Avengers: Doomsday is the next of the upcoming Marvel movies, and naturally that’s inspiring me to go back and watch movies from The Multiverse Saga so far. The one I chose to rewatch the most recently was last year’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. I really enjoyed it the first time, and wanted to dive back into its retro-futuristic world again before the heroes collide with other characters in Doomsday. But this time around, one issue really stuck out to me like a sore thumb, and it was a whole character.
What’s Up With Natasha Lyonne In Fantastic Four?
Funny enough, after my first viewing, I thought the one thing about the movie that would bother me the second time around was the CGI baby, but honestly, it was fine. The human baby they chose is cute as heck, and the times in which it was a CGI baby, I get it. It ages just fine to me.
However, one character did really bother me: Natasha Lyonne’s Rachel Rozman. The thing is I love Lyonne, and remember being excited about her mysterious casting before it was revealed. The first time I saw First Steps, I thought it was just nice to see her in a Marvel movie, and I was taking in the whole film.
This time I was getting so distressed seeing her on the screen. Her character is literally pointless. The movie does slow down when she and The Thing are flirting, but I found myself getting restless about her character being there because I knew she had zero payoff, and I’m just so done with Marvel giving these great actors bit parts that seem to hint at something greater, but never turn into anything.
And, The Thing Deserved A Lot Better
Again, it’s not Natasha Lyonne’s fault. She did great with what she had, but her part in the film actually underlines a larger issue I had with the movie. First Steps used these scenes with The Thing as his subplot in the movie, and it doesn’t do anything to make the character very interesting or move him along emotionally. That adorable baby had more character development than The Thing gets because of how they waste our time with Rachel Rozman.
I mean, the guy has turned into a literal rock. I get that we want to humanize him, and we should, but this was such a shallow way to go about it in my opinion. I think the filmmakers wanted to go with a lighter approach than the original Fantastic Four movies did with the iconic superhero, but giving a character a love interest shouldn’t come in place of giving him a personality. I have to wonder if there was more going on in the script, and they decided to cut it in post-production?
And, since First Steps didn’t become a big hit at the box office, I wonder if Natasha Lyonne’s character will ever amount to anything. Anyways, you can check out the movie yourself now with a Disney+ subscription and decide whether you agree with me.
