This article contains spoilers for Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps writer Eric Pearson recently talked about an uncomfortable argument Marvel creatives had behind the scenes of the movie. Scenes involving Pedro Pascal’s Mister Fantastic and his stretching were something that reportedly ‘tested the limits.’
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Pearson talked about The Fantastic Four’s fight against the villainous Galactus (Ralph Ineson). At one point, when all four family members join together to try and take him down, Galactus is able to thwart Pascal’s Reed Richards and finds humor in stretching the hero to his limits, literally trying to pull him apart from both ends. It was this very scene that caused the debate among the film’s creatives.
“I don’t know if it made you uncomfortable, the stretch [of Reed Richards],” Pearson said. “[Director] Matt [Shakman] wasn’t allergic to stretching, but he was like, ‘I want to know my rules for stretching and I don’t want it to be too crazy cartoony. I want it to be within the physiology of the human body.‘”
Pearson went on to say how he told Shakman that they could ‘test the limits’ of Reed’s stretching abilities for the scene. “[I]t felt like Pedro [Pascal]’s ribcage was coming apart. You want the moments where it feels like they’re totally screwed, and they’re going to lose,” Pearson added.
He also talked about how previous drafts of the film saw the final fight against Galactus taking place in space, rather than on Earth. “I want to see him against the Empire State Building. I want to see the Mets’ Stadium. I want to see him kicking buses and stuff like that,” Pearson revealed.
He went on to mention how this change saw Reed and Sue using their own child as a way to lure in Galactus. “[T]he idea of using their child as bait is logical. Yes, it’s also super f—-d up. This family has taken on the burden and responsibility of protecting the entire planet and now their only option is to do something that is personally very harmful.”
Marvel’s Fantastic Four Movie Quickly Became The Highest Grossing F4 Film
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is still enjoying its theatrical release around the world, but it didn’t take long for the latest Marvel movie to set a record. With its worldwide box office receipts already surpassing $385 million, it’s already the highest-grossing Fantastic Four film, beating out the 2000s films starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis as well as the ill-fated 2015 reboot with Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell.
A sequel to First Steps is reportedly already in the early stages of development, but it’s likely to be a while before Marvel fans see the family back in action in their own solo film. It won’t be much longer, however, before The Fantastic Four are back on the silver screen; all four characters are set to appear in the upcoming Avengers films, Doomsday and Secret Wars.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now showing in theaters.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
- Runtime
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115 minutes
- Director
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Matt Shakman
- Writers
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Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson, Kat Wood, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee
- Producers
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Kevin Feige
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Pedro Pascal
Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic
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Vanessa Kirby
Sue Storm / Invisible Woman