We've already broken down The Fantastic Four: First Steps' ending, but there are a couple of moments during the final act that rank among the MCU's most harrowing scenes.
In the final battle, each member of the superhero family attempts to slow down Galactus' march to the Baxter Building. However, when the Devourer of Worlds gets his hands on Mister Fantastic, he begins stretching Reed to his breaking point.
The genius screams in pain as he comes close to being torn apart, and it's only The Thing and the Human Torch's intervention that saves him from a pretty diabolical fate (if you're eager to see what that looks like, you can find out here).
What's interesting about this sequence is that it confirms the MCU's Mister Fantastic has limitations to his powers and can't stretch in quite the same near-endless way as his comic book counterpart. Whether that's a good or bad thing is debatable, but the Russo Brothers might decide to take Reed's powers to the next level in Avengers: Doomsday.
The second moment we're highlighting here is far more emotional, and comes when Sue Storm pushes her powers to the max to force Galactus into the teleporter that will send him millions of light-years away from Earth.
The strain of doing so—all in a bid to save her son, Franklin—kills the Invisible Woman. While the Devourer of Worlds is ultimately defeated, tragedy strikes when Reed tries to resuscitate his wife to no avail (it brings back memories of Mister Fantastic hopelessly trying to save The Thing's life during Mark Waid's Fantastic Four run).
The baby Franklin struggles to reach his mom, and when he does so, he uses his mysterious powers to bring her back to life. It's a moving moment, and in our screening, there were plenty of sniffles from the audience!
There are no major character deaths in The Fantastic Four: First Steps when all is said and done, though Galactus and the Silver Surfer are as good as dead after being left stranded at the edge of the universe without a ship. The latter chooses to make that heroic sacrifice in place of Johnny Storm.
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.
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.