TheMarvel Cinematic UniverseandDC Universehave both just proven that new superhero movies do not need origin stories. Regarding the overall state of both franchises, the importance of2025 to Marvel and DCcannot be overstated. On one side,Supermankickstarted theDCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, while on the other, Marvel began building towardsAvengers: Doomsday.
Theending ofThe Fantastic Four: First Stepscontinued this build-up for Marvel afterThunderbolts*andCaptain America: Brave New Worldbegan to tease Doctor Doom’s arrival.Superman’s endingwas less concerned with outright teases for the future, but the reaction to the film has begun the DCU’s cinematic ventures on a massively positive note.
What makes both of these projects interesting, though, is how they proved that the MCU and DCU need not be so concerned with rehashing superhero origin stories in the future.
Superman & The Fantastic Four: First Steps Skip Over Both Origin Stories
Two Big Comic Book Elements Were Removed From The Projects
In bothSupermanandThe Fantastic Four: First Steps,the origin stories of the characters were left out. Usually,Supermanmovies focus on how the character was sent to Earth. In 1978’sSupermanand 2013’sMan of Steel,both of which began new iterations of the hero, the destruction of his home planet, Krypton, was shown.
Both movies then featured Kal-El being sent to Earth, being found and raised by the Kents, and splitting his life between being the hero Superman and the civilian Clark Kent.Supermanopted not to include any of this in flashbacks or otherwise. Although some ofSuperman’s Easter eggsreferenced Krypton and these story elements, they were largely absent.
The Fantastic Four: First Stepsthen took a similar route. Typically,Fantastic Fourmovies feature the titular team’s first adventure into space, or, in the case of the 2015 movie, an alternate dimension. Either way, the outcome is the same: Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm come back with genetic alterations.
These alterations allow them to become Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing, and Human Torch, respectively. Just like withSuperman, however,The Fantastic Four: First Stepswas not an outright origin story, despite being the first installment involving a new iteration of these characters.
Superman & The Fantastic Four: First Steps Both Include Enough Necessary Backstory Details
Enough For New Audiences To Follow Along
The reason why both projects omitted their origin stories was that they had been depicted several times on film before. That said, for the few who were unfamiliar with the source material forSupermanandThe Fantastic Four, both movies included enough necessary backstory details that they were not left behind.
An interview scene near the beginning of the movie sees Clark Kent relay his origin story to Loisand, thus, the audience. Moreover, thecontroversial origin story retcon inSupermanoutlines enough of the Krypton-centric stuff so that audiences know what is important without actually seeing it.The Fantastic Four: First Stepsfollowed suit in this sense.
DC Universe
The movie begins with a montage of The Fantastic Four, outlining the four years they have been heroes and the many villains they have fought. During this montage, and a few other scenes later in the movie, the origin story of the team is mentioned.
LikeSuperman,enough details are provided inThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsso that audiences understand the origin of the team, though without the entire story of the film hinging on it.
Superhero Movies May Be Leaving Origin Stories Behind
The Future Of Superhero Movies May Be Different
What makes the lack of origin stories inSupermanandThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsso intriguing is how it could change superhero movies in the future. Audiences are responding well to both movies, which only proves how well they work as stories, first and foremost. The lack of outright origin stories may prove that they are no longer needed in every new iteration of a Marvel or DC hero.
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
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Supermanhas proven easy to digest for all audiences, as both the beginning of a universe and its own story.The Fantastic Four: First Stepshas done the same, given that it is set in an entirely different universe from the mainline MCU films. Origin stories were not needed to make either compelling, indicating they may be a thing of the past.
This New Format Could Benefit The Future Of Both Marvel & DC
If origin stories do get left behind with certain projects in the future, Marvel and DC could both benefit from it. On the latter side of things,upcoming DC movieswill include Batman and Wonder Woman reboots, fresh for the DC Universe after the failed DCEU movie timeline.
Given that so many Batman and Wonder Woman iterations have happened over the years, the DCU will likely wish to take theSupermanroute by avoiding the origin stories of both characters. If done correctly, as it was inSuperman, the characters and their movies could benefit massively by not having to dedicate a lot of time to stories audiences have seen before.
Movies or TV shows that link to Batman and Wonder Woman, likeParadise Lostfor the latter, could also be pseudo-origin stories to remove the need for them in each movie.
When looking atupcoming Marvel movies, characters like Blade and the X-Men are set to be part of the MCU afterAvengers: Secret Wars. Blade and the X-Men have had their origins shown several times, too, meaning they could also benefit fromThe Fantastic Four: First Steps’approach.
Origin stories undoubtedly have their place in superhero cinema, especially if the characters being introduced are fairly obscure. However, for the biggest characters that have received several iterations over the decades, likeSupermanandThe Fantastic Four, theMCUandDCUmay have figured out the best way to omit origin stories while making movies that still work for everyone.
