The new Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer reveals the quite literal meaning behind the film’s title: Sue Storm and Reed Richards, two of the Fantastic Four team members, are expecting a baby. In the comics, the couple has two children, Franklin and Veleria. It will perhaps come as no surprise that these children are born with superpowers. So this could be the introduction of yet another set of superheroes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Previous spots for the new Fantastic Four movie revealed that the film will not be an origin story. It is set years after the Fantastic Four—Reed Richards, his wife Sue Storm, her brother Johnny Storm, and their friend Ben Grimm—travel into space, encounter radiation, and return to earth with superpowers. Reed (played by Pedro Pascal) becomes the ultra-stretchy Mr. Fantastic; Sue (Vanessa Kirby) becomes the Invisible Woman; Johnny (Joseph Quinn) becomes the Human Torch; and Ben (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) transforms into an ultra-strong rocky creature called simply the Thing. In their universe (one that presumably runs parallel to the universe in which Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man exist), they serve as Earth’s only superheroes.
Early in the new trailer, Sue announces that she is pregnant and reassures Reed that they can raise a family together despite their superhero responsibilities. Johnny and Ben celebrate the fact that they’ll get to be fun uncles.
Then a villain named the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) shows up to inform the Fantastic Four that their planet is “marked for destruction.” The Silver Surfer traditionally heralds the coming of Galactus, a cosmic entity who consumes planets. Reed, a scientist and one of the smartest men in the world, desperately scribbles out calculations trying to find a way to save the planet. We see the Fantastic Four team don space suits, presumably headed into the cosmos to find or fight either the Silver Surfer or Galactus himself.
Will Franklin arrive in First Steps?
Given the title of the film, I think we may just see little Franklin’s—ahem—first steps. The baby is not featured in the trailer. But Sue is visibly pregnant when the Silver Surfer first arrives and does not seem to be in later fight scenes in the trailer. It’s a reasonable assumption that Sue will give birth to their elder child, Franklin, at some point in the movie. In another shot, Reed and Sue are seen gazing into an empty crib, presumably in preparation for Franklin’s arrival.
The Fantastic Four are known as Marvel’s First Family. Their whole deal is that they care for one another not as coworkers or a team but as siblings. With the arrival of a baby, the stakes of those familial responsibilities become much higher, especially considering Galactus may destroy the planet before Franklin reaches his first milestones. Still, we’re confident the baby will not only survive this movie but play a role in the future Marvel films.
Franklin’s powers and role in the MCU
Franklin is a very powerful little toddler in the comic books. Like Scarlett Witch and Jean Grey, Franklin has the powers of telekinesis and telepathy. Intriguingly, Agatha Harkness—who is portrayed by Kathryn Hahn in WandaVision—acts as Franklin’s nanny for awhile.
Marvel has announced two future Avengers films, Avengers: Doomsday starring traditional Fantastic Four nemesis Doctor Doom as the main villain, and Avengers: Secret Wars. (In a twist, Doom will be played by Robert Downey Jr. who famously kicked off the MCU as Iron Man before that character sacrificed his life to save the world in Avengers: Endgame. He will presumably play a Doom who hails from a parallel universe to the one where our Iron Man exists.)
The Fantastic Four cast is confirmed to appear in Doomsday—frankly it would be odd if Mr. Fantastic and Doctor Doom didn’t face off in the film given their long history as nemeses in the comics. Without spoiling the potential plots of Doomsday or Secret Wars, we’ll just tease that Franklin plays a significant role in the Secret Wars storyline in the comic books. So expect him to not only pop up but perhaps flex his powers in those upcoming films.
As for First Steps, it’s unlikely we’ll see infant Franklin battle Galactus—though who knows? After all, baby Jack-Jack took on the villain in The Incredibles all by himself and won.
