- Marvel reveal at CinemaCon shows Sue Storm is pregnant in The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- This is canonical to the Fantastic Four comics
- This could see the birth of Franklin Richards – a significant Marvel character
Marvel upped the anticipation for The Fantastic Four: First Steps at CinemaCon with the reveal that Sue Storm is pregnant – but what does this mean for the MCU?
A new teaser at CinemaCon showed Sue Storm – played by Vanessa Kirby – showing a visible bump and talking about being a family. This confirmed a plot point that has been rumored for some time. But, as ever with Marvel, one reveal just prompts more questions.
It will be interesting to see how the pregnancy affects the plot for the movie, which will also see the Fantastic Four battle Galactus for the future of the Earth.
Sue Storm plot follows comics
But what has also got fans excited is that the pregnancy storyline is one that has been played out in the comics.
In the comics, after Sue marries Reed Richards, she becomes pregnant. But, due to the genetically altered structures of Sue and Reed, nothing runs smoothly. In the comics, to ensure that Sue carries the baby to term, Reed, along with fellow Fantastic Four members Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm travel to acquire a device that can enable that.
Once born, it is no surprise that the baby – a body named Franklin – is also a mutant. But being the son of mutant parents, he has vast powers. This means he becomes a target for villains who would want to utilise those powers for nefarious purposes.
What pregnancy could mean for Fantastic Four and MCU
Another question is what this will mean for the Fantastic Four. Having a mother on the team will bring a different dynamic that hasn’t been seen before in the MCU. None of the female superheroes have yet been mothers. Some of the men have been fathers – such as Hawkeye – but this isn’t often referenced. To explore this would bring something not seen before in superhero films.
But it is who the baby is that will really get attention. In the comics, Franklin becomes a significant character, and has encountered many heroes and villains from the Marvel universe – including Doctor Doom.
Will Franklin become a character in the MCU in movies to come? We know that the Fantastic Four will appear in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars in years to come – so what form will that take?
