Fantastic Four: The First Steps

[BrianL]

I turned to my sister after and said, "Wait, Reed doesn't actually need to be insufferable?". He has been in all of the other iterations I've seen (never saw the Miles Teller one).

Is he not in this movie? That is good! I have been a little nervous about seeing it because of the way they often play Reed. They seem to always make the "smart guy" so aloof and cold as to be unlikeable. He's been like this in the comics for a LONG time now, and even some of the runs that the director cited as favorites are like that, where Reed is just a...well, let's just say "jerk" though other words would apply. I hate that so much, and it is not in line with his original character. I should have figured that the movies would make it better as they typically have when adapting questionable material, but still.

 

[Moliphino]

Is he not in this movie? That is good! I have been a little nervous about seeing it because of the way they often play Reed. They seem to always make the "smart guy" so aloof and cold as to be unlikeable. He's been like this in the comics for a LONG time now, and even some of the runs that the director cited as favorites are like that, where Reed is just a...well, let's just say "jerk" though other words would apply. I hate that so much, and it is not in line with his original character. I should have figured that the movies would make it better as they typically have when adapting questionable material, but still.

He's still a bit of a dick at times (mostly to Johnny) and still analytical, but overall he's mostly likeable. He does clearly care about his family and the world.

 

[BrianL]

He's still a bit of a dick at times (mostly to Johnny) and still analytical, but overall he's mostly likeable. He does clearly care about his family and the world.

Well, it's hard not to be toward Johnny, who should be played as a bit self-centered, so that could be warranted. I swear though, in the comics, they have made Reed so bad that I don't even know why Sue stays with him/ Really, Marvel has done that to ALL of their characters really. It's like they think that people can't be nice, which says a lot about the people running the comics division and working as writers there.

 

[MIChessGuy]

Reed tried to be reasonable when he and his alt-universe team confronted Wanda Maximoff in the Doctor Strange movie. Unfortunately, he revealed exactly how their heavy hitter was going to come at her, thus making that universe's Reed a good candidate for dumbest man in the world. He and his entire team were killed immediately. Still--I liked the beard.

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

https://deadline.com/2025/07/fantastic-four-first-steps-global-international-box-office-1236468911/

Box office numbers from the weekend, via Deadline. Not bad. Just not spectacular.