With The Fantastic Four: First Steps coming in July, director Matt Shakman discussed the First Family of Marvel and his influences concerning Reed Richards. From the sound of it, Shakman's Reed Richards might possess some traits that make the Marvel Comics version so enjoyable.
The Fantastic Four in this movie live on an alternate Earth from the mainline MCU world. However, the trailers show they possess many of the same traits as the 616 Fantastic Four. Johnny is still a hothead. Ben is a lot more of "The Ever-loving Blue-Eyed Thing" from the comics than the tragic version of The Thing from the 2015 release. Susan is still the mother figure, and even more so when Franklin is born in this movie. Finally, Reed is the scientific genius who causes as many problems as he fixes.
Matt Shakman, who previously directed WandaVision, described his version of Mr. Fantastic, which he says he pulled from Jonathan Hickman's run on the comics (via Variety):
"His Reed Richards is part Steve Jobs and part Oppenheimer, always on the edge of saving the world or destroying it. The author runs right at Mister Fantastic’s weakness: believing that he can and should do it all on his own. Reed is determined to 'Solve Everything' — but he learns that the cost of solving everything is… everything."
The trailers show Reed blaming himself for Galactus's appearance to destroy Earth. Something the brilliant scientist did in the name of science has possibly doomed his world. This is exactly how the hero acts in the comics as well.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps releases in theaters on July 25, 2025. The new MCU release features Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch.
The 7 Worst Decisions Reed Richards Ever Made in the Name of Science
Reed Richards is a brilliant scientist. There are few people in Marvel Comics who can touch him for inventions and what Reed brings to the Marvel Universe. However, he is also egotistical and arrogant, and he often believes that only he can solve problems. This has led him to undertake dangerous and immoral activities in the name of science.
The Original Rocket Trip Into Space
The Fantastic Four's origin story revolves around Reed Richards taking unnecessary risks in the name of science. In Fantastic Four #1, Reed takes his girlfriend Susan, best friend Ben, and teenage Johnny into space despite the U.S. government denying the mission because of safety concerns.
The government was right. Reed's ship could not protect him or his crew from the cosmic rays. They should have died but got superhuman powers and became superheroes instead. However, he illegally made the space trip against common sense and safety precautions, leading to several similar poor decisions over his lifetime.
Created Portal to the Negative Zone
Reed Richards discovered the existence of the Negative Zone. When he learned about this extradimensional world, Reed created a portal from the Baxter Building to the Negative Zone, where he could go anytime he wanted to. At the same time, beings from the Negative Zone could come to this world.
This means dangerous Fantastic Four enemies like Annihilus and Blastaar learned about Earth and the universe around this planet. Reed's invention allowed these beings into our world, causing massive destruction in the years that followed. It also wasn't the only time Reed used the Negative Zone for immoral purposes.
Mindwiped Franklin Richards
When Reed Richards took his future wife into space on their ill-fated mission that gave them powers, it caused a chain reaction that affected someone else. Reed and Susan's first child is a boy named Franklin Richards. Thanks to his parents' powers, he was born with immense powers of his own, enough to create new worlds from scratch, which he has done more than once.
His powers manifested when he was a child, and it was a dangerous time for the family, as Franklin couldn't control his powers at such a young age. Instead of trying to figure out a way to help his son control his powers, Reed created a special gun that he shot his son with while Susan held him. It put Franklin into a coma, and Susan left him for a time after Reed made this terrible decision.
The Multiversal Bridge
The Multiversal Bridge that Mr. Fantastic built was a brilliant invention. It allowed him to travel from one Earth to another and learn more about what went wrong on some Earths to help him protect and help his own home. This ended up playing into Jonathan Hickman's FF run, which is what Matt Shakman designed his characters after.
However, the Multiversal Bridge also introduced the Interdimensional Council of Reeds (which Rick and Morty copied with their Council of Ricks). These were Reeds from different Earths who gave up their families to work to protect the multiverse by any means necessary. Our Reed shut the door to keep them out of his world, but it still caused much pain later when people from other Earths began finding their way through.
Superhero Prison in Negative Zone
As mentioned, Reed Richards has used the Negative Zone for some nefarious reasons. In addition to allowing monsters to get into our world, Reed also created a superhero prison in this other world. Reed did this to imprison any superheroes who refused to sign the Superhero Registration Act in the Marvel Comics version of Civil War.
Reed was on Iron Man's side in this conflict since he created a scientific theory called Psychohistory. This allowed him to create predictive models to decide what outcomes the world needed to survive and what outcomes would destroy it. He felt Iron Man was in the right, and he created a prison in the Negative Zone where he locked away his former friends and allies for refusing to follow Iron Man's orders.
Clone Thor
Amazingly enough, Richard's worst crime during the Civil War storyline wasn't creating the Negative Zone prison. His worst crime was helping to create a cloned version of Thor. The God of Thunder was not involved in Civil War since he was dead at that time (all Asgardian gods were dead). Iron Man wanted a Thor fighting with him, so he worked with Hank Pym and Reed Richards to create one using Thor's DNA.
They succeeded and cloned Thor. This creation then murdered Goliath during one of the superhero battles. This led to Ben Grimm turning on Reed since Goliath was his friend. It also resulted in a fan-favorite moment: Thor demolished Iron Man in a fight when he came back to life and learned what the scientists did with his DNA.
The Maker
This isn't so much an invention that Reed Richards made in the name of science as it is about what happens when a man goes too far. In Marvel Comics, Reed is often one poor decision away from becoming a fully fledged villain. His family often keeps him from crossing that line.
However, in the Ultimate Marvel Comics line, his family pushed him over the line. Susan was tired of how he treated her, and when she left him for Ben, Reed finally gave in to his more evil tendencies and became The Maker.
As The Maker, Reed sent spore creatures into the homes of the world's greatest scientists and killed hundreds of people in the Ultimate Comics: Doomsday trilogy. He then created genetically enhanced followers known as the Children of Tomorrow and became Marvel's most dangerous villain.
Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four is one of Marvel Comics' most celebrated heroes. However, as one of the world's greatest minds, he is also a very dangerous man when left unchecked. It makes fans wonder what will happen to Reed after The Fantastic Four: First Steps and what he will become down the line in the MCU.
