Having stretchy powers has led to some jaw-dropping displays of body horror throughout Reed Richards’ time in the pages of Marvel Comics. In «Secret Invasion» #1 (by Brian Michael Bendis, Leinil Yu, Mark Morales, Laura Martin, and Chris Eliopoulos), when Hank Pym reveals he is a Skrull in disguise, he uses a gun to turn Mister Fantastic’s body into goo, as it becomes stretched and twisted well beyond its usual human form. In «Fantastic Four» #2 (by Ryan North, Iban Coello, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Caramagna), Richards manipulates his physical form, pushing his eyeballs into his hands in one of his grossest shapeshifting moments.
Richards can also expand his body and make it a prison. In «Wolverine» #22 (Mark Millar, John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson, Paul Mounts, and Eliopoulos), Mister Fantastic wraps the out-of-control hero inside himself, with his stretchy skin being so malleable Wolverine can’t stab through it.
With the «Fantastic Four» coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it will be curious to see how far Richards’ powers are pushed to show off what his body can be formed into. If the MCU wants to go the full horror route with his transformations, like what happened to John Krasinki’s Mister Fantastic being ripped into pieces by the Scarlet Witch in «Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,» Alex Ross’ cover could inspire something even grosser if the Fantastic Four runs into a villain trying to take a bite out of the team.