The new trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps finally showed Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) using his powers, putting an end to the speculation that the character's somewhat bizarre abilities might be revamped for the MCU reboot.
Though these powers will obviously be brought to life via CGI, Pascal was still required to act out the scenes pre-VFX, and the actor has now revealed his surprising inspiration for Mr. Fantastic's stretchy abilities.
“With Reed, his body may stretch, but this is a brain character,” The Last of Us star told ComicCook.com during Star Wars Celebration. “I guess I’ll just give it completely away. I thought of the brilliance of an octopus. Not in any literal physical translated way, but I put it into my subconscious. Yeah. That’s the biggest character secret reveal that I’ve given to you.”
This may not seem like much of a reveal, but it might give us a better idea of what to expect from First Steps' depiction of Reed's powers - think measured and graceful as opposed to quick, explosive movement.
Pascal was also asked to compare the physical challenges of playing Reed Richards versus his The Mandalorian and Grogu character, Din Djarin.
“That’s such a great question. You know, with Din Djarin, there’s so much physical authorship that is a collective effort, with my work, Brendan Wayne’s work, Latif Crowder’s work, other bodies that have stepped into the armor, but primarily, those two guys and myself. With Reed, that, for me, was a brand new kind of experience to author something that is very, very familiar to the world, has previous authorship, a very specific understanding of the pages of the comics, and different evolutions and stuff like that. And then something that is so independent in its identity as far as our version is concerned. To me, you know, his body may stretch, but this is a brain character, and it’s really his mind that was the most important to me.”
The Fantastic Four reboot also stars 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.
Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser and John Malkovich 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.