“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” just introduced the most powerful being in the MCU and was pretty nonchalant about it.
Franklin Richards – the newborn son of Reed and Sue Richards – made his debut in the latest MCU film and drew the immediate attention of big bad Galactus. And the world devourer clocked the baby’s true potential before either of the parents, despite Reed’s many attempts to better understand his unborn son. Franklin is a fellow Power Cosmic, meaning his powers outstrip just about anything else in the universe.
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Galactus is convinced that Franklin can take away his gnawing hunger, but his powers go far beyond that. Here’s what you need to know about Franklin Richards and what it could mean for the MCU’s future.
Why does Galactus want Franklin?
Galactus has an insatiable appetite that he is only able to keep slightly at bay by consuming entire planets. This is a problem for all involved, and although Galactus is far from an entirely sympathetic character, he’s not driven by malice but by hunger that has driven him to his limits.
When he learns about Franklin and clocks the baby’s immense powers as a fellow Power Cosmic, he thinks the child might have the ability to free him from his hunger. Whether this is something that Galactus thinks he could pass on to the child or if he thinks Franklin could erase his hunger remains unclear. All he wants is to take the boy and use him.
What are Franklin’s powers?
Franklin Richards might be the most powerful person in Marvel canon. Many of the most powerful heroes and mutants in the comics are classified at Omega Level, these include characters like Professor X, Magneto, Storm, Legion and more. Franklin surpasses them all.
Reed and Sue’s son has godlike powers that allow him to warp reality and create entire dimensions. Following the incursion events that began occurring in the comics, Franklin was able to rebuild entire alternate universes from scratch and recreate the multiverse.
Franklin now goes by Powerhouse in the comics and was worried that his vast powers were harming the way he was growing up, so he put a mental block on himself so he only remembers the full extent of his powers once a year. He uses that day to travel the multiverse looking for the most serious threats, but still only intervenes when he sees no other option.
What could this mean for the MCU and the Incursions?
The incursions in the MCU have already begun. We’ve seen them in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” they’ve been hinted at in “Loki,” and were teased in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” The “Thunderbolts*” post-credit scene shows the Fantastic Four’s ship appearing in the MCU’s Earth – Marvel’s First Family originally resided on Earth 820 – which likely means their home was lost to an incursion.
“Secret Wars,” which is what the second Multiverse Saga “Avengers” movie is subtitled, follows Dr. Doom creating his own universe using the disparate parts of many of the lost incursion worlds. Franklin’s introduction likely means he’ll be able to use his reality-warping, universe-creating powers to find a way out or around the mess that is coming in 2026 and 2027 in the MCU.
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