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There he also meets Sue and Johnny, who are Franklin’s children. And he also meets Victor Von Doom, who is brilliant but hard to get along with. He had begun a version of the quantum gate with Franklin, and Franklin hopes that with Reed, they can finally finish it.

When they do finish it, the feds want to take over. But one drunken night, Reed and Victor decide to travel through before the Feds can take all the glory. They enlist Ben and head off to what they call planet Zero.

Their trip to Planet Zero is easily one of the highlights of the movie. It’s a very thrilling sequence that was not only excellently executed but it captures the Cronenberg body-horrors feel that Trank was going for. There is a real sense of danger and suspense. But more importantly, it’s genuinely exciting.

And although they do manage to make it back home, they are hardly safe.

The fun side of super powers has been explored so many times that it is practically a staple of the genre - even the determinedly joyless Man of Steel had a scene in which Superman tests out his powers.

But here we see things from another side. Receiving their powers is instead portrayed as a horrific and traumatizing event that has an unexpected psychological depth that is often overlooked in the genre. And the Cronenberg influence is very evident in the scene. Instead of being overcome by joy from their newfound powers, the four of them are filled with panic and desperation.

Reed wakes up on an operating table, limbs stretched beyond recognition. He is filled with shock and confusion. Johnny lies on table writhing, as his body is burning. Sue, unable to control her abilities, is visibly overcome by fear. But nothing is as powerful as hearing Ben’s panic turn to fear as he realizes that he is not trapped under a pile of rocks but his body itself has turned into rocks.

From here, it’s very interesting to see how differently they react to their powers. Sue, the most underused in the movie, seems relatively fine with the situation. She’s angry but not overwhelmed like the others. Johnny is the one who comes closest to seeing the bright side of the situation. At some points, he actually seems like he might be excited to have powers. He is more than willing to train and essentially become a weapon for the army. Reed is the one, understandably, most overwhelmed with guilt. He goes into exile until he can find a way to cure his friends.
But Ben is easily the most interesting and moving one. Having become a walking pile of rocks, it’s understandable that he’d be the one to suffer an emotional breakdown. He is heartbroken and devoid of hope.

Jamie Bell is absolutely captivating and conveys the hopelessness of the character even without a lot of dialogue. When he does speak, his words are filled with anger and despair. When he begs Reed not to leave, it's very powerful and moving. So, when he agrees to become the army’s weapon and carry out missions for them, it’s not particularly surprising. He’s at an emotional low point and, with Reed gone, easily manipulated. The only real shame is that he deserved more screen time. And the trailers suggest that there is at least some unused footage of him.

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