Spoilers follow.
Not to criticize Marvel's First Family too much, but in the ranking of the Fantastic Four's powers, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) might have actually drawn the shortest straw, and yes, we're not forgetting the guy who looks like a walking, talking rock. He might be the man trapped behind rubble, but at least Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is nearly indestructible and has super strength. In the case of Mister Fantastic, being one of the smartest people in the Marvel universe is great,
but his stretching powers can only go so far. It's this limitation that has now been highlighted not once, but twice in the MCU, revealing just how dangerous things can become if he falls into the hands of an enemy willing to tear a superhero apart.
The first time was in "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness" when John Krasinski wore the iconic costume as Mister Fantastic from a different Earth and was a member of The Illuminati. Unfortunately, even his intelligence couldn't outsmart Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), who tore the leader of the Fantastic Four to ribbons in one of the film's best scenes. For the MCU, it was a shockingly ruthless yet creative death of a character that, at the time, fans had only been introduced to briefly. Now, three years later, this new variant that replaces Krasinski's in "First Steps" shows he can just as easily be ripped up in perhaps an even more painful incident, which honestly makes us worry about his future in the MCU overall.
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Galactus Almost Rips Reed Apart In One Of The Fantastic Four's Most Unsettling Moments
In the lead-up to the 2015 iteration of the doomed Josh Trank-directed "Fantastic Four," the one selling point that got fans hyped was the body horror element that was taking inspiration from the works of David Cronenberg (to which the director himself was incredibly flattered by at the time) but only slightly delivered in the film's dumpster fire release. Now, a decade later, Matt Shakman manages to come incredibly close to that aforementioned sub-genre in a crucial Reed moment. To retrieve his newborn son, Franklin, Reed chases down Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and quickly realizes just what kind of opponent he's facing (besides being, you know, big). Climbing up the planet devourer like a stick insect with an actual stick, Galactus quickly spots the heroic hanger-on and examines him like a school boy pulling at a rubber band.
Pascal sells the battle (if you can even call it that) through his panic-stricken face as he's slowly stretched out so far that his costume begins to split at the seams. It's perhaps one of the film's greatest moments of peril that quickly gets cut short. Still, it does enough to posit an interesting and potentially overlooked detail of the Fantastic Four making their way into the MCU — in a war between gods and monsters, what good can a man whose physical composition matches silly string do in whatever epic universe-shattering event is coming next?
Should Reed Richards Stay On The Bench And Be Of Better Use Elsewhere In Avengers: Doomsday
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of characters whose greatest talents lie in their intellect, not in any rare incident that has given them special abilities. That's the kind of talent Reed Richards possesses, and for that reason, might be why he should stay on the sidelines when confirmed heroes in "Avengers: Doomsday" like Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) are squaring off against their new foe that looks like an old friend. If not, Reed could end up in a worse state than we've seen him in here.
While the comics have shown Reed has been more than capable of holding his own in battle, the iteration we meet in "First Steps" suggests anything but. Sure, he can leap tall buildings in a single stretch, or quickly grab items from across the room, but this Reed doesn't quite feel battle-ready for what's in store, and it could jeopardize the safety of Franklin wherever he ends up.
Then again, perhaps given his connection to Doom's hostage, next year's massive Marvel movie could see Reed forced to play rougher than he has here. Doing so could stop him from getting in dangerous situations like the one we had such a brief encounter with in "Multiverse of Madness." If so, then perhaps he might consider stretching beforehand to warm himself up before a maniacal physician does it for him.
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