Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces one of Marvel Comic’s most powerful, pansexual heroes

The Fantastic Four: First Steps revolves around Marvel’s first family and its newest addition, Franklin Richards – and in the comics, Franklin grows up to be ultra-powerful – and ultra-pansexual.

Warning: Super-powered spoilers follow.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is well and truly in cinemas, with Marvel’s first family finally firmly in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Starring Pedro Pascal as Mister Fantastic/ Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman/ Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch/ Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, First Steps sees the quartet defend Earth (though not our Earth), from Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his c*nty herald, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner).

Along the way, the four become a five, as Reed and Sue welcome a son, named Franklin, to the family – with Sue giving birth during a spaceship chase sequence, obviously.

Galactus’s whole deal is that he eats worlds, marked by Shalla-Bal (the Silver Surfer) to satiate his galactic-sized hunger; when Franklin is born, Galactus becomes intent on abducting and presumably eating the baby, because he senses a great power within him.

In First Steps, Franklin seems to exhibit only very normal-baby-like-behaviour – right up until the end of the film, where he brings his mother, Sue, back from the dead.

The post-credits scene of First Steps saw a man dressed in a green cloak and an iron mask interacting with Franklin, implying that there are big things in the youngster’s future.

And in the comics, he certainly lives up to that notion; he is widely regarded as one of the most powerful superheroes in Marvel history, with abilities including but not limited to reality-warping, immortality, energy manipulation, and pocket universe creation.

And also in the comics, when Franklin grows up, he comes out as pansexual, adding to a list of super powered, queer heroes from Marvel.

According to the Marvel2000 fandom website wiki, Franklin and Icarus, a mutant with wings by the real name of Joshua Guthrie, have a heap of romantic tension, nearly kissing on a Wilderness planet – and accidentally getting married.

Later in the storyline, Franklin finds himself in the far future with his adult self. The wiki states that with this particular version of the character, “Older Franklin revealed to his younger self that he was pansexual, and Icarus’s eventual death would be the most painful thing that young Franklin would ever experience.” Ouch.

It’s worth noting that the Marvel 2000 wiki does not cite a particular run for this storyline – but it wouldn’t be the craziest thing to happen in Marvel history..

There’s still a lot of time before Franklin becomes the age to worry about anything like intergalactic romances with mutants, though, but the Fantastic Four are set to return in Avengers: Doomsday.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits cinemas 25 July, 2025.

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