I’m Still Disappointed The Fantastic Four: First Steps Nerfed One Hero’s Iconic Superpower

One hero’s powers were significantly weakened in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, making us question what might be next for the iconic father of Marvel’s First Family. First Steps marked the Fantastic Four’s official debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach finally doing the legendary superhero team from Marvel Comics justice in live-action. However, one of the team’s members wasn’t quite what we expected, and may have already become a victim of Marvel Studios nerfing its strongest heroes.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps pitted the titular team against the god-like being Galactus (Ralph Ineson), who sought the Power Cosmic inside Reed Richards (Pascal) and Sue Storm’s (Kirby) newborn son, Franklin. The Four lured Galactus to Earth, fighting the planet-eater in an attempt to push him through a teleportation bridge. During the battle, Mister Fantastic struggled to go toe-to-toe with Galactus, and failed to show off the full extent of his elastic powers – particularly when Galactus almost tore him apart just by stretching him what seemed to be a very small distance.

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Fantastic Four: First Steps Almost Totally Avoids Showing One Character’s Powers

In previous live-action adaptations, Reed Richards has been shown to be able to stretch incredible distances. Marvel Comics has, at times, depicted him stretching up to 1500ft, at which point he starts to feel discomfort, but he can indeed stretch much further. This was not the case in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as Galactus only stretched Richards a short distance before he started to feel intense pain and his specially-designed costume began to tear. It’s surprising that The Fantastic Four: First Steps depicted Mister Fantastic’s power as so limited, but this could spell good news for the hero’s future.

In First Steps, Galactus is clearly a massive being, so he could have been stretching Reed Richards much further than we think, which could explain the hero’s pain. He could have indeed been stretched over 1500ft, though this does seem unlikely given the fact that Galactus shrunk himself to walk the streets of New York City. This limitation on Mister Fantastic’s power in First Steps, however, does leave the hero with room to grow in his future MCU appearances, which means he can continue a great pattern from previous MCU instalments.

Marvel Studios’ heroes seldom debut in the franchise at their full capacity, and this could be the case for Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. In the same way that Peter Parker’s power was honed, T’Challa gained kinetic energy abilities, Sam Wilson has grown in strength over the years, and Wanda Maximoff unlocked her Scarlet Witch abilities, Reed Richards’ stretching powers could expand. This gives us hope for his appearances in the upcoming Phase 6 crossovers, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and in inevitable sequels to The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

What did you think of Reed Richards’ powers in The Fantastic Four: First Steps? Let us know in the comments!