For more than a decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was built upon its founding heroes, but in the turbulent era following Avengers: Endgame, the studio has visibly struggled to find a new cornerstone. That search now appears to be over with the phenomenal release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The film is being met with a wave of enthusiastic praise from critics and audiences alike, marking a significant and much-needed win for Marvel Studios. Plus, that excitement already translated into commercial success, as First Steps had one of the best box office releases of 2025.
A major reason for The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ success is how the film distinguishes itself from the four previous adaptations of the team. For the first time on screen, the story includes the extended family, most notably the infant son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, Franklin. For comic book readers, the inclusion of Franklin is a game-changer, as he is known to be one of Marvel’s most powerful characters, a being capable of creating entire universes from his imagination. True to that legacy, First Steps wastes no time in teasing just how the MCU plans to adapt these god-like abilities, immediately establishing a new powerhouse in the franchise.
Warning: Spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps below.
Before Franklin’s universe-altering potential is revealed, the film re-establishes the core powers that have made the Fantastic Four iconic for decades. Ben Grimm, The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), is the team’s heart and muscle, possessing a body made of nearly indestructible rock that gives him immense super-strength. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), is a charismatic hothead who can engulf his entire body in flames, allowing him to fly at high speeds and project powerful pyrokinetic blasts.
Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), is a fierce protector who can turn herself and other objects invisible and, more critically, generate powerful force fields with her mind to defend her team and fight back. Meanwhile, the team’s leader, Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), largely sidelines his well-known elastic powers in the film. While he can stretch his body to incredible lengths, the movie emphasizes his intellect as his greatest weapon, focusing on his role as a scientific genius trying to solve problems with his brain rather than his fists.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ plot revolves around the arrival of the world-devouring entity, Galactus (Ralph Ineson), who senses a unique energy in the newborn Franklin. The cosmic giant reveals that the infant is the host of the Power Cosmic, a force so immense that it is capable of absorbing Galactus’s eternal hunger, freeing him from his torment by having Franklin take his place as the Devourer of Worlds.
The true extent of this power is teased in the film’s climax when Sue sacrifices herself to push Galactus through a portal. As the team mourns her death, Franklin is placed on her chest, and in a staggering display of his innate ability, he brings his mother back from the dead. This single act, a feat that fundamentally breaks the rules of reality, demonstrates that Franklin’s power is on an entirely different level from the rest of his family.
What Is the Power Cosmic in Marvel Comics?
In the pages of Marvel Comics, the Power Cosmic is one of the most significant energy sources in the universe, a fundamental creation force that can be wielded to manipulate reality on a grand scale. The Power Cosmic is, in essence, the ambient energy left over from the creation of the universe, a force that allows its wielder to manipulate matter and energy at a molecular level. This energy is usually associated with Galactus, its most famous master in the comic book pages.
Galactus is known for bestowing a small fraction of the Power Cosmic upon his Heralds, individuals tasked with scouting planets for him to consume. Characters like the Silver Surfer are granted this power, which gives them abilities such as interstellar flight, energy projection, and near-invulnerability. However, the power they wield is just a minuscule portion of what Galactus himself controls.
In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the MCU reimagines the origin of Franklin’s abilities by making him a natural-born conduit for the Power Cosmic, a deviation from the comics where his powers are the result of a mutant gene. In the film, it is implied that Reed and Sue’s prior exposure to cosmic rays during their initial accident led to Franklin being born with this immense energy. This change makes him a vessel for the unfiltered force that Galactus normally holds, immediately establishing him as a being of immense significance.
What Can Franklin Richards Do in Marvel Comics?
While First Steps links Franklin’s abilities to the Power Cosmic, his comic book counterpart is traditionally defined as an Omega-level mutant, and arguably the most powerful mutant to ever exist. His primary ability is reality warping, which allows him to manipulate the very fabric of existence to match his thoughts and desires. Unlike most super-powers that affect what already exists, Franklin can create matter and energy from nothing, rewrite physical laws, and shape entire universes with his imagination. Even as a child, his power was so immense that cosmic entities like Galactus and the Celestials considered him their equal and even a potential threat.
Franklin’s list of feats in the comics is staggering. He has demonstrated a vast array of psionic powers, including telepathy, telekinesis, and precognition. More significantly, he famously used his powers to subconsciously create a pocket universe known as “Counter-Earth” to save his family and the Avengers after they seemingly sacrificed themselves to stop the villain Onslaught. At his peak, he has been shown to be able to defeat Celestials, create life, and even resurrect Galactus himself after the entity had died. His powers are so vast that he has often placed mental blocks on himself, or had his father place them, to live a semblance of a normal life and prevent his childish whims from having catastrophic consequences. The MCU has only shown a glimpse of this potential with the resurrection of Sue Storm, but by establishing him as a being whose power is coveted by Galactus himself, the stage is set for Franklin to become one of the most formidable forces in the entire cinematic universe.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theaters.
What other incredible feats from the comics would you like to see Franklin Richards perform in the MCU? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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