Fantastic Four Bombs With ‘Target’ Audience: Women, Families

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It appears that the movie “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” isn’t quite hitting the mark when it comes to appealing to female audiences and families.

Female Audience Rejects Fantastic Four

Indeed, it seems that the female versions of The Silver Surfer and Sue Storm, who were portrayed as strong leaders, did not resonate with audiences as intended. Interestingly, the movie was advertised to highlight these characters, but the depiction in the final version appears to have been more muted than initially marketed.

Despite a decrease in family visits, Sue Storm emphasized that it’s all about family. In contrast, it appears these families opted to watch “Superman” instead.

Families Skip FF, Too

17% of the families chose to watch Marvel’s Fantastic Four, while Superman attracted 31%.

As a movie enthusiast, I’ve noticed an intriguing trend: Families tend to make up around 21% of the audience for PG-13 films. This suggests that many families have been steering clear of FF movies. However, when it comes to Gunn’s debut in the DC Universe, more families seem to be making an exception.

Marvel Still Doesn’t Get It

Once more, it underscores the perception that Kevin Feige, Disney, and Marvel may not fully grasp their audience’s preferences and seem to focus on a hypothetical fanbase, neglecting their primary source of support.

It’s also the same story we’ve heard post-Endgame, that the “target” audience isn’t showing up.

It seems as though I just reviewed Thunderbolts, a film with a female protagonist who doesn’t possess superpowers, and it appears that women aren’t drawn to such films. Neither Thunderbolts nor The Marvels nor the Disney+ MCU shows have caught their attention. So, the question arises: Who are these movies intended for?

What Women Actually Watch

Women tend to enjoy watching movies featuring chiseled, shirtless Hugh Jackman in films like Deadpool and Wolverine. They also appreciate the good looks and sex appeal displayed by both men and women in Barbie. However, Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe does not typically feature such content.

Even the Feminists Are Calling It Out

As a film aficionado, I’ve learned that the much-anticipated release of Fantastic Four didn’t seem to appeal to female moviegoers – a fact reported by influential feminist YouTuber Grace Randolph. And whenever she’s discussing something like this, it’s usually not good news.

Randolph reviews the statistics: It’s evident that the viewership of The Fantastic Four predominantly consists of males, accounting for approximately 69% of the total audience.

Randolph noted an interesting observation about the audience demographics: despite the powerful portrayals of Sue Storm by Vanessa Kirby and Silver Surfer by Julia Garner, the film was still predominantly watched by men, with a male audience making up about 69%.

Females not interested in superhero movies

Randolph additionally notes that both Gunn’s Superman and Thunderbolts exhibit comparable issues, as they each have a predominantly male audience composition (approximately 68% and 65%, respectively), despite the presence of Yelena Belova in the latter.

Another way to phrase this could be: It’s worth noting that only fans seemed to attend the premiere of The Marvels. It appears that some women may have chosen not to attend due to Brie Larson and Iman Vellani.

According to Randolph, families seem less inclined towards the “Fantastic Four,” whereas they’ve already witnessed the “Superman” movie.

You’ll never make feminists happy

At Comic-Con, someone who identified as a feminist expressed her disapproval of how Fantastic Four seemed excessively patriotic. The film features numerous American flags (a detail absent in Gunn’s Superman) and is based in New York City (contrasting with its globalized theme, which I mentioned to her).

In response to Gunn’s Superman, Grace Randolph and some modern feminists critiqued it for featuring sexually appealing women and for depicting Jimmy Olsen being interested in several female characters. They contended that the movie should have presented all its female characters consistently, like Lois Lane, as protective and clean-cut representations, essentially molding every female character into a uniform image focused on representation, rather than individuality.

Studios Keep Chasing Ghosts

In essence, Marvel continues to pursue uninterested viewers, all while losing ground with their devoted fan base.

Studios, not only Marvel, persistently overlook their primary audience, which craves action, heroism, and a touch of charm, by presenting dull characters and uninspiring themes, instead.

The movie studios often miss what fans really want – action, heroes, and a bit of attractiveness – by creating boring characters and meaningless stories. (Marvel is not the only studio doing this.)

In the meantime, prepare for further underperforming movies at the box office and continued apologies from the regular offenders, as they work through their current dilemma.

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2025-07-30 04:02