WARNING! Spoilers for Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four #1
Reed Richards’ stretching abilities allow him to stand out among theFantastic Four’s roster as he shape-shifts into forms that no other hero can, but he doesn’t always showcase the full potential of his skill-set. Now, Mister Fantastic has unleashed an ability he has only sparingly utilized up to this point, and the possibilities it presents prove why he’s the leader of Marvel’s First Family.
InGodzilla vs. Fantastic Four#1 by Ryan North, John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz, the Fantastic Four are kicking off a series of battles betweenGodzilla and iconic Marvel heroes. This preview for the one-shot opens with the Fantastic Four encountering Godzilla in New York, and Reed Richards jumps into action to put a stop to the monster.
Mister Fantastic announces that he plans to"make myself a fist capable of taking down Godzilla", and he does so by enlarging his hand to upgrade his strength and knocking the Kaiju down with an impressive punch - the likes of which he hasn’t utilized in years.
Reed Richards Unlocks Super-Strength Thanks to His Stretchy Powers
Mister Fantastic Undergoes a Hulking Transformation That Proves His Might
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time that Mister Fantastic has demonstrated that he can tap into super-strength via his stretching. He also shows off this ability inFantastic Four#415 by Tom DeFalco and Carlos Pacheco, in which his anger atFranklin being taken by Onslaughtdrives him to stretch his muscles far beyond their usual size and strength. As he does, the narration points out thatReed’s body has reached “Thing-like proportions”, hinting at his strength being on par with Ben Grimm’s. Iceman is reasonably impressed, as Reed’s power feat is nothing short of “fantastic”.
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At long last, Marvel’s vampire problem has been solved, and the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards is to thank for inventing the novel solution.
Unfortunately, despite the immense power that this hulking form grants Reed Richards, he hasn’t utilized it much within the comics. It has recently undergone an increase in popularity and recognition among fans, though, thanks to its appearance in theMarvel Rivalsvideo game. In this game, Reed can boost his physical might by enlarging his upper body so that he can land devastating punches, just like the one he has now used to strike at Godzilla.If a beast as massive as Godzilla can be defeated by Mister Fantastic’s transformation, then he should take advantage of it more often.
Reed Richards' Powers Are More Versatile Than Meets the Eye
By Stretching His Body, Mister Fantastic Can Unlock Secondary Powers
Over the years,Reed Richards has pushed the limits of his stretchy powers in numerous ways, so this bulky form is far from unusual for the Fantastic Four hero. InFantastic Four#14 by Ryan North and Ivan Fiorelli, for instance, hestretches his fingers into disturbing tendrilsakin to Doctor Octopus' robotic tentacles. He’s even figured out how toshape-shift his vocal cordsto mimic other people, in addition to altering the structure of his brain. Mister Fantastic can do much more than elongate his limbs to reach targets from afar, and it’s about time his abilities were explored like this.
Mister Fantastic can do much more than elongate his limbs to reach targets from afar, and it’s about time his abilities were explored like this.
Stretching tends to be an underrated superpower, and Reed Richards' skills can be overlooked by many since his teammates possess flashier move-sets.Invisible Woman’s force fields, for example, make her one of the most dangerous heroes in the Marvel Universe. She’s summoned force fields within people’s lungs before, threatening to kill them. Likewise, theHuman Torch sticks out with his roaring flames, as does the Thing with his raw strength.Ryan North’s take on the Fantastic Four has now unleashed Reed Richards' latent potential by reviving a forgotten application of his stretching, and his ability to match the Thing’s muscles will undoubtedly come in handy.
Reed Richards Flexes His Super-Strength as The Thing Loses His Own
The Thing has earned an understandable reputation for being the “brawns” of the Fantastic Four, whereasReed is the “brains” of the team. With that said, this latest development in his powers suggests that Ben Grimm has some competition for that title. By stretching his muscles to enhance their size and strength,Reed can embody both brains and brawns in the Fantastic Four, and the timing for him accessing this superpower couldn’t be better since theThing recently lost his usual powers.Reed Richardshas proven that he is theFantastic Four’s most underrated powerhouse, thanks to this mighty transformation.
Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four#1will be available on March 26th, 2025 from Marvel Comics!
