The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Franklin Richards, a character the comic book readers among you will know is an immensely powerful reality warper.
He's bound to be a key player in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and we get a taste of his power in this movie's final act when he resurrects his mother, Sue Storm.
Some fans have expressed confusion over the scene, but Entertainment Weekly has confirmed with The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman that Frankin does indeed use the Power Cosmic to bring his mother back to life.
Now that's cleared up, Shakman went on to reveal a big change to Franklin's role in the reboot. This would have led to some big changes to the story, including what sounds like a very different opening sequence.
"For a long time, the baby was born at the beginning of the movie," the filmmaker explained. "And then we realized it would be wonderful to see the baby-proofing and the preparation and to see them get ready for the child. So moving Franklin's birth to the midpoint was something that we decided to do, which also then allowed me to combine it with some of these other moments."
Shakman added that "Franklin was always born in space [but] he used to be born at a space station rescue at the opening of the movie. So having him born in space while being chased by the Silver Surfer while slingshotting around a neutron star, it just felt like taking the already stressful birth idea and just magnified it by a thousand — a very Fantastic Four thing to do."
"But [it] also it felt like a nod little bit to 2001 too," he continued, "this idea of a space baby, he's got the Power Cosmic, he's born in space. He has a destiny."
That destiny will play out in Avengers: Doomsday if The Fantastic Four: First Steps' mid-credits scene was any indication, and it's possible he'll play the same role as The Beyonders or the Molecule Man in Jonathan Hickman and Esab Ribic's Secret Wars comic.
Hopefully, we'll hear more from Shakman on some of the movie's other big moments soon, including the fate of Galactus and the Silver Surfer. For an in-depth breakdown of The Fantastic Four: First Steps' ending, click here.
In our review of the movie, we concluded, "The Fantastic Four is an exceptional introduction to the MCU’s First Family, and thanks to a Jack Kirby-infused feel that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, it proves to be a quintessential superhero movie with Marvel Studios at its brilliant best.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theaters.