Every Main Fantastic Four Villain, Explained

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For more than sixty years, the heroes of the Fantastic Four have stood tall as some of the greatest, most capable heroes that the Marvel Universe has to offer. In that time, Marvel’s First Family traversed the globe, the cosmos, and even the veil that separated entire realities, all to uncover the universe’s secrets.

Unsurprisingly, such efforts have landed the Fantastic Four in the middle of some truly explosive adventures and harrowing bouts of action. They have also made some of the deadliest enemies ever to grace the annals of pop culture, let alone the Marvel Universe in particular. Of course, not all of these astonishing foes pose the same kind of threat, although each has more than proven exactly why they deserve to be so feared, even by the Fantastic Four.

Mole Man Was a Scientist Who Retreated From Humanity

The Fantastic Four’s Original Nemesis is Still an Underrated Marvel Powerhouse

Introduced right alongside the eponymous heroes of Fantastic Four #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in 1961, the Mole Man is the very first superpowered villain that Marvel’s First Family ever faced off against. In his childhood, Harvey Elder was ostracized by his peers for his minuscule, somewhat bizarre physical appearance. However, that didn’t stop him from becoming an esteemed scientist in his own right.

To that end, Harvey embarked upon a quest to find a fabled land said to rest somewhere deep beneath the crust of the Earth. Over years of agonizing searches and near-lethal adventures, Harvey finally found the location he sought in the form of Monster Isle.

This opened the door for his eventual reign over the vast, underground kingdom of Subterranea. With his Moloids and various monsters, such as the towering Giganto, the Mole Man cemented his place as one of the world’s most devastating villains, even if he isn’t all that intimidating.

The Puppet Master is the Father of The Thing’s Wife

Phillip Masters Will Always Be a Part of the Fantastic Four’s Life

Phillip Masters was a gifted child, capable of crafting genuinely breathtaking sculptures at an incredibly young age. Because of his mother’s alcoholism and his father’s struggles, Phillip spent much of his time whittling away at wood blocks and molding clay, specifically that harvested from the base of Wundagore Mountain.

Due to the clay’s Chthonic properties, the constant exposure slowly eroded Masters’ mind and spirit, though the world wouldn’t know of the damage it had done until it was already far too late to do anything to solve it. By the time he was an adult, Phillip had moved to the United States, where he attempted to commercialize the clay from his childhood.

After so many failures, Phillip could no longer force himself to try and lead anything resembling a normal life. Instead, he took up the mantle of the Puppet Master and began terrorizing the world’s heroes in the pages of 1962’s Fantastic Four #8 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

By crafting and focusing on the clay effigies of others, the Puppet Master can take total control over his victims. This makes the Puppet Master an especially capable threat even though he poses little to none of his own, at least not without being able to access the necessary components.

The Frightful Four First United To Take Down the Fantastic Four

Marvel’s Frightful Four Includes Dozens of Iconic Supervillains

In just the first few years of their collective comic book career, the Fantastic Four managed to amass a fairly wide and eclectic rogues gallery to call their own. As of 1964’s Fantastic Four #36, that rogues gallery had brought itself together as the united, villainous front known as the Frightful Four.

The first incarnation of the Frightful Four included the Inhuman queen Medusa, longtime Spider-Man foe Sandman, and the future Trapster, then known as Paste-Pot Pete. To the shock of absolutely no one, the Frightful Four’s first attempt to destroy their heroic counterparts was an utter failure, as was every similar attempt that followed. Also unsurprising was the fact that the Wizard and his malicious compatriots continued on in their efforts to bring the Fantastic Four to heel.

Across more than six decades and even more iterations of the team, the Frightful Four have come to include villains ranging from Hydro-Man to Taskmaster to Titania to the Merc-With-a-Mouth himself – Deadpool. While the Frightful Four’s members list has grown, the number of victories they have achieved has remained largely stagnant, and it is hard to imagine that will be changing any time soon.

Galactus is a Universal Threat That Frequently Returns

Marvel’s Devourer of Worlds is the Fantastic Four’s Biggest Enemy – Literally

Marvel Comics has given readers plenty of unforgettable storylines to fall in love with over the years. Yet, few have remained as popular or been retold as often as “The Coming of Galactus.” This isn’t all that surprising considering what an indelible part of the Marvel Universe Galactus is as a character, not to mention how important his arrival was for the Fantastic Four during their early years.

Galactus’ personal origin story as Galan and his Cosmos-spanning history are intriguing enough of their own. However, the overarching mythos surrounding the character have made him into the Marvel Comics mainstay that he is today.

Whether it be in his classic form as the Devourer of Worlds, as the unexpectedly heroic Lifebringer, or as the utterly unstoppable cosmic force that is the Destruction, Galactus will always be one of the biggest and most capable figures in the Marvel Universe. More importantly, he will always be the kind of figure who poses a threat unlike any other, and which the Fantastic Four will be allowed to confront time and time again so long as the story of their first encounter continues to be rewritten and reimagined for new generations of fans.

Annihilus Controls an Insectoid Armada From Another Dimension

The Negative Zone is More Dangerous Than Most Marvel Readers Know

The anti-matter dimension known as the Negative Zone had been a part of the wider Marvel Comics mythos for years before the events of 1968’s Fantastic Four Annual #6 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. However, the landmark issue marked the debut of what might be its most fearsome figure – Annihilus.

Born from the fast-paced evolution of an otherwise ordinary alien insect, Annihilus is a unique aberration whose unusually high intelligence drove him to amass whatever knowledge and information he could from the various wrecked spacecraft that dotted his world.

A narcissistic nihilist whose only fear is his own death, Annihilus developed a fast obsession with his Cosmic Control Rod. The powerful weapon afforded him a greater lifespan and power set than the villain would have ever achieved on his own.

When the Fantastic Four stole away with the Cosmic Control Rod to treat Sue Storm’s pregnancy complications, it left a newfound hatred for the heroes nestled deeply without Annihilus’ soul, even though they returned the artifact of their own volition once the Invisible Woman was safe. Since then, Annihilus has led numerous cosmic invasions, or Annihilation events, that have nearly rendered the entire Marvel Universe asunder. And, while the threat of Annihilus has quickly outpaced the Fantastic Four alone, they will always be his first and most despised foes.

Doctor Doom’s Reach Has Extended Beyond the First Family

Doctor Doom Will Always Be the Fantastic Four’s Number One Nemesis

From the moment he first appeared in the pages of 1962’s Fantastic Four #5 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it was painfully clear that Doctor Doom was nothing like the kind of villains that Marvel’s First Family were used to facing.

A genius scientist, ruthless dictator, and Master of the Mystic Arts all the same, Doctor Doom has long stood far above the likes of the Green Goblin, Red Skull, and nearly every other supervillain that the Marvel Universe has to offer. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Doom is the most powerful villain the Fantastic Four have faced.

It was during his college years when Victor Von Doom first developed his intense rivalry with Reed Richards, just as it was then when the future despot was left with the scars that would usher in his eventual rise as Doctor Doom. While Doctor Doom’s early efforts weren’t all that dissimilar from the endeavors of other like-minded villains, it wasn’t long before things ramped up to a degree that has rarely been elsewhere.

In his long and storied comic book career, Doom has claimed and lost entire kingdoms, stolen away with mantles like the Sorcerer Supreme’s, and even remade the entire Marvel Universe in his own image. That being said, Doom has never been able to truly rise above his oldest enemies, and no matter what new plot he comes up with, the Fantastic Four will always be there to stop them all over again.

“}]] The Fantastic Four have made plenty of superpowered enemies over the decades, but only a few have become permanent fixtures in their lives.  Read More