Fantastic Four Trailer Keeps One Marvel Hero’s Powers Under Wraps (And That’s Concerning)

The new trailer for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” showcases the movie’s 1960s-inspired world in all of its glory. It also offers us a fantastic glimpse at an even more comic-accurate version of Ben “The Thing” Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) than back in the days when Michael Chiklis rocked the practical costume in Fox’s “Fantastic Four” movies. Susan “Invisible Woman” Storm’s (Vanessa Kirby) invisibility and force field powers are similarly on display, while Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) gets a “Flame on!” moment that’s considerably more heroic-looking than the one Chris Evans’ take on the Human Torch pulled in “Deadpool & Wolverine.” We even get a closer look at the Fantastic Four’s robot, H.E.R.B.I.E.

There’s one particular moment the trailer carefully dances around, though. At no point do we see Reed “Mr. Fantastic” Richards’ (Pedro Pascal) stretching powers. In fact, the trailer doesn’t reference them in any way, to the point that Reed specifically mentions every other Fantastic Four member’s power set but doesn’t even passingly allude to his own. This might seem like a strange decision, but it’s actually completely in line with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s usual approach to stretching powers … and because of this, it’s potentially concerning. 

If you’ve had a chance to witness the hilarious hand-wave Reed Richards (Alex Hyde-White) gives in of Roger Corman’s unreleased 1994 “The Fantastic Four” movie or the equally amusing Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) dance scene in “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (2007), you know that stretching powers can easily come across as ridiculous in live-action. Perhaps this is why the MCU has steered away from portraying them. In “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” John Krasinski’s Reed Richards shows only the barest hint of his powers before the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) gives them a horror twist by disintegrating him into human string cheese. The biggest difference between Ms. Marvel’s MCU and comic book powers is also stretching: Iman Vellani’s live-action version drops the original’s limb-elongating and “embiggening” abilities in favor of more screen-friendly hard light constructs. 

This history is what makes the lack of stretching in the “First Steps” trailer so unnerving. If the film’s VFX team is still working on the stretching effects, then why not at least reference Reed’s powers? Could it be that the MCU hasn’t figured out how to do this well and is attempting to downplay them as much as possible, perhaps by portraying Reed as a character who generally doesn’t go around extending his limbs — like, say, his villainous Ultimate Universe iteration, the Maker? Or could the MCU be planning something truly drastic by altering the character’s abilities, Ms. Marvel-style? That last one does seem pretty unlikely considering the otherwise picture-perfect comic book accuracy “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” seems to be going for. Still, knowing the sad history of Reed’s power set in live-action, it’s easy to start wondering. Hopefully, future promotional material will address these concerns.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” opens in theaters on July 25, 2025.