Spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps are below!

Summary

Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four: First Steps makes questionable decisions, despite being the smartest man on Earth.
Reed's plans throughout the film fall apart due to foreseeable flaws that he should have anticipated.
Emotional stakes influence Reed's choices, showing a warmer side to the character in the MCU.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps features Reed Richards making some stupid mistakes despite being the world's smartest man. The new Fantastic Four film finally gives audiences a glimpse at the MCU's take on Marvel's First Family. After some lackluster past film adaptations, First Steps has proven to break the character's cinematic streak, garnering stellar reviews and looking to be a profitable hit for Marvel.

The movie offers fans Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing. It also gives comic fans their first film incarnation of Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Sue. Each character lives up to their comic book counterpart, with some excellent character work showing their powers and relationship dynamics. However, with Reed Richards meant to be the most intelligent man on Earth, The Fantastic Four: First Steps sees him making glaringly stupid mistakes.

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By Eduardo Ariedo

The Fantastic Four's Reed Richards Is Supposed To Be The Smartest Man On Earth

Fantastic Four First Steps Reed Richards

In Marvel Comics, Reed Richards is often regarded as the most intelligent man on Earth. Others within the universe potentially rival his intelligence, like Doctor Doom, Tony Stark, and Hank Pym, but Reed's intelligence is one of the character's most prominent aspects, beyond his ability to stretch his body. Marvel Comics has even featured the Interdimensional Council of Reeds, a group composed of various incarnations of Reed Richards, some of whom have unique powersets different from the standard canon. In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Reed is also shown as being highly intelligent, as he is seen flexing his brain power in numerous ways, including their space flight, the ability to teleport the world, and even baby-proofing the city by having numerous gangs arrested.

When push comes to shove, Reed's mind is relied upon to solve the film's problems. Johnny gets unique moments, like figuring out the Silver Surfer's language, and even Sue shines, giving the film emotional stakes in her fight to save Franklin. Still, when it comes to the plan to save the world, it falls to Reed's brainpower to suss out the details, which fall in line with what fans would expect of the character. For the most part, Reed succeeds, as his plan works, but throughout The Fantastic Four, and most glaringly in the finale, he makes some choices that may leave fans scratching their heads.

Fantastic Four: First Steps Sees Reed Richards Making Misguided Decisions Despite His Intelligence

reed richards stretching power in fantastic four first steps

Several points throughout The Fantastic Four: First Steps see Reed making questionable decisions. One of the first is taking a pregnant Sue Storm into space to face off with Galactus. Reed could create any number of ways to justify this, and Sue is strong in her own right, but the whole choice to take her along at that stage of pregnancy seems like a poor decision. Still, it did lead to Franklin's birth scene, which is a standout moment of the film.

Later in the film, Reed is attempting to stop Galactus from destroying the Earth. His plan tasks the world with creating a system of towers spanning the globe that will help teleport the entire planet to a place Galactus can't find. While this seems like a unique plan, Galactus sent the Silver Surfer to announce his arrival, and they have clearly been monitoring the planet. When the Silver Surfer arrives and destroys the tower system, it is a shock to Reed and the other members of The Fantastic Four, but it really shouldn't be. Planets have tried to stop them before and failed, as they are shown to have succeeded repeatedly, making this whole setup seem like a poorly thought-out idea on Reed's part.

The finale of The Fantastic Four: First Steps sees the team attempting to stop Galactus by using the final portal tower in New York to transport Galactus away from the Earth, using Franklin to lure him to the teleportation pad. Inherently, the plan isn't terrible, but parts of it are. The strategy relies on Galactus not realizing that the Fantastic Four swapped out a baby carrier with Franklin. Galactus could sense Franklin's powers before his birth, even when Reed's machines couldn't. However, their plan relies on Galactus not realizing they moved Franklin to a different spot. The finale also requires Galactus to step across a glaringly large red line on the ground, like a massive X marking the spot where he will meet his end, which he, of course, does not.

The Emotional Stakes Of Fantastic Four: First Steps Influenced Reed's Decision-Making

The Fantastic Four: First Steps may show Reed making what seem like stupid mistakes, but the movie's emotional stakes speak to his missteps. The film discusses how Reed thinks about every possibility, even the dark outcomes no one wants to dwell on, hoping that others won't have to if he does. First Steps also features Reed dealing with the stress and anxiety of being a first-time parent with the world's impending end looming over every choice he has to make.

While Reed Richards makes some decisions throughout the film that seem to conflict with his intelligence, The Fantastic Four: First Steps shows that he is plagued with emotional pitfalls throughout all his choices. The MCU's iteration of Reed also makes him feel like a warmer character, as he can often appear cold and calculating. His human faults and ill-advised decision-making feel more natural, given the stakes at play. The MCU still has great plans for Reed Richards in upcoming films like Avengers: Doomsday, with audiences excited to see where Marvel's First Family goes after The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

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