Meet the Fantastic Four: Marvel’s First Family of Superheroes
Grab your stretchiest shirt and put on some flameproof underwear as we discuss one of the greatest teams in Marvel history: the Fantastic Four.
Welcome, brave heroes! Marvel Comics has had some iconic teams over the years. The X-Men, the Avengers, and even the Deadpool Corps have battled across the pages for decades. However, few are as iconic as Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four.
Thanks to recent MCU announcements, we know that Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm are coming to a movie theater near you. And if you exclude the X-Men (and maybe Mephisto?), fans have been most eager to see this team on the big screen.
This team has given us some of the most recognizable lines “Flame on!” and “It’s clobberin’ time.” Their powers are interesting and unique, and the interpersonal relationship of an actual family team makes for an interesting read. But who are these brave defenders of Earth?
Who are the Fantastic Four?
The Fantastic Four is a Marvel hero team consisting of (drumroll please) four members. They were created in 1961 and were the first official characters created by the infamous team Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. They were designed specifically to ground the superheroes in reality, and unlike most other heroes at the time—they dealt with real-world issues. The team bickered like the family they were, they openly disagreed often, and they did away with their own secret identities.
Before Civil War, there was Marital Dispute.
In the comics, the team gains their powers from being overloaded by cosmic radiation during a trip to space. Different sources have portrayed the source in different ways, but the primary encounter takes place in space. After gaining powers, they return to Earth as superheroes, defending it from intergalactic threats while maintaining their scientific pursuits. They tangle with Namor, Galactus, and, most notably, the Latvian dictator Doctor Doom.
Meet the Team
Reed Richards, also known as Mr. Fantastic, is known as he leader of the group and the “smartest man alive.” On the expedition that empowered the team, Richards was the guy in charge. He blames himself for his friend Ben’s unsightly power and works to find a cure.
His power allows him to stretch any part of his body or form different shapes. Stan Lee said his power was based on DC’s Plastic Man, who had no analog in Marvel. Richards is also known to be obsessive about his work, and can react negatively to not being able to solve a problem.
Sue Storm is also known as the Invisible Woman. She’s a researcher and brilliant scientist who worked on the mission with Reed—eventually, the two were married. She has the power to make herself invisible, but it’s much cooler than just that. She can actually manipulate ligh. Eventually she’s able to create forcefields and other invisible constructs.
Her brother Johnny Storm is the Human Torch. Johnny serves as the face and the mouth of the group (mostly the mouth). He has the ability to ignite his body and project flames, giving him the ability to fly. Johnny was originally based on an android character Stan Lee created for an earlier publication. He is brash, rebellious, and a typical “bad boy”, but he has a good heart.
Ben Grimm is also known as The Thing. He was Reed Richard’s college roommate, a strong athlete, and an astronaut. Grimm is transformed into an orange creature with rock-like skin. He possesses superhuman strength and durability but unable to restore his appearance. He and Johnny have a rivalry that sometimes gets violent, but they always have each other’s backs.
How Many Fantastic Four Films are There?
Fine, we’ll talk about the movies.
Outside the pages of comics, the Fantastic Four have had a difficult time. In the early 90s, B-horror icon Roger Corman produced a Fantastic Four movie. It doesn’t hold an esteemed place in F4 history. The documentary about its making (called Doomed) is really good, though.
In 2005, a new attempt was made to revive the franchise. The two films’ critical reception was mediocre, and upon rewatch, they’re mostly bad (but sometimes funny). What it gave us was Chris Evans as a pre-MCU Marvel f*ckboy, Michael Chiklis looking very uncomfortable all the time, and a standard early-2000s treatment of a female lead. Jessica Alba and Sue Storm deserved better.
Ten years later, another Fantastic Four franchise was critically panned and bombed at the box office. In 2022, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness introduced us to a version of the MCU’s Reed Richards. He didn’t stick around long though. And in Deadpool and Wolverine, fourth-wall breaking lil’ scamp Wade Wilson made sure that, as far as the MCU is concerned, Fox’s past Fantastic Four films were “put to rest.”
Joining the MCU: The Fantastic Four Cast
A few months back, Marvel revealed casting for its new First Family. Pedro Pascal is Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby is Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn is Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach is Ben Grimm, a.k.a. the Thing. Julia Garner will be playing the Shalla-Bal version of the Silver Surfer.
The Fantastic Four starts filming in August and currently has a release date of July 25, 2025.
FF in Other Media
Due to what are probably licensing issues, Marvel’s First Family doesn’t have the same presence in the RPG and TTRPG space as some other characters. As such, you won’t find them (officially) in Marvel Crisis Protocol—yet.
