The Fantastic Four: First Stepswill reveal whether a big power change made to one of Marvel’s heroes was a good move or not. Thestory ofThe Fantastic Four: First Stepscenters around the titular team facing off against the primordial threat known as Galactus. Throughout the film, allFantastic Fourcast memberswill get time to shine.
This means that theupcoming Marvel moviewill focus intently on the powers of all four members: Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm. The central theme of the story will likely be the family coming together to face evil, but each member will have their role to play.
Interestingly, via the depiction of one such member,Marvel will prove whether or not its controversial power change to a big MCU hero was the right move.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Will Showcase Reed Richards' Stretchy Powers
Which Have Typically Been Difficult To Portray
The character fromThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsthat will help solve this argument is Reed Richards. Richards, played by Pedro Pascal in the MCU, has powers that enable him to stretch his body at will. In comparison to Sue, Johnny, and Ben, Reed’s powers are more difficult to depict in live-action in a believable way.
Past movies in the franchise have made this clear; the stretching CGI used for 2005’sFantastic Fourand its 2007 sequel,Rise of the Silver Surfer, looked very cartoonish in a way the effects for Johnny Storm didn’t, for example. 2015’sFantastic Fourreboot then tried again, but the effects still couldn’t convey Reed’s stretching believably.
Outside of Netflix’sOne Piecelive-action series, stretching powers have proven difficult for CGI artists to perfect in a way that doesn’t stretch the suspension of belief too hard.The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis the next step for this, with many hoping Mister Fantastic’s power base finally has a strong depiction for the first time.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Will Prove Whether Ms. Marvel’s Power Change Was The Right Move
In terms of howThe Fantastic Four: First Stepswill link to another major character, it could justify Marvel’s decision to change Ms. Marvel’s powers. Ms. Marvel has stretchy powers similar to Reed’s, yet the MCU decided to alter these in live-action, primarily to fit Kamala Khan in with the light-based team known as The Marvels.
However, it has long been rumored that Marvel also made this decision so as to differentiate Kamala from Reed and avoid the CGI issues that come with stretching powers. Ms. Marvel’s creator, G. Willow Wilson, commented on this toPolygon:
“She’s got very comic booky powers. God bless them trying to bring that to live-action; I don’t know how that’s going to work out in a way that doesn’t look really creepy.”
Naturally, the decision to change a big element of Ms. Marvel for the MCU caused division. Many felt it changed too much about the character, whose stories often focused on body image positivity in light of her changing structure. Nonetheless,Marvel Studios made the decision anyway and gave Ms. Marvel light-based powers.
Whether this was the right move or not, from a CGI perspective, remains to be seen. If Reed’s powers are depicted well inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel Studios will have proven it can be done, making theMs. Marvelchoice stranger. If not, Marvel will be vindicated. This all hangs onThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsand Reed Richards' powers.
