Yesterday's trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps gave us a first glimpse of Ben Grimm fully transformed into The Thing, as well as Sue and Johnny Storm using their respective force-field and "flame-on" superpowers. But, for whatever reason, we never saw Reed Richards utilizing his stretchy abilities.
Mr. Fantastic's ability to bend, stretch, and expand every part of his body has never been the easiest to translate from page to screen, but it's still somewhat surprising that the teaser didn't include so much as a quick tease of Reed using his powers.
Did it at one point?
Fans are convinced that one oddly-framed shot from the trailer showing Reed scribbling an equation originally showed the hero's elongated left arm writing on the other end of the board. This wouldn't be the first time Marvel edited something out of a trailer, but it would usually be to hide a specific character's involvement in a certain scene or a major plot point (Thor losing his eye in Ragnarök, for example).
Do you think this shot was altered for the trailer, or is this theory a bit of a stretch? (sorry).
The Fantastic Four reboot stars Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place Day One) as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.
Galactus has been confirmed as the main villain, and the Eater of Worlds will be played by Ralph Ineson (The Witch, Game of Thrones). Julia Garner (Ozark, Wolf Man) will play Silver Surfer. Natasha Lyonne, John Malkovich and Paul Walter Houser are also on board in undisclosed roles.
Kevin Feige recently confirmed that the movie will take place in an alternate universe, but we know that Marvel's First Family will appear in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, so we wouldn't be surprised if they find their way into the main MCU timeline by the end of this movie.
"Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal."
Matt Shakman directs The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is set to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.