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The Fantastic Four was Marvel’s first superhero team as well as the first comic book in the Marvel Age of comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Fantastic Four are made up of Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and The Thing. There have been other members throughout the years–and the team has even expanded its roster beyond four in the past–but those four are the core members.
In the 60 years since the Fantastic Four’s first appearance, the team has encountered countless foes and been put through hardships and tribulations. Of course, there have also been several shocking turns and surprising twists along the way that have left the team and the readership reeling.
10 When Sue Storm Richards Turned Into The Evil Being Known As Malice
In a 1980s Fantastic Four adventure by John Byrne and Jerry Ordway, the mind-manipulating villain known as the Psycho-Man as well as his malicious creation, the Hate-Monger began distorting the Invisible Woman’s mind.
The result is Malice, a version of Sue Storm that dresses in leather gear and attacked her fellow members in the Fantastic Four. The first time, Mister Fantastic pretty much had to insult the Invisible Woman back to her normal self. The second time Malice surfaced, Sue had to merge her own personality with Malice’s. Finally, the Psi-Lord, an alternate future teenage son of Sue’s, was able to remove Malice completely.
9 The Discovery That Kang The Conqueror Is A Descendant Of Reed Richards
It is worth mentioning that there are theoretically an infinite amount of Kang’s from different timelines, as Kang is a time-traveler with a winding and tangled history, and many different Kang’s have been encountered by the FF, Avengers, X-Men, Inhumans, and the rest of Earth’s heroes in the past. That’s not helped by the aliases that Kang has used, such as Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion, Immortus, Victor Timely, and Iron Lad.
However, it was revealed that the “main Kang” (for lack of a better term) is Nathaniel Richards, named after Reed’s own father. This Kang was born on Earth-6311 in the 30th Century, a world that never suffered the Dark Ages and was able to reach astonishing technological achievement. It was also united and peaceful thanks to the Benefactor, who is actually Nathaniel Richards from Earth-616, Reed’s actual dad. That said, it’s also possible that Nathaniel Richards is also a descendent of Doctor Doom thanks to the confusing records of the time period.
8 The Human Torch’s Wife, Alicia Masters, Turning Out To Be A Skrull
Alicia Masters has been the longtime love interest of the Thing. Lyja, a Skrull spy, was intended to infiltrate the Fantastic Four by replacing Alicia. However, the Thing wasn’t on the team at this point, so Lyja began a relationship with the Human Torch as Alicia Masters. Lyja/Alicia even married Johnny Storm. This created some tension between Johnny and Ben Grimm, but they eventually made peace.
The Thing was the one to discover that Alicia was a Skrull, and the Human Torch almost killed Lyja. She eventually died saving Johnny from Paibok the Power Skrull, as she had grown attached to him. However, she was later resurrected by Paibok and Devos the Destroyer as Lyja Lazerfist, as she was imbued with Paibok and Devo’s powers.
7 When Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, And Ghost Rider Became The Fantastic Four
When a threat arose on Monster Island while the FF were captive of the Skrulls, a call was sent out for a replacement team. This odd team consisted of Spider-Man, Wolverine, the Hulk, and Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch). They attended to the Monster Island threat and discovered another Skrull conspiracy.
This version of the team reunited with Sleepwalker instead of Wolverine to fight the Sinister Six. Agent Venom, Red Hulk, Ghost Rider (Alejandra Jones), and X-23 reformed a version of this group to fight Blackheart during the Circle of Four story. More recently, the Four on the Floor story in Ghost Rider brought together Silk, X-23 as Wolverine, Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes), and the Totally Awesome Hulk (Amadeus Cho) as an FF team.
6 Mister Fantastic Co-Founding The Clandestine Illuminati Group
One of the greatest betrayals to the team that Mister Fantastic ever carried out was the secret co-founding of the Illuminati alongside Iron Man, Black Bolt, Namor, Doctor Strange, and Professor Xavier. They carried out several secret operations throughout the years, including stranding Hulk on a distant planet, until being exposed by Captain America and the Avengers.
The team remained with Captain America as a member, but he was expelled by Strange. The team was exposed once again during Time Runs Out, when it had to go on the run from Steve Rogers and his S.H.I.E.L.D. Avengers.
5 The Death And Resurrection Of The Human Torch In The Negative Zone
On a mission to the Negative Zone, the Fantastic Four found themselves overwhelmed by Annihilus’ vast armies. They had to beat a retreat, but the Human Torch was separated from the group and was ultimately killed by the armies of Annihilus.
However, Johnny was resurrected by Annihilus and the Cosmic Rod. Johnny was used for several experiments and gladiatorial battles, being killed and resurrected many times more. Eventually, he led a revolt in the Negative Zone and was able to escape back to Earth.
4 The Revelation That The Thing Sabatoged Doom’s Experiment All Those Years Ago
During the Age of Ultron event, Ben Grimm made an admission to Franklin and Valeria. He admits to sabotaging Dr. Doom’s university project in college. Ben was mad at Doom for his condescending attitude, and he messed with the machine Doom was making.
The resulting explosion scarred Doom’s face, and he blamed Reed for the accident. This led to years of animosity between Reed and Victor and ultimately turned Doctor Doom into the archenemy of the Fantastic Four. That said, Age of Ultron made some jumps back and forth through the Marvel Multiverse, so whether this is actually canon is up in the air somewhat.
3 The Revelation That The Invisible Woman Was Once An Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
When Phil Coulson needed backup for his Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, he called upon the help of a long inactive agent: Sue Storm Richards. It was revealed that she had spent some time working for the organization before, and this service would come into relevance again during Time Runs Out when she was pretending to spy on Reed Richards on their behalf.
Sue’s S.H.I.E.L.D. service would be explored more during the Invisible Woman miniseries by Mark Waid and Mattia de Iulis.
2 The Much-Celebrated Return Of The Fantastic Four After Years Of Absence
After Secret Wars (2015), Reed, Sue, Franklin, and Valeria were all thought dead by the world. The Thing and the Human Torch went onto join other superhero teams and live their lives.
In reality, Reed, Sue, and Valeria were helping Franklin to use his reality-warping powers to restore the Multiverse, which was destroyed by the Incursion crisis in Time Runs Out. However, the interdimensional entity known as the Griever began attacking them, and this led them to reach out to Ben and Johnny. The six of them were able to find a way to bring everyone back home, and the Fantastic Four was united again.
1 Doctor Doom Getting Married To Latverian Superhero Victorious
Recently, Doctor Doom decided to further solidify his power in Latveria. To do so, he needed a royal spouse, and he chose the Latverian superhero Victorious for the role.
The ceremony took place in the most recent issue of Fantastic Four by Dan Slott and R.B. Silva. Things got complicated, as they often do for the FF.
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