Fantastic Four: First Steps Just Made an MCU Phase 4 Controversy Even Worse

The Fantastic Four: First Steps goes out of its way not to ruffle any feathers, featuring virtually no connections to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. The goal of the movie is to have Marvel’s First Family set up shop in its own reality, one that doesn’t have much experience with superheroes. All the people of Earth know is what the Fantastic Four tell them, and they can’t complain about much since The Thing is pulling ships out of the ocean and Invisible Woman is working hard to broker peace deals between nations. However, what nobody in First Steps realizes is that they’re part of an MCU controversy that dates back several years.

The whole debate centers around Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, who goes about his business in a way that his comic book counterpart wouldn’t be proud of in First Steps. It’s not the first time the MCU has taken liberties with the source material, but it’s part of a troubling trend that is hurting characters far more than it’s helping them.

Reed Richards’ Powers Are Nothing to Write Home About in The Fantastic Four: First Steps

The marketing for First Steps took its sweet time peeling back the curtain. The first few trailers and teasers did little to reveal the plot outside of explaining that Galactus was coming to Earth. Slowly but surely, the pieces started to come together, and Marvel Studios decided to show off what its newest group of heroes could do. The Human Torch was lighting fires; The Thing was running through buildings, and the Invisible Woman was creating powerful force fields. However, Mister Fantastic got very little to do outside of a single shot of him grabbing a couple of falling objects. The prevailing theory was that the movie was keeping things close to the vest to ensure all the VFX were up to snuff, but that was wishful thinking.

The final product gives every member of the Fantastic Four plenty of time to shine in the field, with the exception of Mister Fantastic. He spends most of his time in the lab, and even when he’s battling Galactus, his stretching powers prove to be more of a hindrance than anything, despite looking great on the big screen. The hero gets pulled in two different directions by the Devourer of Worlds, which causes him a great deal of pain. After that, the leader of the Fantastic Four puts his abilities on the back burner, opting to use his brain instead. It’s not the wrong move, as it takes some serious brainstorming to come up with a solution to Galactus, but it’s just another example of the MCU playing scared and hurting a character in the process.

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Ms. Marvel Doesn’t Get the Benefit of the Doubt That Mister Fantastic Does

At least Mister Fantastic gets to stretch at all because there’s another hero that has the ability in the comics that doesn’t in the MCU: Ms. Marvel. In Kamala Khan’s Disney+ series, she discovers a magical bangle that allows her to control purple energy. She uses them to create giant fists and other objects out of thin air as she battles the Clandestines, a group of beings from another reality that want to use her power to return home. By the end of Ms. Marvel, Kamala and her bangle have a great rapport, which aids her down the line in The Marvels when she teams up with Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau. However, she doesn’t have a bangle in the comics, being an Inhuman who can morph her body at will. Stretching becomes one of her signature moves, but it’s nowhere to be found in the MCU.

Seeing Reed stretch in First Steps makes the change to Kamala’s character sting more than ever. After all, the proof is in the pudding, with the ability looking flawless when it does get the chance to appear. And Reed is surely going to get a few more opportunities, whether it’s in Avengers: Doomsday or a sequel to First Steps. Kamala, on the other hand, is going to remain a shell of her comic book self in the powers department. At least she has one of the MCU’s best personalities to fall back on.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in theaters now.

Are you upset that the MCU refuses to embrace stretching? Would you like to see more of it in the future? Let us know in the comments below!