Warning: SPOILERS for Fantastic Four (2022) #5The Fantastic Four ongoing series takes a shot at Reed Richards' humiliating death in the MCU movie Multiverse of Madness, where Mr. Fantastic was literally ripped to shreds by Wanda Maximoff. In the comic, Reed admits he has a "real problem" with magic, which is a new weakness for the Fantastic Four's leader.
In Fantastic Four (2022) #5, by Ryan North, Ivan Fiorelli, and Jesus Aburtov, the team has just reunited after a long breakup caused by a disastrous plan that made Reed look as bad as Thanos himself. The Fantastic Four barely have time to enjoy their reunion before being attacked by Nicholas Scratch, a sorcerer who is the son of Agatha Harkness, and his Salem Seven. During the battle, Reed points out twice that he has "a real problem with magic", and later in the issue he says that he does not understand magic at all.
Mr. Fantastic Was Never Able To Understand Magic
Mr. Fantastic is a scientific genius and one of the smartest men in the universe. He has come in contact and studied many sources of energy, including those that come from other dimensions, so he is obviously aware that magic is "real" in the Marvel Universe. However, just like many of his peer scientists, Reed refuses to believe in the mystical nature of magic. To him, it's just a form of energy that he was not able to understand yet, and requires a different set of skills and studies. This is actually a recurring joke in Fantastic Four stories, but Reed never presented it as a weakness.
Mr. Fantastic has stated time and time again that he does not believe in magic, at least not in the way that most people understand it. In this issue, however, Reed outright admits that magic is his weakness. Indeed, the Fantastic Four easily fall prey to Scratch's attack, and at the end of the story Reed fails to notice that a deadly bacteria has followed them from the Dark Dimension, where magic is abundant. This admission of weakness seems to be a shot at the much-discussed debut of Mr. Fantastic in the MCU in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where Reed (played by John Krasinki) tried to stop Wanda's rampage and was unceremoniously ripped to shreds.
Reed's Humiliation In The MCU Could Be Explained With His Weakness To Magic
Reed Richards has always believed magic to be simply a type of science he still does not understand, however, he is now admitting that it is much more than that, and an outright weakness for him. Considering that the villain who appears in this issue, Nicholas Scratch, is the son of Agatha Harkness, who played a major role in the Scarlet Witch's MCU series Wandavision, it is very possible that the creative team behind Fantastic Four wanted to take a shot at Reed Richards's humiliation in the MCU.
Fantastic Four (2022) #5 is available now from Marvel Comics.