to pull off a series with such an unserious title. It’s fun—it’s supposed to be, and it knows it, albeit balancing that with some truly epic sensibilities. Further, it’s in the contrast between fun and epic that we can find something uniquely likeable, which takes us back to the original comic book.

Giacchino’s score deftly underscores and complements the visuals here. It gets out of the way and renders a more subtle sonic palette when needed closer to the beginning of the trailer, and then expanding to more typical superhero fare towards the end. While the more epic fare is expected, it’s the first half of the trailer where we see and hear something truly different—and there is the heart of the trailer’s success.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theatres on July 25th.

— Curtis Perry