'Fantastic Four: First Steps' director explains why he wanted to introduce powerful baby Franklin Richards
Multiple trailers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps have revealed that Marvel's First Family is going to grow by one, thanks to Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) and Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) expecting their first child, Franklin. And comic book fans know that he's going to be so much more than just a bundle of joy for the new parents.
While none of the previous onscreen adaptations of the Fantastic Four included the super-powered baby, director Matt Shakman tells Entertainment Weekly that it was always his plan to debut Franklin into the MCU.
"I really wanted to bring Franklin into this world," the director says. "The most fantastic moment of my life was the birth of my daughter. And this movie is about these quiet, small, fantastic moments as well as these big moments — these moments of awe. And I think birth is one of those fantastic miracle moments that we all have, or those of us who are parents have."
Shakman explains that becoming parents to Franklin "was important" to Reed and Sue's story — as well as Sue's brother Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and their close friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) — in this film.
"It made them unique," the director says. "They are parents in the comics. [Their daughter] Valeria eventually comes. There's another member of the Richards-Storm family, and I just wanted to be able to talk about how a child changes a family, how a child changes a couple."
The stars loved how Shakman incorporated a story about parenthood into the family-focused film.
"All of us [wanted to join this movie] because he wanted to focus on Franklin, the baby," Kirby tells EW. "That was really unique; that set it aside from anything else. Franklin is a huge star of Marvel's legacy, so it was awesome that we got to have him in ours."
But who is Franklin Richards, and why is he so important to the MCU? (Potential spoilers from the comics ahead.)In the comics, Franklin is the most powerful mutant...ever. And we're not exaggerating. Thanks to his exposure to cosmic power while in the womb, he is born an immortal Omega-level mutant who can warp reality, create pocket universes, and wield telekinetic and telepathic powers, among many, many other skills. At one point, his nanny was none other than Agatha Harkness (portrayed in the MCU by Kathryn Hahn).
Operating under the names Powerhouse and Tattletale, Franklin is so powerful that many cosmic beings take an interest in him — including Galactus, the space god who devours worlds (played in the upcoming movie by Ralph Ineson). What's noteworthy about Franklin's connection with Galactus is that, at one point in the comics, Franklin is so powerful that he becomes Galactus himself and makes the former Galactus his herald.
Is that going to be baby Franklin's fate in the MCU? We'll find out soon when The Fantastic Four: First Steps flies into theaters on July 25.
—Additional reporting by Mike Miller
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
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All Style, No Substance The best thing about First Steps is the aesthetic. It's far and away my favorite part of this film, and that's a problem because as much as I do enjoy a solid retrofuturistic aesthetic, it's not enough to make a mediocre movie worth watching. This is all style over substance. The film does a really good job at establishing Earth 828. It's the 1960s but everything is very Jetsons. That midcentury modern veneer makes everything pop. It's very pleasant. I want to live there with the red, rounded cabinets and the funky fridge and the weird science that's somehow managed flying cars before flat screen TVs. I dig it. It's very groovy. We're introduced to our heroes four years after their big space trip that resulted in super powers thanks to genetic modification. Like Superman (again) we don't get an origin story. Just some exposition to help us get into the story quickly. Like Superman, we quickly move past all the humdrum of daily life and into a conflict where the very world and survival of the human race is at stake. Like Superman, this drains the movie of all tension. End Of The World Conflicts Kill Suspense I am going to keep shouting this at Hollywood over and over again: If every superhero movie involves saving the world, pretty soon audiences tune out because it becomes so very, very obvious that the good guys will win and the world will be saved. The one time this didn't happen was Infinity War and that was awesome, but 99 times out of 100 making the stakes this high only has the opposite effect. Instead, superhero movies need smaller, more intimated stakes that present heroes with real tough choices. Think Logan, The Dark Knight, Superman: The Movie etc. In any case, we learn that Galactus is coming. The end is nigh. Of course, since this is the multiverse and a different version of Earth, we think maybe it will. But even if it does, the main version of Earth will be okay and since we saw the Fantastic Four showing up there in the post-credits scene of Thunderbolts, we know that whether or not Earth 828 survives, our heroes will. The Fantastic Four So Reed Richards /Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), his pregnant wife Sue Storm / Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm / Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm / Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) learn that Galactus is coming via the Herald / Silver Surfer / Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner) who comes to warn the people of Earth that their days are numbered and they should spend those days wisely. Galactus, you see, is a powerful celestial being who devours entire worlds as he wanders across the stars. He's one of the most powerful entities in the entire Marvel universe. It's going to be pretty tough for our heroes to stop such a powerful being from killing everyone and literally eating the planet . . . . No, actually, it's going to be super easy. Barely an inconvenience. Our heroes track down Galactus and we get some fun space sequences involving them trying to escape after he reveals that their baby is actually super powerful. He says he'll make a trade for the survival of Earth if they just hand the infant over. They say no and Silver Surfer chases them, but they Interstellar her directly into a black hole and then Back To The Future their ship back to Earth. All of this is fun. There are so many fun moments throughout this film. They just never congeal into something special. They get back and rather bizarrely tell the people of Earth about the trade Galactus offered them. Shockingly(!!) the billions of people about to die think this is kind of a selfish call on the Fantastic Four's part and their popularity dips in the polls. It's going to be pretty tough to get the people back on their side, right? No, actually, it's going to be super easy. Barely an inconvenience. 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