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The marketing campaign for The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in full swing as it gears up for its July 25, 2025, release. The latest official clip features the Fantastic Four giving a press conference after meeting Galactus. This scene puts Pedro Pascal and the rest of the team in a situation similar to the actor in The Last of Us Season 1.
For those who don't know, HBO's The Last of Us Season 1 ended with Pedro Pascal's Joel killing off all the Fireflies to save Ellie. Now, the MCU-adjacent (for now) movie confirms that Pascal's Reed Richards will have to face something similar in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The fan theories were indeed right, Galactus is seeking Franklin Richards, Reed and Sue's son.
Similarities between The Fantastic Four: First Steps and The Last of Us Season 1 explained:
While they belong to very different genres, The Last of Us and The Fantastic Four: First Steps share this in common, in addition to Pedro Pascal. In both properties, Pascal's protagonist is presented with the choice to save humanity by sacrificing a child or save the child, but potentially doom humanity. In The Last of Us Season 1, Bella Ramsey's Ellie is introduced as someone immune to the zombies' bites.
In the season 1 finale, the Fireflies inform Joel that the cure for the zombie virus can be created only by killing Ellie. When confronted with this horrifying information, Joel decides to save Ellie's life, taking away humanity's chance at a cure. He kills every Firefly in the hospital building, which seals his fate, as Joel is killed in the second episode of season 2.
Now, it looks like Galactus is offering Reed Richards and the team a similar proposition in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Hand over Sue and Reed's baby Franklin, or the planet eater would consume the planet they are living on.
Why does Galactus want Franklin, though?
While The Fantastic Four: First Steps doesn't confirm it, in the comics, Franklin is one of the most powerful characters. A mutant, Franklin, has the power to create a pocket universe, making him useful for someone like Galactus, who consumes planets. While Franklin's status as a mutant isn't confirmed, this plotline does suggest that the MCU Franklin does indeed have this power.
"Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios’ 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Ben Grimm/The Thing as they face their most daunting challenge yet."
It also makes sense that Franklin Richards is the focal point of First Steps. We already know that the Fantastic Four are confirmed to be a part of Avengers: Doomsday and are expected to be a part of Avengers: Secret Wars as well. It is theorized that the multiverse will be restored at the end of Secret Wars by Franklin Richards, as he is the only one with that ability at this point in the MCU.
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