Hero Profile: Mr. Fantastic

I’m just going to let you all know, right now, that I am not the biggest fan of the Fantastic Four. I can never exactly put my finger on why, but something about the team has always just annoyed me. Maybe it’s the pretty generic set up; the Leader/smart guy (Mr. Fantastic), the muscle (the Thing), the jokester (Human Torch), and the woman (Invisible Woman); maybe it’s their less than stellar movie adaptations, and maybe it’s just because with all the heroes I do like, I just need a team to dislike. Who knows? I’ll probably have a better understanding of it all by the time I’m finished with this latest theme week. With that, let’s get to it. First up on our list, Mr. Fantastic.

I don't really want to be "this guy," but
are super-stretching powers really that
fantastic?

Reed Richard’s formative years were rather…busy. By the time he was 19 he’d already attended and earned degrees from several very prestigious institutions, such as Harvard and Columbia University. He’d also already had a fair fateful encounters, such as meeting best friend and future pilot Ben Grimm at State University, future love interest Sue Storm at the boarding house her aunt ran, and his greatest nemesis Victor von Doom during their shared time at Columbia university. Of the three encounters, Vic Doom is the most interesting so that’s the one I’ll talk about at length. The two young men regarded the other as their greatest rival, for Reed it was a semi-fun competition with someone that was his intellectual equal and for Victor it was an intense and bitter competition with someone that he felt was inferior. In the spirit of this competition, and from a desire to talk to his dearly departed mother, Victor created a device that would supposedly let him speak with the dead. Reed, whom looked over Victor’s calculations, tried to stop the young von Doom when he saw that Victor’s final equation was a few decimals off. Victor continued anyway, which led to a huge explosion which mildly scarred Victor’s face and destroyed the lab. This accident is what fueled Victor’s hatred for Reed, and ultimately lead to him becoming Doctor Doom. Reed, on the other hand, continued his schooling and did some work for the government. By the time he was twenty five he began work on his greatest invention, a spacecraft capable of traveling at hyperspeed. Using funds from 1.) His inheritance, 2.) Government funding, 3.) His now fiancée Sue Storm. He even looked up his old buddy Ben Grimm, now a test pilot and astronaut, to fly the ship. Everything was looking pretty good for Reed. That is until the government threatened to cut the funding and cancel the mission.

Not one to be deterred, Reed, Sue, Ben, and Sue’s younger brother Johnny, sunk aboard the nearly completed spaceship and took it for a spin. Ben was the only one whom was worried about the untested shielding and possible exposure to radiation, but Reed assured him that the shields would hold and protect them. They fired up the rockets and took off. The plan was to shoot for Mars. They barely got off planet. As soon as they got out of the Van Allen Radiation Belt, the invisible field of radiation around Earth, the crew was bombarded with lethal doses of cosmic radiation. Apparently despite being a super genius, Reed had neglected to take abnormal radiation levels into account when preparing the ship’s shielding. The ship crash landed, and the crew found themselves fundamentally changed. Reed gained the power to stretch and reshape himself as if made from rubber, Sue gained the ability to generate invisible force fields, Johnny could engulf his body in superheated plasma, and Ben transformed into a being of living stone. Under Reed’s suggestion, they agreed to form a team and use their powers for the benefit of mankind. He took up the name Mr. Fantastic, why he doesn’t go by Dr. Fantastic I’ll never know, and thus the Fantastic Four was born.

Am I the only one that would like to hold
up a magnefying glass and see if he starts
to melt?

Using his immense scientific intellect, Reed developed many different tools to help the fledgling super team. The most important, in my humble opinion, being their costumes which are made from “unstable molecules” which adapt to the wearers ability. Basically his stretches, Sue’s can disappear, and Johnny’s doesn’t burn up. He later shares this discovery with other heroes, like Ant-Man, and the X-Men. The FF quickly became one of Earth’s most celebrate heroes, battling many villains like Doctor Doom, the alien Skrull, and the deceptively stupid sounding Mole Man. The most constant threat of those three being Doctor Doom, who has that whole “everlasting vengeance” vendetta against Reed after the whole face scarring thing. They also ran into troubles that go far beyond our world, like the planet eating Galactus and his heralds. Despite the overwhelming power of Galactus, the team was able to beat the god-like alien back. Reed also became one of the most well-known scientific minds of the Marvel Universe, rivaling and in some places exceeding the knowledge of colleagues like Tony Stark (Iron Man), Hank Pym (Ant-Man) and Hank McCoy (Beast). He also married Sue and the two started a family.

During the more recent Superhero Civil War, Reed was one of the leaders of the Pro-Registration side, alongside Iron Man. He is responsible for things like the highly unethical prison in the extra-dimensional “Negative Zone,” and for the creation of a clone of Thor, which killed several heroes and led Sue and Johnny to defect to the Anti-Registration side. Reed believed that the Registration act would help save billions of lives, as better trained, government sponsored superheroes would be more effective against threats like Doctor Doom and the various alien invasions Earth keeps suffering under. During the final major battle in the War, he’s gravely injured protecting Sue from a bullet shot by the sometimes villainous Taskmaster. Sue attacks Taskmaster, and when it becomes clear that Reed will survive his injuries the two patch things up. They take a short leave of absence from the Fantastic Four, but get the second most famous superhuman couple, Storm of the X-Men and the Avengers’ Black Panther, to sub in for them.

Has the right look, but really, really
sucks at the super scientist part.

After the Civil War debacle, an alien invasion led by an irate Hulk, dealing with Norman Osborn’s corrupt H.A.M.M.E.R. organization, and the apparent death of brother-in-law Johnny, Reed becomes disillusioned with being a superhero and the “misuse” of science. Along with the rest of the FF and their newest recruit, Spider-Man, they form another double F group, the Future Foundation. The groups plan is to mentor the best and brightest minds of the world to help better serve and protect the world. So yeah, from scientist to Superhero to teacher, pretty much the weirdest ride in comics.

Reed Richards’ powers allow him to stretch, mold and reshape his body at will. He can stretch to crazy lengths, reshape his body into various weapons or objects, and turn into a giant bouncy ball of destruction. It’s much more terrifying than it sounds. Reed is also one of the most intelligent members of the Marvel Universe, having several degrees in fields ranging from theoretic physics, robotics, engineering, to biology, to name just a few. The various inventions he creates and patents in his spare time bankroll the Fantastic Four, and ensure that his team avoids the money troubles of some of his colleagues.

Mr. Fantastic and the Fantastic Four have appeared in a number of different Marvel Series. Heck, they’re seen or mentioned in just about all of the animated series to date. As such, I’ll focus on the ones I know best. An interesting side note, in the comics Susan Storm is the one that is first enamored with Reed and pursues him, while in just about all their TV and movie appearances, Reed’s the one trying to get Sue’s attention. Just a weird little change from page to screen.

The most recent show focusing on the Fantastic Four was Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes. Not sure if I agree with that title, but it was an interesting series. I only saw a handful of episodes, but the ones I saw were seemed very true to the source material. Reed’s the genius that is usually getting the team out of, and occasionally into trouble. He works hard to try and reverse the mutation that got Ben Grimm stuck as a giant orange rock, coming close several times but is usually screwed over by the vindictive Doctor Doom. Not the best show I’ve ever seen, but I’d say check it out if you like the FF.

Nothing against Mr. Teller, but the film trailers haven't
filled me with confidence.

Reed and his team were featured on a few episodes of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. He appeared in “The Private War of Doctor Doom” where Invisible Woman and a visiting Wasp are kidnapped by Doctor Doom. They’re able to help the two captured heroes escape, but fail to learn the reason why Doom nabbed them in the first place. The reason? Invisible Woman had been replaced by a Skrull and Doom was just confirming it. Reed also delivers one of the best threat’s I’ve ever heard, when Tony Stark suggested that he might try to steal Sue away since Reed wasn’t paying her much attention. Reed’s response, “I can think of 14 different ways to seal you in that armor, forever.” When the Skrull invasion begins in the episode “Secret Invasion” Invisible Skrull disables the Fantastic Four by getting them all stuck in the Negative Zone. They return when the fighting is mostly over. Reed is one of several scientific heroes that break into Galactus’ warship in the series finale “Avengers Assemble.” He, Tony, and Hank Pym try to devise a way to stop the Devourer of Worlds while the other Avenger’s disrupt his devouring. In the end, they use one of Reed’s inventions to finally stop Galactus. For a guy who’s really only in two episodes, he’s really important.

He was played by actor Ioan Gruffudd in Fantastic Four back in 2005. This version is a brilliant but bankrupt scientist trying to get help to financing for a scientific experiment centered on a rare cosmic storm. Apparently, this Reed didn’t have the forethought to patent his tech or something. He goes to former rival and successful businessman Victor von Doom. Doom agrees, but insists he and two of his own staff go along, Reed’s ex and Doom’s head of scientific research Susan Storm and her pilot brother Johnny. The five get irradiated, and spend most of the movie learning about their powers. They “save the day” twice, but one of the problems was caused by them. So, yeah, they aren’t all that super in this one. Ioan reprises the role in the somehow worse Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Since the previous film the team has reached celebrity status, and Mr. Fantastic has gotten a bit more confident. Which is really the only real improvement. He and the team need to stop the Silver Surfer from preparing their world for Galactus to devour. It’s pretty much downhill from the credits onward.

A new Mr. Fantastic is set to appear in Fantastic Four out on Friday. This version is going to be played by Miles Teller. This version of Reed is more interested in traveling between dimensions than into space, and is a bit younger than in the comics. He and his team are transported into what I presume is the Negative Zone and are given superhuman powers upon their return. I’ve about 78% certain this movie is going to be bad, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Personally, I don’t care for Reed Richards, but I can admit that I can see why someone might like him. For me, the highlighted scientist aspects of the character, and the clichés that go with those aspects, greatly detract from the heroic qualities of the character. He’s the scientist who’s so into science, that he barely registers stuff happening around him. And I really, really hate that cliché. But, on the other hand, he is an effective team leader, who’s brain power is as important if not more so than his stretching powers. Later stories have stated that Reed is in fact on the Autism Spectrum, explaining his hyper-focus on science and his at time subpar social skills, which I can respect. Autistic folks could use a superhero as much as anyone else. That being said, still not the biggest fan. He’s the stretching scientist, the dutiful doctor, the at times inaccurately named Mr. Fantastic. Seriously, the man has several PhD’s but refuses the title in his code name. What’s up with that? Next time, we have a look at Reed’s leading lady and arguably the most powerful of the Fantastic Four, Susan Storm, aka Invisible Woman.

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