If you touch a hair on Sue Storm and Reed Richards’ heads in ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’…
Marvel’s First Family is coming and the more I learn about The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the more excited I am. But I also would die to protect Sue Storm and Reed Richards. Especially after this new first look from Entertainment Weekly.
Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) is one of the smartest people on the planet and that’s not an easy role to take on. Especially when we have to believe that this man is a caring leader, supportive partner, and a man who will put his own life on the line for those closest to him. So who better to play that then everyone’s favorite dad, Pascal? But just as important as Reed is his beloved, Sue Storm.
Vanessa Kirby is playing the Invisible Woman herself and what I love about this new look at the film is that director Matt Shakman understands who Reed and Sue are. Which just makes me even more nervous for them. I don’t want to watch this beloved couple suffer!
In the Entertainment Weekly piece, Shakman spoke about why Reed and Sue work as a couple, saying “If he is the most scientifically intelligent person, then she is the most emotionally intelligent person on the planet. Between the two of them, they’re building an idealistic society.” And it’s the truth!
Reed Richards is so smart that, often, he doesn’t use his intelligence to communicate with others. That’s where Sue steps in and is that voice of reason for the team. And if that’s how Shakman is talking about them now, it does give me hope for the film. And already I want to protect both of these characters with my life.
A modern look at Sue
Vanessa Kirby talked about Sue Storm in the Entertainment Weekly exclusive and what she said made me really excited to see her take on Sue Storm. When you think about the Fantastic Four as an entire team, it is kind of upsetting that the one woman is literally “invisible.” But Kirby shared that part of the joy of playing Sue was that they tried to honor what she represented for every generation in her performance.
“If you played an exact ’60s Sue today, everyone would think she was a bit of a doormat,” Kirby told the outlet. “So figuring out how to capture the essence of what she represented to each generation, where the gender politics were different, and embody that today, was one of the greatest joys of this.”
Kirby went on to talk about Sue Storm’s journey with motherhood. In the comic, Reed and Sue have two kids but we haven’t ever seen that in the live action. In the trailer that was revealed at CinemaCon, it was confirmed that Sue was pregnant with presumably baby Franklin Richards. But Kirby explained that with the inclusion of Franklin, it means that she got to explore nuggets of Sue’s darker side as well.
“Matt and I were really aware that there hasn’t really been a mother with a baby in these superhero archetypes women have been getting,” Kirby said. “One of the things I love most from Sue’s history is when she becomes Malice, and all her dark stuff comes out. I was obsessed with that chapter of her life. So I wanted to make sure that there were tones of Malice in there with her, that she wasn’t just the stereotype of a goody, sweet mother.”
But my own favorite part of what Kirby said about Sue Storm is that she got to explore different layers to the character. More often than not, our heroes have to be strong but not TOO strong, vulnerable but not a nag, and if a woman dare be flawed, she’s labeled as a villain. But getting to see Kirby’s take on Sue might just cure me.
“I’ve always been really interested in the mess of femininity, and how can you be both? How can you be all the things?” Kirby said. “Not just the tough, invincible, powerful woman, but also a mother who gives birth, which is itself a superhero act. I love that these characters are real humans in a messy family who argue and try to work it out and get things wrong.”
Reed Richards has big and stretchy shoes to fill
Pedro Pascal is no stranger to stepping in to big shoes. He did it with Star Wars, The Last of Us, and Game of Thrones but it is arguably a harder thing taking on a Marvel hero. Not that it is necessarily easy doing what Pascal did in those franchise but fans have a lot of opinions and feelings on Reed Richards.
In the Entertainment Weekly piece, Pascal explained that it was “really intimidating” taking on Richards and how even when he thought that the last thing he did was the most nerve-wracking of them, a new project would come and test him.
“I relied on the people that I was around to hold me to the experience and help get me through it. Stepping into something like Game of Thrones and then going into the early days of Netflix with Narcos and then Star Wars and the world of video games with The Last of Us, each time I’ve felt like I couldn’t top how intimidating the last one was,” Pascal said. “They’re all scary because you really want to make people happy, especially if it’s something that’s widely known with particular expectations around it because you want those expectations to be met. You also want to be authentic to yourself so that it can be the best that it can be for anybody who wants to be entertained by a story and travel with us into this world.”
I just want to protect them
I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe but I will be the first to admit that it is a franchise lacking in love. We haven’t had that many couples in the franchise as a whole and if we have, their love story is not necessarily at the heart of the story. With Reed Richards and Sue Storm, it is kind of impossible to ignore the love the two have for each other.
So the fact that we get to see them happy and in love, ready to have a family of their own? It has made me so aggressively protective of them. I know that a movie of them being happy and in love with no real problems is unlikely with Galactus around but a girl can hope, right?
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
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