It Took 31 Years, But Marvel Studios Finally Got Mister Fantastic’s Powers Right

Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

One of my biggest fears for The Fantastic Four: First Steps was seeing Reed Richards’ powers in live-action, but my goodness, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) finally did it right. After a less than stellar run for the first two phases of the Multiverse Saga, Phase 6 kicks off with none other than Marvel’s First Family.

These stellar superheroes earned that title thanks to appearing in Marvel Comics way back in 1961, when the company was undergoing a rebrand and moving forward with new creative talent leading the way, namely Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Together, this duo brought to life a new wave of iconic superheroes that would make Marvel Comics a household name.

However, while these heroes shone on the pages of the comics, Marvel struggled to transition to media formats like film and TV. Only a handful of Marvel heroes were adapted before the 1990s, and even then, the live-action projects tended to be hit or miss, while their friendly competition at DC seemed to have the film format figured out.

Mister Fantastic Has Been Adapted In Live-Action Five Times

Reed Richards Has Appeared Numerous Times In Live-Action

In the 1980s and 1990s, Marvel Comics was struggling financially, and they opted to sell the film rights to several of their most popular characters to make ends meet. This was the case for Marvel’s First Family, with their rights being purchased by Constantin Films, having purchased the rights in 1986.

Constantin Films intended to make a big-budget film with the intellectual property, but for one reason or another, things never quite fell into place. Which is why they made an ultra-low-budget Fantastic Four movie in 1994 which was never intended for release. As one would imagine, the special effects were less than ideal, with Mister Fantastic’s powers in particular being shown off through the use of long tubular arms.

Then, in 2005, Fox made a film with a serious step-up in CGI, but the effect of stretching a human man’s limbs to extremes still came across as uncanny and unbelievable. Once again, Fox attempted to revisit the story in 2015, with Fant4stic, but the CGI actually seemed to take a step backward despite a decade’s worth of experience and tech upgrades in between.

Now, the MCU has tackled the IP for the first time, having recovered the rights to the characters thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox. And, of course, Marvel Studios now has much deeper pockets to step up the special effects. As a result, Pedro Pascal’s version of Mister Fantastic is the first to really feel grounded and believable, even more so than the version that appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, played by John Krasinski.

Reed Richards’ Elastic Powers Are Some Of The Most Challenging To Pull Off In Live-Action

Mister Fantastic Has A Unique Power For Live-Action

The thing is, while some powers are external, like Johnny Storm’s ability to produce and project fire, others are physical transformations, like Ben Grimm’s rock body, and others still react with the body to create new effects, like Sue Storm’s invisibility. Reed’s powers allow him to stretch, pull, and reshape his human body. This is a much greater challenge, because everyone knows how a human body should look, and stretching it like rubber doesn’t make sense.

In 1994, creating this effect felt totally unbelievable, with no physicality or motion in the extended arms. In 2005, it went too far the other way, with Reed Richards becoming a stretchy creature that didn’t look human when his powers were activated. And it’s best to glaze over the effects of 2015s Fant4stic all together.

Getting the balance right between the fantastical and reality is a challenge. But the MCU took the challenge head on, and they got creative about how they could make this character come to life. From the pages of the comics, where they stretch, squeeze, fold, and bend, to the film, where these abilities are replicated, but in a much more believable way.

The MCU Had The Means To Get It Right, And They Did Not Disappoint

Reed Richards Had His Powers On Full Display In The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Obviously, Marvel Studios has access to significantly more funding than previous Fantastic Four movies. In addition, they have collaborated with numerous VFX artists who have helped to shape the MCU, and break new ground on what is possible to achieve with CGI in film. But they also approached the character more carefully than in previous versions.

Reed Richards, as seen in the MCU, is the most experienced iteration of the character to date, having already been saving the world for four years. However, he is still learning his powers, and he has more limitations than have been seen in previous versions. Reed appears to have sore and aching muscles early in the film, likely relating to the fact that his body is stretching out.

He also comes face to face with Galactus in the final act of the film, and Galactus picks him up and begins to stretch him out. Where previous versions have been able to extend seemingly forever, Reed’s body extends by double or even triple his usual length, before his suit begins to tear, and his body is clearly in pain.

This is not to say that Reed won’t be able to flatten his body in the future, or wrap around his rivals, but Marvel is moving slowly, and Reed’s powers have limits. All of this, combined with outstanding CGI, combine to create the best live-action version of Mister Fantastic of all time for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.