I Think The Fantastic Four: First Steps Gets A Lot Right About Parenting, Especially When It Comes To Reed Richards

Spoiler Warning: The following article contains some major spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. If you’ve yet to watch the new Marvel movie, please exercise caution.

At long last, Marvel’s First Family has finally made its debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that The Fantastic Four: First Steps has come out on the 2025 movie schedule. Going into Matt Shakman’s return to the MCU after helming 2021’s WandaVision, I had a feeling we’d be seeing some outrageous comic book action, a fresh and unique visual style, and Galactus trying to do what he does best: eat planets. However, I didn’t expect this to be a remarkable conversation on parenting.

There’s a lot that the movie gets right about parenting and how having a kid fundamentally changes you, and that’s especially true when it comes to Reed Richards’ journey from scientist and superhero to neurotic father. Let me explain…

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Perfectly Captures How Becoming A Parent Fundamentally Changes The Way You Think

Similar to how Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm went through a massive physical transformation after being subjected to cosmic rays during a space mission, Sue's giving birth to Franklin radically changed the mental and emotional structure of the core characters’ brains.

Even before Franklin is born and the Fantastic Four learn the real reason Galactus wants the unborn baby, Reed becomes obsessed with learning everything he can about his child. Will he be healthy? Will he have damage from his parents’ changed genetic makeup? What will become of him? It’s natural for parents (both before and after birth) to have these thoughts, and it was incredibly powerful to see this explored in a big-budget summer blockbuster of this scale.

The Parenting Aspect Made Reed Richards' Arc One Of The Most Fulfilling In The MCU

For years, in comics, cartoons, and Marvel movies (at least those outside of the MCU), Reed Richards has always been presented as one of the smartest superheroes of all time. Hell, his nickname is Mister Fantastic. However, in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Reed has a problem that he struggles to solve: parenthood. While Sue Storm, being the nurturing and wise mother and superhero she is, seems to have it figured out fairly quickly, her husband takes a tremendous amount of time on this journey, which is all too accurate.

This arc of him going from someone who has always used his brain to figure out a solution to a problem to someone who has to use his heart to save the day is incredible and is one of the most fulfilling in the MCU. Yeah, he does use that fantastic brain of his to help defeat Galactus, but it’s that fundamental shift in his way of thinking that brings him there.

Also, The Car Seat Gag At The End Is Way Too Accurate

Just before the Fantastic Four: First Steps ending, the movie gives us one of the funniest and most accurate gags in the entire MCU when Reed, Ben, and Johnny try to properly install Franklin’s car seat in the Fantasticar. I have three kids and have installed car seats more times than I care to remember, but I still messed it up all the time when they were younger. Thank heavens I just have one kid in a booster seat now.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with its great action, visual style, and lessons about parenting, is a fun theatrical experience. I still haven’t decided where it stands on the list of best MCU movies at this time, but it was a movie I won’t soon forget.