The Fantastic Four are bona fide Marvel A-listers. Debuting in 1961, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm pre-date fellow Stan Lee/Jack Kirby creations Ant-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and even the X-Men. They were also saving the world way before the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko collaboration Spider-Man started swinging around New York.
Yet, unlike the other superhero superstars to emerge from that spectacularly fertile period in comic-book history, the fantastic family have traditionally struggled with the transition to the big screen. It's not for the want of trying, however, because their long-awaited Marvel Cinematic Universe debut "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is just the latest quest to turn the quartet into movie stars.
