Whereas Mystique's shapeshifting abilities almost defy reality, Reed Richards has to manipulate every part of his body consciously to achieve it. However, he actually has fewer limitations than he would seem to have at first sight.
Reed Richards' Shapeshifting Powers Go Beyond Morphing His Face
Fantastic Four #12; Written By Ryan North; Art By Pat Boutin, Serge Lapointe, And Edgar Delgado
Having defeated the Invincible Woman, the Fantastic Four find themselves facing their next challenge, once again with the odds stacked against them. Reed Richards and Johnny Storm survive a temporal anomaly and get sent back in time to Ancient Rome. Accustomed to this kind of problem, Reed takes it in stride and gets to work. First, to blend in with the Gaul of Western Europe, Mister Fantastic instantly grows his hair and beard, a unique ability he had never displayed before.
Reed explains how he's able to grow his hair, telling Johnny that he can "stretch each strand, extruding them as much" as he can any other part of his body. Only a few panels before, Reed stretches his neck over a dozen feet above his body, stretches his optic nerves around three feet in front of his face, and enlarges his eyeballs to the size of basketballs. Since Reed can cut his hair and shave his beard, it would be logical for them not to be elastic. Yet, Reed confirms that as long as there's hair, he can grow it on command.
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Besides turning every part of his body into any weapon or tool, Reed Richards has the secondary ability to shapeshift. He can alter his facial structure to resemble almost any other character, and he can change his body to impersonate anyone, including women and hyper-muscular opponents. For example, while fighting Onslaught, Reed Richards gives himself a massively muscular frame, though his body lacks the strength that fellow musclebound heroes like the Thing naturally have. Now, Reed confirms that he can also alter his hair and beard to complete any disguise.
Reed Richards Could Copy Many Characters' Powers If He Wanted To
Mister Fantastic Overlooks Many Of His Available Abilities
Although Reed Richards’ powers are based exclusively on his elasticity, the actual chemical and biological qualities of his molecular structure grant him unlimited possibilities. Reed's body is hyper-malleable and capable of altering its physical volume, density, and texture at the cellular level. This means that Reed can compress his fingers into razor-sharp claws that mirror Lady Deathstrike's cybernetic implants, or alter his mouth to manifest Venom's needle-like fangs and prehensile tongue. Fantastic Four #13 proves that he can also sprout thick, dense fur, identical to Beast’s mutation.
However, Reed Richards' biology introduces a fascinating question. Since Marvel just confirmed that Reed's dead tissue is also stretchable, then whether separated hair, nails, or teeth retain their hyper-malleable traits is yet to be confirmed. If so, the potential for weaponization is terrifying. A single strand of Reed's hair or a single tooth could easily be transformed into unbreakable armor or high-grade, energy-absorbing tactical weapons. Reed may not be interested in exploring these possibilities. After all, Mister Fantastic's replicas of the Marvel Universe's deadliest weapons continue to gather dust in a warehouse.
Which of the Fantastic Four's underrated secondary powers is your favorite?
Fantastic Four #13 is available from Marvel Comics on June 3.
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The Fantastic Four
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