You may need thought that the introduction of Marvel’s first household, the Fantastic Four, into the MCU could be sufficient heavy lifting for one film. But whereas all eyes have been on the potential ramifications of villain Galactus turning up for planetary snack time, the new trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps delivers a mind-bending revelation: Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is pregnant.
This seems to be like huge information. As they put together to tackle their colossal nemesis and his gleaming, emotionally unavailable emissary Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards, Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s the Thing shall be doing so in the information that they’re defending extra than simply the way forward for this Apollo-era-inspired model of Earth. And if you’ve even frivolously skimmed the again catalogue of Fantastic Four comics, you’ll know this is no peculiar being pregnant; and positively no peculiar toddler.
In its print incarnation, the first little one of Storm and Richards grows up to change into Franklin Richards, a superhero so highly effective he as soon as daydreamed a whole pocket universe into existence throughout a sugar crash.
Imagine Jack-Jack from The Incredibles if he might rewrite the legal guidelines of physics each time somebody advised him it was bedtime, and also you’re beginning to get the thought. At one level, Reed had to zap his personal son with a psychic dampening machine to cease Franklin from unconsciously folding the cloth of actuality into an origami swan out of existential despair. We’re speaking teething issues if “teething” consists of unintentionally erasing causality as a result of nap time was 5 minutes late.
How this impacts the plotline of First Steps is but to be seen, and it’s nonetheless doable Franklin will stay a foetus all through the occasions of Matt Shakman’s movie. But there’s each probability that the arrival of this nearly impossibly overcooked character is the very factor that’s introduced Galactus to Earth.
We nonetheless don’t understand how the Fantastic Four will find yourself in the essential Marvel actuality by the time Avengers: Doomsday hits cinemas subsequent yr, and even whether or not the new Robert Downey Jr-essayed model of Doctor Doom hails from the identical timeline as Richards et al. But already the blogosphere is buzzing with theories that Franklin will finally be chargeable for a mushy Marvel reboot, one which prunes the lifeless weight from the MCU and perhaps restores Iron Man, Black Widow and T’Chaka to the essential continuity.
In the comics, the Fantastic Four have been the first trendy Marvel superheroes, debuting in 1961 when Spider-Man, the X-Men and The Hulk have been all nonetheless twinkles in the eyes of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. So it makes absolute sense for the studio to introduce them in a world the place no different capes exist simply but.
What we don’t but perceive is why this specific Earth has caught the consideration of a planet-eating house god in a hat the dimension of a soccer stadium. But if it’s not Franklin Richards popping into actuality, then the film’s title, Marvel’s relentless teasing of Storm’s being pregnant, and that brooding snapshot of an empty crib are going to go down as the biggest misdirect in comedian e book film historical past.
Is that Galactus himself stomping round at the finish of the trailer in dimension 40,000 boots, striding via this Jetsons-inspired tackle Manhattan? If so, it appears Marvel might have relatively downsized the supervillain – a cosmic behemoth canonically able to munching on complete photo voltaic programs. Then once more, the celestial gutbucket has walked the floor of the Earth in the comics earlier than, and at the least Hollywood isn’t rendering him right here as a giant cosmic fart lurking menacingly in the clouds.
