WHAT IF HE CAN’T STRETCH???

“The smartest man alive, they say. He’ll change the world, they say. Don’t lose control. Stay calm. She can’t know that I don’t know what’s happening.” Reed Richard’s thoughts are frantic, but he makes sure to keep his face as stoic as possible. Sue Storm, the woman of his dreams, the woman in his arms that he’s watching turn translucent, can’t know that he doesn’t have an answer for what’s happening to her. “What about the rest of the crew,” he thinks. “My God. Ben?! Johnny?!”

The terror of the moment is too much, even for Reed Richards and he’s jolted from this reoccurring memory that continues to haunt him nearly every night. Covered in a cold sweat, Reed feels his wife reach out to him. All this time after the accident, its Sue who now has to help Reed stay calm. “It just isn’t fair,” Reed states. “Johnny catches fire, you turn invisible, and Ben… my God, Ben.”

“No one blames you for what happened,” Sue tries to explain.

“But they should. Four people went up and three of them were changed forever. But not me. Not, Mr. Fantastic.”

Marvel once again has fans celebrating that it’s back after the release of the Fantastic Four trailer. Between the unique atmosphere, thrilling action, and a few character reveals fans have been waiting to see for quite some time, it was a near-perfect trailer from start to finish. There was one specific thing missing from the trailer, though. We saw Johnny “flame on,” we saw The Thing… thing, and we even got to see Sue Storm turn invisible, but the one thing we didn’t see was Mr. Fantastic stretching it up. Why? Well, I have a theory. In fact, I have the entire movie theorized just after one trailer. Am I right? Definitely not. Did I have a lot of fun coming up with all of this? Absolutely!

We see from the trailer that Marvel’s first family isn’t just the most popular group of superheroes, but more than likely the only superheroes on the planet. They’re celebrities. Kids dress up as The Thing for Halloween. Reporters visit The Baxter Building to write features on a day in the life of the Fantastic Four. They’re the Kardashians if they were valuable to society. But we also see that when the public eye isn’t focused on the family, Reed appears to be dealing with the guilt of what’s happened to them.

The trailer then cuts to Johnny flying through the city streets of retro New York. He’s chasing something, but what? Well, as we know, Marvel loves to digitally remove objects and characters from trailers to keep fans guessing. I believe that Johnny is chasing after Silver Surfer played by Julia Garner. Unlike the 2007 Fantastic Four movie where Johnny is chasing after the Silver Surfer who has come to tell the planet, “Galactus is coming,” this chase scene involves a third character, Franklin Richards.

This is the beginning of where my theory gets wild and enters into the world of definitely not happening… but it would be a lot of fun if I called it. Galactus and The Silver Surfer aren’t just coming to Earth for dinner, but for someone specific: the son of Reed and Sue, Franklin Richards, one of the most powerful characters in all of Marvel comics who can manipulate time and space. It’s during the fight with Galactus that our three heroes leave Reed behind to watch over Franklin. Sadly, the fight is too much for our heroes. During the chase to stop the Silver Surfer from taking Franklin, we see the death of Johnny Storm. This is soon followed by the death of Ben Grimm. I’m glossing over some details, but the destination is the most important part of the sequence, and when the battle finally comes to an end, Sue and Franklin have been taken away by Galactus.

The next part of the film focuses on Reed’s obsession with not being able to help in the fight. If only he had been changed during the accident like the others he could have saved them. His friends wouldn’t be dead. His wife and son wouldn’t have been taken.

In an act of desperation, Reed tracks down one of the Fantastic Four’s earliest villains, Ivan Kragoff, The Red Ghost. A Russian scientist obsessed with recreating the accident that saw the Fantastic Four becoming heroes after being hit by cosmic rays, the Red Ghost would take monkeys into space in hopes of turning them into super apes. It takes some convincing, Pedro Pascal more than likely delivers an incredible speech, but Ivan and Reed agree to work together to create a machine that could recreate the effects of the cosmic rays. We get a fun montage of John Malkovich and Pedro Pascal building a machine together. Maybe, “Let’s Hear it for the Boys,” by Deniece Williams plays in the background… Just kidding, though that would be great. We do, however, eventually see Reed step into the machine, his obsession with saving the only family he has left has led him to this life-or-death moment. This machine will either kill him or give him the power he seeks.

Obviously, the machine works. Finally, Reed Richards is Mr. Fantastic. Reed, much like Donatello, does machines and uses them to track down where Galactus and the Silver Surfer have gone. Which leads us back to learning the future of the MCU. Sue and Franklin arrive on a planet that’s been left in ruin. The two are led to a small house that looks a lot like the one that Thanos called home at the end of Infinity War, but the Mad Titan isn’t home. Instead, it’s someone else. Doom.

Back on retro-Earth, Reed is preparing to travel into space to take back his family, but before his ship launches, Ivan tells him that he’s never forgiven him for stopping him all those years. He’s changed the coordinates of Reed’s ship. He’s not going to fight Galactus, he’s being sent to his death. Reed’s ship rips through space and is headed toward a black hole. Reed starts doing smart guy stuff on the console of the ship causing something scientific to happen. Everything goes dark. The next time we see the ship, it’s tumbling into the atmosphere of a planet strategically not shown. The ship eventually crashes into what might be a field. Anything inside the ship that could help Reed understand where he is has broken. Eventually, he stumbles out of the ship. Is this someone’s backyard? Is that a house? As Reed tries to collect himself, we hear a charge of energy coming from two Quad Blasters. Reed turns to look in the direction of the sound. It’s Peter Quill, and as he questions who Reed is, credits.