stood up and applauded whenever they showed up on screen -

In regards to the Franklin bargain/trade--yes, this would be a legitimate sacrifice on Reed and Sue's part, and their resistance to it makes complete sense if you are actually paying attention to the story. Galactus explicitly states that he wants Franklin to "inherit [his] cursed throne," meaning that he wants Franklin to take his place as the next devourer. This is not a detail the fans made up. It is literally in the script. Franklin would become immortal, yes, but at what cost? He'd be doomed to eternal hunger and end up becoming a planet-destroying monster just like his predecessor. What parent would want a future for their child where they're basically going to become a galactic-scale mass murderer?

This is the sci-fi/fantasy equivalent of parents being asked to give up any chance that their child will have a happy future or a fulfilling life. When framed that way, I would hope it makes a little more sense. In fact, I think the story is actually asking the audience to read between the lines and infer that, because the alternative would be an exposition dump explaining parental psychology that even the most forgiving audience member would find tedious. Imagine knowing that your child will never be happy or at peace, even long after you're gone. That idea would destroy any good parent, no matter what was at stake, because that's a natural reaction for a good parent to have. You want your child to thrive, not suffer. And you want them to grow up to be a good person who helps people rather than hurts them. This would be impossible if Franklin replaced Galactus. So ofc Reed and Sue consider giving him up a sacrifice, not only for themselves, but for Franklin. They'd be sacrificing any shot he'd have at living a good life and being a good person and using him as a makeshift messiah before he's too young to consent to what that even means. Then he'd become a ravenous Eldritch being who'd be totally alone aside from the Silver Surfer, with no friends and no family, and nothing but a miserable existence eating planets and killing all life in the universe until he found a new successor. He'd become a cog in a never-ending wheel that would crush him as much it would crush everyone unlucky enough to be caught in his crosshairs.

"But giving him up is still the lesser of two evils"--okay, class, let's practice reading between the lines again instead of expecting the story to spoon-feed us everything. Giving him up wouldn't even solve the problem, and it's implied that Reed knows this because the movie makes a point of showing us that he's the smartest man alive. He even mentions his capacity for considering problems from every angle ("I invite the worst possibility into my head and figure out how to hurt them before they hurt us").

So let's look at both the implicit and explicit information we've been given. Galactus wants Franklin to replace him. This means that even if the trade is made, Franklin aka the new Galactus will probably just return to devour Earth at a later time. So giving him up would delay the planet's destruction rather than prevent it. Since this is a pretty logical outcome to consider, and since we know that Reed is a genius who considers things from every angle, we can infer that he's factored this into his calculations, which is likely one of the reasons (aside from his paternal instinct) why he doesn't agree to give Franklin up even when it seems like they're out of options. They'd give him up and then what? In the end it'd be for nothing, because there's a high likelihood older Franklin would return years later as Galactus 2: The Devourer Boogaloo and eat the Earth anyway. Giving him up would eventually result in the same outcome and billions of people would still die. Not to mention Shalla-Bal wouldn't even need to locate Earth for him. He'd already know where it is, and it'd therefore be the easiest target.

So ultimately, sacrificing Franklin was never going to be a viable solution in the long run. The only reaI solution is a third option. I think that's the conclusion the movie wants both the characters and the audience to come to, once we've set aside our emotionally-charged reasoning. I think the script trusts the audience to be able to figure that out without relying too much on an excess of exposition.

Johnny Storm + Franklin Richards

But now, the sky is opalite

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (2025) dir. Matt Shakman