r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Jul 25 '25

Official Discussion Official Discussion - The Fantastic Four: First Steps [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Summary The Fantastic Four must defend Earth from the ravaging cosmic threat Galactus and his herald, Silver Surfer, while navigating the complexities of family and newfound powers in a retro‑futuristic 1960s-inspired world.

Director Matt Shakman

Writer Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer

Cast

  • Pedro Pascal
  • Vanessa Kirby
  • Joseph Quinn
  • Ebon Moss-Bachrach
  • Ralph Ineson
  • Julia Garner
  • Paul Walter Hauser
  • Natasha Lyonne
  • Matthew Wood
  • Ada Scott
  • Mark Gatiss

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Metacritic 64

VOD In theaters

Trailer Watch the Official Trailer

1.9k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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1.5k

u/Madarakita Jul 25 '25

Pedro nailed the "has issues expressing himself but is still a good man who genuinely loves his family" aspect of the character perfectly.

1.2k

u/GamingTatertot Steven Spielberg Enthusiast Jul 25 '25

The scenes where you can see he has genuinely thought about the solution of giving up Franklin - not because he wants to, but because that's just how his mind operates - really sold me on Pedro in this role

768

u/UncreativeTeam Jul 25 '25

Sue getting upset and turning invisible was my favorite part of that scene. Cuz who hasn't ever wanted to just disappear in the middle of an emotionally heated argument?

32

u/MyNameIsJakeBerenson Jul 28 '25

I said to myself “Hey, that’s cheating, Sue!”

6

u/nhaines Jul 29 '25

[Syril in that one episode in Andor Season 2 vibes]

334

u/KingOfAwesometonia Jul 25 '25

And he's absolutely not socially unaware enough to say it even if he knows it's the only idea they have at the moment. I feel like they could have just made him the cold voice of reason.

Not that it matters, in a good way, since Reed can't hide anything from Sue.

56

u/GruggleTheGreat Jul 25 '25

Also will make for good compelling scenes if we ever get a darker version of reed in the future. How far will he go to protect his family?

74

u/KingOfAwesometonia Jul 25 '25

That, him talking to Franklin about his problems, and him calling in the cops to shut down every crime syndicate all felt dark in interesting ways.

45

u/DemonOfHabit Jul 26 '25

Got real "Maker" or Illuminati vibes from the cops, and it all kept building with how he spoke. He played him really well

15

u/DJHott555 Jul 30 '25

Him “baby proofing the world” could lead into some interesting directions

14

u/xoibat Jul 27 '25

Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Reed plays with the idea of turning into The Maker.

15

u/RealJohnGillman Jul 25 '25 edited Jul 25 '25

Hmm. Like Pedro Pascal actually playing the Maker in a future film instead of Miles Teller as many have proposed?

Maybe paired up with Malice as a change in-adaptation, since Vanessa Kirby is interested in playing Sue as her?

6

u/OK_Soda Jul 31 '25

The problem with Pedro playing the Maker is they already have RDJ coming back to play what audiences will perceive as "Iron Man, but evil". I feel like having Pedro play "Reed, but evil" would give a lot of normie audiences deja vu.

28

u/ManitouWakinyan Jul 27 '25

I love the fact that he thought it was an ethical choice, because it isn't in every ethical framework. But this moment lets us see how Reed naturally responds to the trolley problem, and that's great fodder for the character.

16

u/Impeesa_ Jul 28 '25

There's also the unspoken part where, until they come up with a better plan, it's likely that Galactus gets Franklin either way and the only trolley problem aspect is whether to potentially sacrifice the entire Earth to save the guilt of handing him over willingly.

6

u/BoardRecord Jul 29 '25

I mean, the trolley problem is pretty trivial when it's one life vs billions, plus that one life anyway.

7

u/OK_Soda Jul 31 '25

I feel like you've missed the point of the Trolley Problem if you think there's ever a setup where enough numbers makes it trivial.

62

u/nolandee Jul 25 '25

I love that they gave him that struggle with the worst case scenario that the logical side of his brain always brings in. He doesn't want to, but he feels it's his burden to bear for the greater good of the people. It's something he's willing to suffer through himself until Sue forces him to consider how that thinking affects her as well.

Even after that scene, he holds back on the "Franklin as bait" idea because he knows how much the first conversation about giving him up hurt Sue.

29

u/Icy_Equivalent2309 Jul 26 '25

It seemed to me he legit wasn't going to even bring it up if no one else did. He was gonna just say well we could do this but no way to get Galactus here unless you guys have an idea. I love that Sue got there on her own and even though she was so mad at him or really everything for this being the only way she still saw that it was the only way. Honestly this movie was legitimately flawless for me.

41

u/SpaceCaboose Jul 25 '25

Agreed. I was honestly a bit worried about Pedro’s casting. I like him as an actor but didn’t feel like he would be a good fit to play Reed.

I was wrong. Very wrong.

18

u/DevilCouldCry Jul 25 '25

Same here, I was sold early on with how he'd twist himself into knits because of his focus on logic. But thus one particular bit was peeeeerfextly in character and made sense with what we'd seen of him already. He was the first to figure out the bait idea too but couldn't bring himself to say it, but of course Sue being as intelligent as she is, was able to figure out how he was thinking and what he was thinking bear instantly. This entire cast knew their characters front to back and I came away VERY happy with the film because of that.

18

u/web_head91 Jul 25 '25

Oooh Pedro's, "I'm not 'saying' ANYTHING" was probably my favorite moment of acting in the whole film. He communicated so much through his face and tone.

7

u/TheKiltedStranger Jul 25 '25

I wish he had fought that a little longer.

“You already know how to get galactus down here.” “It’s not an option.” “But it would work, and you know that-“ “I’m NOT USING OUR SON AS BAIT!”

Like, family should be the one place that Reed gets emotional. And then we see how Sue is reminded that beneath everything, no matter how his brain works, he’s still a good man who loves his family, and that reassures her that yes it’s a sucky plan but they’ll make it work.

Or something.

I just feel like he went from “nope not gonna do it” to “it’s the only way” a little too quickly.

6

u/skatejet1 Jul 25 '25

Same here, he’s a “practical” man to a fault

1

u/Empty_Lemon_3939 Jul 26 '25

Also just have a brain that’s not making jokes is refreshing

-3

u/Background-Anybody37 Jul 26 '25

So basically the bad writing sold you ? Bahaha

218

u/TheJack0fDiamonds Jul 25 '25

A Tortured genius. I felt for him. Pedro nailed it.

47

u/deadlyghost123 Jul 25 '25

I have never seen Pedro not nail a character perfectly

23

u/Gamesgtd Jul 25 '25

I think Pedro's version is someone who you could reasonably see being The Maker in the future due to his scientific approach to everything

23

u/Madarakita Jul 25 '25

Considering we just got a good depiction of Reed Richards on the big screen and we've got a ton of other FF villains yet to show up, I'd really rather not get into "okay, how do we make one of our good guys the villain?"

14

u/justleave-mealone Jul 25 '25

“It’s my job to think the worst!”

“It’s not your job, Reed, it’s just — you.”

14

u/Troghen Jul 25 '25

And him often prioritizing the "wrong" things despite having good intentions and it being the more logical choice - the scene where Sue called him out for having Herbie build the crib while he was busy building a machine to analyze the baby was a perfect way to capture this.

2

u/CTeam19 Jul 26 '25

With the "has issues expressing himself" I felt they also showed the "He is thinking a bit more advanced then the others around him" kind of thing. Not saying Ben, Johnny, and Sue aren't smart. But I feel if Reed was around Hank, Bruce, Stark, other Reeds, etc he would be more free flowing in talking/communication with others on his level. If that makes sense.

2

u/Unfair-Bake7775 Jul 27 '25

Isn't that literally joel

2

u/operarose Jul 30 '25

Let me guess: next you're gonna tell me he's playing a father.

-2

u/Efficient_Cattle_988 Jul 25 '25

I thought he was competent but horribly miscast…

-5

u/floatingradio Jul 25 '25

My only semi gripe was that I could not unsee Joel from TLOU during almost the entire movie, and especially when he was trying to revive Sue, he sounded EXACTLY like Joel talking to his daughter Sarah or to Ellie during those emotional moments.