THE FANTASTIC FOUR Director Clarifies His Comment About Reed Richards Leading the Avengers
When The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman recently talked about Reed Richards’ evolution, fans went wild thinking he confirmed that Pedro Pascal’s Mr. Fantastic would take charge of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Doomsday. Turns out, that’s not exactly what he meant.
In a previous interview, Shakman described Reed’s journey:
“He goes from being the nerdy scientist who’s locked away in the lab, to the husband and the father who’d do anything to protect his family, to the guy who’s leading the Avengers. I realized that the version we were building had to have all of those elements.”
That one line about “leading the Avengers” had the internet in meltdown mode, but Shakman has now clarified what he really meant in a recent chat with Screen Rant.
"I was talking about Reed Richards in the comic books and how Reed Richards is sometimes the cerebral scientist. Sometimes he's off leading the Avengers, sometimes he's a father, a husband, whatever. So I was talking about him in the comic books and about how there are so many different aspects to that character.
“Somebody who is believably the smartest man in the universe, somebody who will jump into the action and be believable as a leader. And also somebody who has that emotional connection to their family. And that's why I was drawn to Pedro, such an incredible actor."
He added:
"So what he does in Avengers: Doomsday is not for me to talk about, talk to Joe or Anthony. I was just talking about reading the comic books and how I was figuring out who could play him the best."
Pedro Pascal also chimed in during an interview with Entertainment Weekly to back Shakman up.
"Matt was talking about a Reed Richards that, within the comics of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four are brought into the Avengers and Reed is commissioned to lead a mission, but that is different than what we're doing. So I think what Matt has said about Reed and the comic has been taken out of context."
So, while comic book Reed has indeed led the Avengers before, it sounds like the MCU version of Mr. Fantastic isn’t about to swoop in and take the reins from Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, at least not yet.
What do you think, Would you like to see Pascal’s Reed Richards lead the Avengers down the road, or should he stick to keeping the Fantastic Four together?