Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Fantastic Four: First Steps

Compared to past movie versions, the MCU finally nails a key part of Reed Richards’ character in Fantastic Four: First Steps. Beyond his power to stretch and elongate his body into various shapes and sizes, Reed Richards was born with a brilliant intellect as the “Smartest Man Alive”. Now, the MCU has finally highlighted the one thing about Richards that past Fantastic Four movies have failed to show.

In Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel’s First Family is faced with a seemingly impossible situation four years after receiving their cosmic powers and becoming their world’s foremost superheroes, as Galactus intends to consume the Earth if they fail to hand over Reed and Sue Storm’s child Franklin. Subsequently, this creates the perfect opportunity for the MCU to finally show Mister Fantastic’s greatest flaw on screen.

Fantastic Four: First Steps Finally Shows Reed Richards’ Greatest Flaw

Prioritizing Cold Calculation And Logic

Returning to Earth after their first encounter with The World Devourer and barely escaping the Silver Surfer (who tried claiming baby Franklin), The Fantastic Four tries to plan for Galactus’ imminent arrival. In the absence of a clear plan, it’s Reed who coldly claims that handing over Franklin is the most “mathematical” and “ethical” option.

Naturally, this angers Sue Storm, and her argument with her husband makes it clear that all of his logic and genius is often as detrimental to his family as it is helpful. After all, it often comes at the cost of ignoring/devaluing human emotions (his own and his loved ones). As such, it mirrors the same inherent flaw of Mister Fantastic’s genius in the original Marvel Comics.

As Reed himself says, he frequently invites the most terrible outcomes into his mind, so that he can try and work out how to prevent that from happening to those he cares about and/or turn those outcomes against those trying to harm them. Likewise, Pedro Pascal’s Reed even shares a key moment with his son later on in the movie:

“I don’t want you to be like me. There’s something wrong with me, always has been. The more I look at you, the less I know. And the less I know, the more scared I am. So, you know what? I’m not gonna look anymore. I’m gonna let you tell me who you are.”

To see the MCU’s Reed Richards trying to reconcile with this classic comics flaw on screen is equally exciting and compelling, especially in a crisis involving his new son.

It’s even more exciting when considering that we haven’t really seen the dark side or intrinsic flaw of Reed’s incredible intellect in previous movies before. Fox’s Fantastic Four movies in the early 2000s mainly had Reed Richards distracted by his genius, eventually making his relationships more of a priority. Likewise, 2015’s Fantastic Four was even further from the mark.At any rate, it should be very exciting to see what the future holds for the MCU’s Reed Richards going forward, especially with an arch-foe like Doctor Doom on the horizon.

Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theaters from Marvel Studios.