The reviews are in, and fans and critics alike are charmed by The Fantastic Four: First Steps. This MCU reboot of this repeatedly failed superhero family franchise has wowed audiences with its enchanting retro-futuristic aesthetic, truly massive Big Bad, a thought-provoking trolley problem, and plenty of star power, courtesy of Joseph Quinn, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Pedro Pascal. But you know what it's missing? A thirst-trap moment that would have been a wickedly smart re-interpretation of early-days MCU spectacle.
Remember back when part of the MCU's standard iconography was a random thirst trap moment, usually involving its titular male hero brandishing his muscles, bare-chested?
Iron Man did it in his MCU kick-off while repairing his arc reactor. Captain America showcased his supersoldier serum transformation, chiefly through his freshly plumped pecs. Thor paired no shirt with black denim when he fish-out-of-watered in his eponymous intro film. The Hulk showed off Mark Ruffalo's manly chest hair in Avengers: Age of Ultron (and its green and beefy CGI recreation over and over). Ant-Man displayed washboard abs while cleaning some slyly placed scratches. It was a thing… that abruptly went away as the sequels stacked up and the movies grew more stern. (I distinctly remember the collective disappointment when, in Captain America: Civil War, Cap tried to stop a helicopter takeoff with his bare hands, jarringly shirt-on.)
Maybe such unabashed ogling of dangerously dehydrated, fastidiously worked-out bodies has fallen out of fashion. But there was a very simple way for the MCU to reboot its thirst traps in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. And Pedro Pascal didn't even need to go shirtless for it. He would have simply needed to unbutton a bit.
Pedro Pascal should have rolled up his sleeves in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Literally.
Why? Because it's hot. And that's not just me saying that.
In 2015, Buzzfeed recognized the effect that rolled-up shirt sleeves have on men-lovers with a listicle with only the subhead "Because he looks sexy with his ~sleeves~ pushed back" for context. There are Reddit posts on this topic, TikTok trends bursting with thirst. Men's Health covered the sexiness of rolled-up sleeves in 2021, saying, "It signifies strength, safety, and a metaphorical unbuttoning: Here, the forearms say, is a man who's willing to get his hands dirty and put in the work."
It's just a biological fact that for those who lust after men, a man rolling up his shirt sleeves is sexy. The why might be debated. But there's something to the idea of it giving an otherwise academic-looking guy an illicit sense of ruggedness. Think Indiana Jones (who also tapped into the sexy trope of "slutty little glasses"). Sure. This professor/adventurer is dashing in his leather jacket. But when it came to the illustrated poster of Raiders of the Lost Arc, the marketing team knew what sells: rolled-up sleeves!
The Fantastic Four: First Steps had the perfect (but missed opportunity) for a thirst trap.
Director Matt Shakman was so close to bringing this treasured trope into his Fantastic Four reboot. There's a scene where it would have totally made sense for the brilliant Mr. Fantastic to literally roll up his sleeves as he did so metaphorically.
In this scene, Reed Richards, dressed in a blazer, slacks, dress shirt, and tie, strides before a blank chalkboard, ready to science up a solution for how to best Galactus. Then Reed removes his blazer, presumably to show he's getting down to business. It's an effective storytelling visual, sure. But Shakman could have added some sex appeal by simply directing Pascal to roll up those dress shirt sleeves! We'd take a long shot. We'd love an insert, just a flash of forearm as Reed scribbles on the chalkboard, Pascal's face in earnest profile. It could have been simple, sexy, and sublime.
Now, there is a scene in which Reed and Sue are talking about their options regarding saving the life of their child, and in it, Reed's sleeves are rolled up. But First Steps' doesn't make a moment of it the way it did the bare-chest reveals. It's matter-of-fact, not thirst-trapping. And yeah, given the context of this dramatic scene, that's sensible. But as this movie overall proves, there's room for levity — and horniness! — in the MCU's new wave. So more of that, please.
With Fantastic Four: First Steps, there's a path to a new MCU. It need not offer the (arguably) cheap thrills of shirtless superheroes that the early waves gave us. But it could abandon the dourness and chasteness that's made the post-snap movies such a bummer. And maybe it could start with a thirst-trapping sleeve roll?
We'll next see Pascal as Reed in Avengers: Doomsday. Maybe then would be a good time to make up for this missed opportunity? Come on, Mr. Fantastic. Do it for the girls and the gays.
