Marvel hasn't portrayed every superpower correctly, and it can finally get one right in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The MCU's Fantastic Four movie has plenty of pressure on it. Not only does it need to establish Marvel's First Family before the release of Avengers: Doomsday, but it also needs to deliver an excellent film that does justice to its titular characters. While there are fans of the previous movies in this franchise, a majority of audiences still believe a proper Fantastic Four adaptation hasn't been done yet, and Marvel Studios could be the perfect team to do it.
Custom image by Ross Tanenbaum
One significant thing the installment needs to get right is the team's superpowers. Marvel has previously done Sue Storm's invisibility and The Thing's super strength effectively on-screen, and the studio recently proved it can create the right visuals for Human Torch through Chris Evans' cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. However, Marvel has had two opportunities to utilize superheroes with Reed Richards' elasticity powers, and the studio has dropped the ball twice. With this in mind, the story of The Fantastic Four: First Steps gives Marvel a chance to finally portray Reed's powers correctly.
Reed Richard Is The First Elastic MCU Hero After Marvel Changed Ms. Marvel's Powers
In Marvel comics, Kamala Khan has body-morphing abilities similar to Reed Richards. She discovered her powers after finding out she has inhuman genes during the aftermath of the 2013-2014 "Inhumanity" storyline. However, Marvel significantly changed Ms. Marvel's powers in the MCU. She isn't an inhuman, and is instead a mutant. Her powers are unlocked after she wears her great-grandmother's bangle, which connects her to energy from the Noor dimension.
Kamala's abilities include light manipulation, which she uses to emit beams or protect herself from bullets and punches. She can also use light to grow her arms, giving her a similar ability to the comics with a mystical twist. Ms. Marvel's changes could have been Marvel's attempt to save themselves from poor CGI, but her new powers do connect more to Captain Marvel, which became an essential part of The Marvels' storyline. However, it means that Reed Richards is now the only MCU character who can physically stretch and morph their body.
Reed Richards Barely Showed His Flexibility Powers In Doctor Strange 2
Reed Richards has already appeared in the MCU. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, John Krasinski played a variant of Mr. Fantastic, delivering on a popular fan casting that existed on the internet for years. Unfortunately, Krasinski's time as Richards was short-lived, getting killed by the Scarlet Witch along with the rest of the Illuminati. What makes his fate sadder is that Mister Fantastic barely had a chance to showcase his flexibility powers.
During his encounter with Wanda, Reed briefly stretches his hand toward her right before she turns him into spaghetti. This scene didn't allow Reed to show his full potential, and it's disappointing that viewers may never get to see Krasinski's version of the character in a fight scene. However, Marvel has a chance to avenge Krasinski's loss by giving Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards a fantastic moment that lets him display the full possibilities of his powers. Hopefully, Fantastic Four: First Steps is the first film that gets it right.
