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Pedro Pascal teases an "emotionally available" version of Marvel's Reed Richards in Fantastic Four: First Steps
After decades of the character being the worst husband and father imaginable, Pedro Pascal brings "a limitless amount of layers" to The Fantastic Four's big brain.
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Most comic book fans know two things about Reed Richards. One, he’s the stretchy dude in the Fantastic Four, and two, he’s kind of a terrible husband and father. However, we can expect something very different when Pedro Pascal brings him into the MCU with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with a more “emotionally available” version of Mr. Fantastic on the big screen.
Pedro Pascal has explained that it wasn’t just Reed Richard’s genius that drew him to the role. “I see a limitless amount of layers to this character,” he explained in an interview promoting the film. Those layers don’t just include being the smartest person on his version of Earth. As the world is about to be devoured by Galactus, Richards discovers that he’s about to become a father as Sue Storm is pregnant. “He does the ultimate version of catastrophising. A brain that has an overview of threats on a mathematical level, but also being emotionally available. It was a fascinating contradiction.”
The idea of a Mr. Fantastic who can do both – be logical and brilliant without being emotionally unavailable to his family – is refreshing for us, having had multiple comic book versions that failed at that. Considering that Reed Richards has always been the father figure of the Fantastic Four, this might be the first version that feels like it reflects that modern dad: Not just the hard-working, emotionally dead inside stereotype that TV and film have presented for generations, but one that gets involved with parenting as much as he can and shows his emotions freely. What a fantastic idea, huh?
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will arrive in theaters July 25.
Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:
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