It’s learned that The Fantastic Four: First Steps is coming up short in terms of nailing down its target audience with women and even families.
Female Audience Rejects Fantastic Four
Yep, women rejected the Female Silver Surfer and the girl boss leader Sue Storm (which was heavily toned down in the movie, yet the film was marketed that way for some reason).
Even families didn’t show up as much, all the while Sue Storm said it’s about family. Well, those families watched Superman instead.
Families Skip FF, Too
The percentage of families that went to see Marvel’s Fantastic Four was at 17% compared to Superman‘s 31%.
The average for families seeing a PG-13 movie also happens to be 21%, so we see families avoided FF, but again, more went to see Gunn’s DCU debut.
Marvel Still Doesn’t Get It
It again proves that Kevin Feige, Disney, and Marvel don’t have a clue and continue to cater to a non-existent fanbase, all the while ignoring their bread and butter.
It’s also the same story we’ve heard post-Endgame, that the “target” audience isn’t showing up.
Exactly as I went over following Thunderbolts bombing — which has a female character with no superpowers as the lead — the female audience isn’t interested in these movies. They didn’t watch Thunderbolts. They didn’t watch The Marvels. They didn’t watch the Disney+ MCU shows. Who exactly are these movies for???
What Women Actually Watch
What do women watch? They watch a shirtless Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine. They watch gorgeous, sexy men and women in Barbie. Feige’s MCU has none of that.
Even the Feminists Are Calling It Out
We actually get word about the female audience not showing up for Fantastic Four via feminist YouTuber Grace Randolph. So you know when she is reporting on it, it must be bad.
Randolph goes over the numbers: The Fantastic Four audience is heavily skewed male, with 69% of the audience made up of dudes.
“Although interestingly, speaking of demographics, despite Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm and such a strong focus on motherhood and Julia Garner’s really well-realized Silver Surfer, women did not show up to this movie, either, with the movie still leaning very heavily male at 69%,” said Randolph.
Females not interested in superhero movies
Randolph also points out Gunn’s Superman has similar problems, with 68% male, and that Thunderbolts skewed 65% male, “even with Yelena Belova.”
We can also add that it is known only the fanboys showed up for The Marvels, as women avoided Brie Larson and Iman Vellani. How’d it work out for Madame Web? The John Wick spinoff, Ballerina?
Regarding families, Randolph says, “Families aren’t interested in Fantastic Four but have already seen Superman.”
You’ll never make feminists happy
I can also add that while I was at Comic-Con, a feminist told me she didn’t like how Fantastic Four was so pro-American. There are American flags waving (something not seen in Gunn’s Superman), and the movie is set in NYC (despite its overly globalist theme, which I pointed out to her).
Regarding Gunn’s Superman, Grace Randolph and the woke feminists criticized it for portraying sexy women and for showing Jimmy Olsen attracting multiple female characters. They argued the film should have depicted all the women similarly—like Lois Lane—as safe, sanitized representations, essentially turning every female character into a cookie-cutter version all about representation.
— Cosmic Book News (@cosmicbooknews) July 10, 2025
Studios Keep Chasing Ghosts
At the end of the day, Marvel keeps chasing audiences that aren’t interested, while alienating the ones that are.
Not just Marvel, but all the studios continue to ignore the core fanbase—guys who want action, heroes, and yes, some sex appeal—by pushing bland characters and lifeless messaging.
Until they figure that out, expect more box office disappointments and more excuses from the usual suspects.
