If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again — something Marvel has taken to heart with its attempts to bring the Fantastic Four to the big screen.

With unreleased disappointment in 1994, a released but not highly acclaimed pair of films in the mid-2000s and the released but catastrophic disaster reboot in 2015, the comic book franchise’s first family has had nothing but bad luck in live-action, big-budget productions.

That is, it was until Disney purchased 20th Century and brought its slew of Marvel characters under the Marvel Cinematic Universe banner. Fittingly enough, the fourth time was the charm.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is the 37th film in the MCU as well as the film meant to set up the next big features in the long-running series: “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars,” meant to wrap up the ongoing Multiverse Saga.

But thankfully, for the first time in a long time, we have a Marvel movie that stands alone, with no prior knowledge of any MCU movies or TV shows needed to enjoy it in its entirety. Instead of having to shoehorn in cameos and catch everyone up on what’s happened before and what will happen next, this movie can focus on its main heroes and their journey and give them the attention and resources needed to finally do it right.

Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic Earth-828, the film follows the Fantastic Four — Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) — as they face their most daunting challenge yet.

Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, the quartet must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), who warns of Galactus’s plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it.

The thing about the Fantastic Four is they aren’t just Marvel’s first family — they are a family first and a superhero team second. And after four previous attempts, this one finally gets that right. We had to be told they were a family in past adaptations — this time, we get to see them be a family, and we get to feel like we’re a part of the family too.

This is exemplified in the casting, which really nails this interpretation of these characters. Some individual castings from previous attempts have been good — particularly Chris Evans as Johnny and Michael Chiklis in the 2005 movie — but this is the first time all four members of the team have worked together.

Pascal’s charm is still there under the stoic, logical Reed, who is carrying this massive burden of trying to figure out how to defeat Galactus. Meanwhile, the coolness of Kirby becomes Sue’s strength as someone who has to put on a brave face before embodying the heart and soul of the team and New York as a new mother.

Meanwhile, when they were cast, both Moss-Bacharach and Quinn were best known for their supporting comic relief characters on “The Bear” and “Stranger Things,” respectively, and while Johnny and Ben’s dynamic is more humorous and quippy, both of them have moments to shine with care and intelligence and empathy — something previous adaptations would never try.

Being set in a world separate from our main MCU universe, “First Steps” has a fresh and exciting look and feel. Set in a modern day that looks like how people in the 1950s and ’60s imagined the 2000s would look, it has plenty of fun sci-fi gadgets and gizmos, but the overall design and art style evokes “Mad Men” more than modern day NYC, along with a little “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “The Jetsons” for good measure.

Of course, this is a superhero movie, so there had better be at least some good action and fight scenes. Utilizing both smart science and clever writing with some of the best CGI that Marvel has put out in years, elements like Galactus towering over NYC, a wrap-speed chase through a wormhole to a black hole and the various elemental abilities the team has, “First Steps” is another promising step back for an MCU that losts its footing but is now back on track.