Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby Highlight Changes to Reed and Sue in ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’

Although there have already been three Fantastic Four movies to hit theaters this century, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the first time audiences get to meet Franklin Richards (Ada Scott) brought to life in cinematic form, as previous iterations of the team have primarily focused on their origin story. These are welcome changes for Vanessa Kirby, as she recently expressed her excitement about playing a superhero mother in the upcoming film during the global press conference for Fantastic Four: First Steps.

“It always seemed to me kind of revolutionary to have this mother at the centre of this family, but also be absolutely part of the team, never left at home on her own. When I met Matt [Shakman] and then Kevin [Feige] for the first time, and started talking about Sue, I was already so passionate about her, but it was so exciting to me, this idea of having this pregnant superhero, this working mother, even the shooting of it, I was so included in everything. Matt and Kevin were such huge champions of having her be as complex and fierce and as loving and warm and all the things that I think feminine really is. It was very daunting, but I really cared and it’s been a great honour to play her and I know that I’m one of many that’s kind of got to know her over the years.” 

—Vanessa Kirby on the evolution of Sue Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Kirby’s nod to Jessica Alba and Kate Mara, who have both portrayed the Invisible Woman in the past, pays tribute to the previous actors and highlights the significance of the character’s legacy in Marvel’s cinematic history. However, until Kirby’s portrayal in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, she had yet to be depicted adequately as the bada-- woman and leader that she is in comics as well. As Kirby not only gives the best performance of Sue Storm to date, but also becomes the first to portray her as a mother, she undoubtedly becomes the definitive Invisible Woman from this point on.

Pedro Pascal Reveals the Equation Reed Richards Can’t Solve Without His Family

Unlike his predecessors, Ioan Gruffudd and Miles Teller, Pedro Pascal is the first to portray Reed Richards as a father on the big screen. Although John Krasinski‘s version of Reed alluded to fatherhood in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Pascal is the first to experience the journey of parenthood on the big screen fully. He recently shared what makes Reed so complex as the character navigates fatherhood and the burdens of his intelligence throughout the film.

“My favourite thing about it was actually that this person who is so brilliant and so comfortable with figuring out the most complex sort of science equations to create solutions for absolutely everything or to continue understanding how the world and beyond functions without really knowing how to understand the much more complex equation of relationships, and family and love, and growing in a relationship and as a partner, as a friend, and then of course, as a father. The only way he knows how to handle that is by starting to kind of like baby proof the world rather than just be present for the experience. This is definitely something Matt [Shakman] guided me through the sort of emotional arc and the details of which because I am not a father.”

—Pedro Pascal on Reed Richards’s journey in The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Pedro Pascal is known to play a father figure in projects including The Last of Us and The Mandalorian, so it’s no surprise the actor finds himself bringing Reed Richards to life in the same way in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Pascal’s performance is fresh and unique compared to the live-action Mr. Fantastics audiences have seen before from Krasinksy, Gruffudd, and Teller, and he’s about to share a far bigger stage than any of his predecessors when he returns for Avengers: Doomsday.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now in theaters.