How Marvel Tried (and Failed) to Kill The Fantastic Four

When The Fantastic Four debuted in November 1961, it ushered in a new era for comic books. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the comic featured the iconic characters of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/The Thing. It was seen as the flagship title for Marvel Comics and laid down the foundation for Marvel Comics as featuring heroes that not only existed in the real-world cities of the readers but also bickered and argued.

While The Fantastic Four certainly maintained their legacy as a critical Marvel team, they never had the same level of popularity they did in the 1960s. They soon became eclipsed by other heroes that they paved the way for, like Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the X-Men. During the 2010s, due to Disney acquiring Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios while The Fantastic Four remained at another film studio, the heroes that built Marvel Comics were soon downplayed and eventually canceled.

Yet now, their arrival into the Marvel Cinematic Universe could make them the saviors of the franchise, the same way their comic book counterparts did.

Disney Buying Marvel Caused a Shift

During the 1980s and 1990s, Marvel sold off the film rights to some of their most popular franchises. The Fantastic Four were one of the first to get purchased, with their first attempt at a feature film being the 1994 Roger Coreman-produced The Fantastic Four, which was never released theatrically and would have been lost to time if not for leaked copies being circulated at comic conventions. Following the superhero boom of the 2000s with hits like Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four became one of the key Marvel properties to adapt.

Two films were released, 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Both films were decent hits but did not gain the same positive reviews from critics, and many comic fans were disappointed with the films not fully embracing the hard sci-fi concepts. Then, in 2015, they attempted another reboot, titled Fantastic 4 (marketed and now referred to among many as Fant4stic). That film had plenty of behind-the-scenes issues, which we’ve covered in detail. Ultimately, the film was a box office bomb and is considered one of the worst superhero movies ever made.

In between the release of 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and 2015’s Fantastic Four, Disney purchased Marvel, which meant Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Comics, and Marvel Studios. Disney bolstered the status of heroes they owned film rights to, such as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers. This is why, during the 2010s, many of the main Marvel events centered on those Avengers characters. Meanwhile, The Fantastic Four and the X-Men, both of whose films were owned by 20th Century Fox, were downplayed.

Marvel Sabotaged The Fantastic Four

Disney/Marvel did not want to help promote characters they did not own the film rights to and didn’t want new characters created for those titles that 20th Century Fox could turn into film characters. This attempt to suppress these characters that Disney did not own the film rights can be seen in a number of ways. No more toys were made to promote 20th Century Fox Marvel films, while Fantastic Four and X-Men characters were omitted from video games and even posters for the company. The Fantastic Four, in particular, faced an uphill battle in the Marvel editorial.

Jonathan Hickman’s groundbreaking and critically acclaimed run on Fantastic Four began on August 26, 2009, just five days before the news broke that Disney had purchased Marvel. Hickman’s run, which killed Johnny Storm off and introduced the Future Foundation, ran for about three years until he took over The Avengers and New Avengers in 2012 in time for the feature film The Avengers.

While the character of Mr. Fantastic was an important figure in many key storylines at the time, Marvel seemed actively hostile to The Fantastic Four, particularly as the new reboot was in development. In 2014, in Punisher Vol. 10 #12, characters resembling The Fantastic Four cast members Miles Teller, Jamie Bell, and Kate Mara were blown up in a building (a character named Mike, a reference to Michael B. Jordan, is said to be running late). That same year, Marvel confirmed what many thought would never happen: they would cancel the comic that launched the Marvel Universe.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Replaced The Fantastic Four

While Marvel looked to downplay characters like the X-Men and The Fantastic Four, it also looked to bolster others. There were lesser-known properties that Marvel looked to elevate, and Marvel tried to replace the X-Men with the Inhumans. Similarly, Marvel hoped that the Guardians of the Galaxy would fill the void in the Marvel Universe that The Fantastic Four would leave behind.

The modern incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy debuted in 2008. The property was one of the earliest that Marvel Studios began developing as a film and officially announced as part of their film slate in 2012 during San Diego Comic-Con. The Guardians of the Galaxy certainly made sense as the team of heroes to fill the void in the MCU left by The Fantastic Four. Both were a cosmic team of heroes that bickered but truly loved one another like a family. Guardians of the Galaxy sought to explore the vast cosmos of the MCU in a way that the comic book version of The Fantastic Four traditionally did.

In anticipation of their feature film debut, The Guardians of the Galaxy was given a more prominent role in the comics, while The Fantastic Four was downplayed. Work on the reboot of Fantastic Four began shortly after Marvel Studios announced Guardians of the Galaxy was in development. Guardians of the Galaxy became a box office smash hit, leading to the team becoming one of the biggest franchises associated with Marvel. While this was happening, The Fantastic Four was floundering, and one year after Guardians of the Galaxy hit theaters, The Fantastic Four would fade away.

2015 Was the Year The Fantastic Four Died

2015 was a monumental year for The Fantastic Four franchise, but not always positive. First came Marvel’s announcement that they would be canceling the title, the first time since the team debuted in 1961 that Marvel Comics would not be publishing a Fantastic Four comic. Fantastic Four #645 hit shelves on April 29, 2015, a week before Secret Wars #1. The comic brought story arcs from Hickman’s run on Fantastic Four, The Avengers, and New Avengers full circle.

While teased as a major Marvel Universe crossover event, the story at its core was a conflict between Mr. Fantastic and Doctor Doom in what could be seen as the final adventure of The Fantastic Four. The comic began with the Marvel Universe, the one that truly began with the publication of Fantastic Four, ending. The comic ends with the main Marvel Universe reborn, now merged with the Ultimate Comics universe.

At the conclusion of the comic, published in January 2016, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, along with their children Franklin and Valeria, leave the main Marvel Universe to restore the various multiverses that were destroyed one at a time. Meanwhile, The Thing joins the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Human Torch becomes part of Inhumans, which are the two properties Marvel was trying to push as part of their brand synergy. While everyone knew The Fantastic Four would return in some way, it certainly felt like a seismic moment in comics as the door had been closed on the very team that created Marvel.

2015’s Fantastic Four Movie Was the Final Nail in the Coffin

This certainly was not helped by the fact that the 2015 Fantastic Four was a box office and critical flop. Part of the reason Marvel canceled the Fantastic Four comic was so they wouldn’t promote a title from their competition. Between the film featuring a grim body horror aesthetic that showed the director had no interest in the classic version of the heroes and Marvel canceling the comic, it seemed like the optimistic explorers from the 1960s either had no place in the modern world for general audiences or nobody knew what to do with them.

Of course, The Fantastic Four would return. Almost as soon as Disney entered talks to acquire 20th Century Fox, Marvel began the process to bring The Fantastic Four back into comics. Their grand return, written by Dan Slott and with art by Simone Bianchi, Sara Pichelli, Skottie Young, hit comic shelves in August 2018. Since then, Marvel has gone to great lengths to push The Fantastic Four even more than before, with the MCU film officially being confirmed in December 2020. Now, The Fantastic Four are arriving when the MCU needs them most.

The Fantastic Four Are Back and Better Than Ever

Fantastic Four: First Steps is easily one of the most anticipated films in the MCU. Part of that is the return of the heroes to the MCU and the hope that fans will finally get a good film adaptation of the beloved team. Yet they are also joining at an interesting time. While the reports of the MCU’s downfall have been greatly exaggerated, there has been a lack of stability.

No current Avengers roster has been formed. The Guardians of the Galaxy’s story concluded in 2023 with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Black Panther seemed poised to be the new lead of the MCU, but the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman changed those plans. Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, and Doctor Strange all seem like they could be foundational characters, but they’ve generated the same level of excitement as one would expect, while no plans have been made regarding She-Hulk, Shang-Chi, and Werewolf by Night.

The Fantastic Four could be that new bedrock for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While their film is set to take place in an alternate reality, a retro-futuristic 1960s, the fact that the next Avengers villain will be Doctor Doom suggests that The Fantastic Four will play a key role over three years of the MCU with 2025’s Fantastic Four: First Steps, 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday, and 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars. That final Avengers movie could end the same way that the Secret Wars comic did, with the universe being rewritten and giving the MCU a slight rebootwhere The Fantastic Four is part of the main timeline.

The Fantastic Four is a team rooted in 1960s optimism, one of looking forward to a brighter future. In 2015, that idea seemed like a relic of the past, and it may even have been naive. Yet in the ten years since Marvel canceled Fantastic Four and the 2015 film, audiences have wanted something hopeful. The idea of a better tomorrow, a future where anything is possible, is very much in the public consciousness, and The Fantastic Four are the heroes of the moment. By looking to the past, Marvel might be able to pave their future.