It’s been revealed today that The Fantastic Four: First Steps has logged the lowest five-day debut of any MCU movie on Disney+, attracting only 4.9 million views.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That’s 23% below Captain America: Brave New World (6.4 million) and 10% below Thunderbolts* (5.5 million), an undeniable disaster, right? That’s how it’s being framed, but The Fantastic Four: First Steps\u00a0($521.9 million) earned 25% more at the box office than the former ($415.1 million), and 36% more than the latter ($382.4 million).\u00a0<\/p>\n
In other words, a greater number of\u00a0people went to see the movie in theaters, rather\u00a0than waiting to watch it on streaming for the first time.<\/p>\n
That goes some way in explaining the drop. Even so,\u00a0Marvel Studios will likely still be disappointed that The Fantastic Four: First Steps wasn’t a bigger draw, especially when Deadpool & Wolverine attracted a reported 19.4 million views in 6 days, according to Disney.<\/p>\n
Based on Nielsen data\u2014which, it’s worth noting, only\u00a0tracks a small percentage of U.S. homes\u2014The Fantastic Four: First Steps\u00a0pulled in 556 million viewing minutes, leaving it third in the Top 10 movies chart behind Netflix’s\u00a0Frankenstein and\u00a0KPop Demon Hunters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are the reported 5-day streaming numbers for every MCU movie that’s debuted on Disney+ following a theatrical release:<\/p>\n
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever \u2014 14.1M
\nGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 \u2014 10.9M
\nDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness \u2014 9.7M
\nEternals \u2014 9.2M
\nCaptain America: Brave New World \u2014 6.4M
\nAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania \u2014 6.1M
\nThunderbolts* \u2014 5.5M
\nThe Marvels \u2014 5.3M
\nBlack Widow \u2014 5.1M
\nThe Fantastic Four: First Steps \u2014 4.9M<\/p>\n
Disney+ didn’t do much to promote The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ debut on the platform. There were no interviews with cast or crew, and nothing on social media would get fans particularly excited beyond the odd TV spot or promo.<\/p>\n
Is this a worrying trend or a minor blip on the radar? That remains to be seen, and it’s clearly still too soon to say whether we’ll get a sequel featuring Marvel’s First Family in the post-Avengers: Secret Wars MCU.<\/p>\n
In our review<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we concluded,\u00a0“The Fantastic Four is an exceptional introduction to the MCU\u2019s First Family, and thanks to a Jack Kirby-infused feel that\u2019s unlike anything we\u2019ve seen before, it proves to be a quintessential superhero movie with Marvel Studios at its brilliant best.<\/p>\n Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’\u00a0The Fantastic Four: First Steps\u00a0introduces Marvel\u2019s First Family\u2014Reed Richards\/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm\/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm\/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm\/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.<\/p>\n Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus\u2019 plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren\u2019t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.<\/p>\n The movie\u00a0is now available on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Disney+.<\/p>\n Congratulations to #TheFantasticFour<\/a>: First Steps on their #CriticsChoice<\/a> Awards Film nomination for Best Production Design! pic.twitter.com\/04Kt2sA521<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Fantastic Four (@FantasticFour) December 5, 2025<\/a>
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