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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
Well that makes sense.
The Ultimate universe made the characters effectively meaning Reed was left without proper anchors because his friends lacked strong enough moral fiber.
Ironically the Ultimate Power crossover had him be extremely regretful and willing to do whatever to make up for causing immense damage to the Supreme Power universe.
Guess Ultimate Reed just had enough of everyone.
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."And then he became a huge sociopath after he jumped off the slippery slope. It is interesting. The dude has never looked back and fully went onto become a monster through and through.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."The Ultimate Oh Shit The Real Galactus Is Here, Everyone Hide the Beer arc had the Maker become regretful and foreshadow a heel face turn to 180 his initial face heel turn when he realized that 616 Reed had Family.
Didn't stick.
Then again there was another story where Future Sue pretended to be Kang to try to get Sue and Reed to fuck. For the good of the universe and her boring Friday evenings probably.
Edited by Bocaj on Dec 22nd 2020 at 9:25:58 AM
Forever liveblogging the AvengersDidn't Bojack Horseman deconstruct this trope by pointing out how the person serving as the "anchor" is essentially held hostage?
Edited by windleopard on Dec 23rd 2020 at 1:15:48 AM
Ultimate Reed Richards had other problems besides his friends being alienated from him.
Also, note that Ben always stood by Reed in the Ultimate verse and was the last to finally acknowledge that Reed was evil.
616 Reed's issue isn't so much an empathy problem as it is a tendency to go into The Madness Place. His tendency to get lost in his own thoughts to pursue SCIENCE! has caused problems - most notably the experimental flight into space that mutated the Four in the first place.
Edited by M84 on Dec 23rd 2020 at 5:26:40 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedAlso, it's not that Reed would become a sociopathic piece of shit without the other three.
It's that a Reed who would be willing to toss them aside for SCIENCE! is already a sociopathic piece of shit.
That is what the Maker is. He's not a Reed who went bad because the other three distanced themselves from him. He's a Reed who decided they weren't as important as his desire to play God.
616 Reed doesn't have the best social skills, but he does understand that it's important to take care of the people he loves and who love him. 616 Reed ultimately will always put his family and friends first. This is what separates him from his evil alternates and evil counterparts like Victor.
Edited by M84 on Dec 23rd 2020 at 10:46:00 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedThat is what the Maker is. He's not a Reed who went bad because the other three distanced themselves from him. He's a Reed who decided they weren't as important as his desire to play God.
Funny thing about that first sentence, it could either describe The Maker or Richard Impossible from The Venture Bros. Heck, I think the latter actually predates The Maker?
(Man, I miss that show...)
Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Dec 23rd 2020 at 6:47:42 AM
616 Reed also usually is able to admit when he fucks up and takes responsibility for said fuck ups. He pretty much went mea culpa after the accident that transformed the Four. He felt particularly bad about what happened to Ben because not only was Ben hit the worst by it since his transformation is permanent unlike the others', Ben warned him against the flight in the first place.
The whole reason Reed decided to make them into the Fantastic Four is because he knew he had robbed them of any chance of having normal lives, so he figured he should give them lives as a superhero celebrity team.
Edited by M84 on Dec 23rd 2020 at 10:52:28 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedWhile the Maker has since leaned into the gleefully card carrying supervillainy, one of his motives to going bad was to finally cure Ben which he did manage to do.
The Maker initially was more of what happens when Reed Richards gets fed up with Reed Richards being useless
Then again he also killed his family just to cover his tracks so he’s also an asshole
Forever liveblogging the AvengersIf Tony is about his personal contributions and Victor about his ego, Reed is about the science. He will happily work in a group, share credit, and help out others if it means science goes further than it would without him. Reed shouldn’t be a sociopath or a Jerkass. He should be the guy so jacked up on science his lack of selfish behavior confuses the hell out of his colleagues (and something Victor cannot wrap his head around). He needs his friends to ground him, assuredly, but he doesn’t want to do anything actively malicious.
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Like I said, Reed's flaw is that he gets a bit too caught up in The Madness Place.
I guess Reed just plain doesn't like Hank.
Edited by M84 on Dec 23rd 2020 at 11:04:15 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedMore like "Mission Impossible, with ants!", but you have to admit the idea is way better not only againts another hero, but also the most intelligent man in the world.
Edited by eligram on Dec 23rd 2020 at 11:20:40 AM
How long before the other three and Scott decide to just lock Reed and Hank in some room to resolve their petty science squabble?
Or maybe knock them out since that could end with half of New York shrunk or in another dimension.
Edited by Blueace on Dec 23rd 2020 at 12:28:32 PM
Wake me up at your own risk.

Basically, Reed would degrade eventually into a detached sociopath without the other three. They are his anchor to humanity, with Ben playing that role back all the way through school, even.
That's also why Doom is so effective as a dark mirror of Reed, because he is a Reed left alone to his own devices until his character flaws consume him. That's also the point of The Maker, come to think about it.
Edited by AmazingSpiderHam on Dec 22nd 2020 at 5:40:54 AM