If there’s anyone who deserves the title of Mister Fantastic nowadays, it really is Pedro Pascal. So it’s only fitting that he would play the character of Reed Richards, the hero publicly known by that title, in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, right? But people have debated this moniker ever since the original comics came out, because it does feel egotistical and self-indulgent, especially since Reed is the only Fantastic Four member whose title doesn’t match their abilities. Even Norm Macdonald once mocked it in a great sketch in a comedy album.

The truth of the matter is very different, however, since Reed Richards is actually the farthest thing from an egotistical genius. The Mister Fantastic title has actually been the subject of decades of debate among fans, because, although they know Reed isn’t that arrogant, the name itself does feel larger-than-life. The comics offer many explanations, since Reed has been around ever since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four in the 1960s, and the Mister Fantastic name has had many explanations ever since, and they all fit the character like a glove.

The Comics Give Many Explanations for Mister Fantastic’s Name

Image via Marvel Studios

A man choosing to be known as Mister Fantastic does seem to be full of himself, but, in Reed Richards’ case, that’s just not it. Over the decades, Marvel has explained the origin of his hero name a few times. The most widely known came in 2002’s Fantastic Four #489. While telling his daughter Valeria a bedtime story, Reed reveals that he doesn’t like the name Mister Fantastic, but it helps the public see the Fantastic Four as heroes and not freaks, evidencing his guilt about the accident that gave him and his family their powers.

A few years later, in 2010, the first issue of the Ataque del M.O.D.O.K.! series provided a different explanation. After Reed fixes Sue Storm’s (Vanessa Kirby) sound system, he dismisses the accomplishment as “nothing that any MIT nerd couldn’t figure out,” to which she replies: “Anyone who can do what you just did in under two hours is Mister Fantastic in my book!” So, in that story, the title is actually about how Sue makes him feel, which is especially sweet considering that Reed was always bullied for being, well, a nerd.

Finally, another great explanation is in Chip Zdarsky‘s Captain America #1. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) meets with Reed to gather intel on Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.), but they are interrupted by fans who recognize Mister Fantastic. Reed immediately changes his facial features to mislead them, and then explains that he chose Mister Fantastic because “people expect someone bigger than life with a name like that.” “I can walk around and, with a little ‘self nip and tuck,’ I just disappear.” Now, those three are very Reed Richards reasons for a name like that.

Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the Original Meaning of Fantastic

Reed Richards first called himself Mister Fantastic in the first issue of the original Fantastic Four comics in 1961, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. There has never been a proper explanation in those comics, however, and neither Lee nor Kirby ever explained it, either, which has led most people who aren’t familiar with the team to believe Reed choosing that name was just him being egotistical. The panel where this moment takes place is often used to illustrate that point, even though it’s often used without contextualizing who Reed is as a character.

Among fans who do understand the character, however, there has been a long debate about the usage of the term “fantastic” by Reed, with some even arguing that the original Fantastic Four comics may have even changed the whole meaning of the word. “Fantastic” comes from “fantasy,” and some argue that the success of the original comics could have started to change its meaning into the positive superlative that nearly everyone uses it as nowadays. Marvel itself released the Amazing Fantasy anthology at the same time, which could hint that their intentions with naming the Fantastic Four (and, therefore, also Mister Fantastic) could be just to allude to fantastical powers.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to know whether that’s really the case. A quick research into the Corpus of Historical American English shows that “fantastic” was already in use as meaning something really positive since the late 19th century, although most uses are indeed related to fantasy. If that’s the case, Mister Fantastic’s name could simply be a nod to how his body stretches in “fantastic” ways, but meaning “not realistic,” and that would also extend to the rest of the Fantastic Four. Still, there is a lot of debate around this idea.

Reed Richards Would Never Choose a Name Like Mister Fantastic Out of Ego

If there’s one thing we can be sure about Mister Fantastic’s title is that Reed Richards didn’t choose it out of ego. In First Steps, Pedro Pascal does a great job of portraying Reed’s character as someone who is immensely intelligent and, as such, feels responsible for protecting not just everyone he loves, but the whole world. Although his “fantastic” powers aren’t seen that much, Reed’s true superpower is his intellect, and, yet, he never uses it to promote himself, but rather to focus on the Fantastic Four the task of keeping the world safe.

In the comics, there is indeed a hint of pride in his achievements and intellect. Otherwise, he wouldn’t like being called “the Smartest Man in the World,” or have created a whole council with multiversal variants of himself to solve problems. If he truly wanted to feel superior, he would probably have thought of something different, like “Doctor Fantastic,” since he has countless academic achievements. His nemesis, Victor Von Doom, is just as smart and certainly likes his own villainous name, Doctor Doom, for example.