Funko unveiled their lineup of Funko Pop! Collectibles for Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps on Friday, spoiling the reveal of an important new character that fans didn’t know (for certain) would be in the movie.
If you don’t want to know who that character is then STOP READING NOW!
No, seriously, this is your final warning!
The Funko Pop figures for The Fantastic Four: First Steps include Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Thing, Silver Surfer, Galactus and Invisible Woman, who is paired with … her and Reed’s toddler son Franklin Richards.
In the Marvel comics, Franklin is Reed and Sue Richards’ first child; their daughter Valeria would follow years later. The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer revealed that Sue is pregnant in the movie. These collectibles suggest that either First Steps takes place over a long enough period of time to go from Sue announcing her pregnancy to Franklin being of toddler age.
Given that Reed and Sue were exposed to cosmic rays during the fateful space flight that beget the Fantastic Four, it’s not surprising that their offspring would be born with powers. Perhaps the first manifestation of Franklin’s mutant abilities is rapid growth upon birth?
It’s the sheer scope of his mutant powers that makes Franklin one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe. His powers range from telepathy and telekinesis to warping reality and matter to creating pocket dimensions and communicating on the astral plane.
You can see the Sue and Franklin collectible in the slideshow below.
As IGN’s Jesse Schedeen recently wrote, “Franklin is the one being on Earth whose power is so great it rivals that of cosmic entities like the Celestials and Galactus. And he’s destined to only grow more powerful with age. The FF have met multiple adult versions of Franklin from the future, suggesting that he’ll one day grow to become an immortal defender of the entire Marvel Universe.”
With the MCU’s next two event films being Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, it’s quite possible we’ll see a future adult version of Franklin Richards in one of them, perhaps alongside his younger sister Valeria.
This wouldn’t be the first time – and almost certainly won’t be the last – that merchandising products have spoiled a Marvel project ahead of its release. Toys spoiled reveals for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Thor: Love and Thunder and Captain America: Brave New World. Heck, this wouldn’t even be the first time toys revealed something from The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
While there are cases where a toy or tie-product showed a character, location or costume design that wasn’t in the final movie, more often than not the products – which are made well in advance of a film’s release – are out in the public and on store shelves before the film’s in theaters. (That’s the main reason why Jon Favreau successfully fought to keep the reveal of Grogu in The Mandalorian a secret until the series premiered.)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in theaters on July 25th.