A milestone issue for Marvel’s First Family this week but it’s a bittersweet moment.
Fantastic Four #645 is the final issue of the cancelled title as the publisher returns to its original numbering. This is the conclusion of The End of 4Ever.
In two months the Fantastic Four star in a new film adventure with a new cast but the iconic comic book ends with this final issue by James Robinson and Leonard Kirk.
Is this ending about sales, studio rivalry or maybe it’s just time for a creative break as the entire Marvel Universe ends before the start of Secret Wars event?
Only the higher-ups in Marvel offices know.
Fox controls the film rights to X-Men and the FF. The studio’s rebooted Fantastic Four movie opens later this summer. In comics this summer is about massive change as Secret Wars will mean the end and an uncertain future.
Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben are the heroes that launched the modern Marvel comics. I can’t imagine a world without them. Maybe a Fantastic Four book break will be good for the characters and the world of Marvel.
This may be The End of 4Ever but not the characters. Here’s where to find some of them:
Human Torch:
Johnny Storm is joining the cast of Uncanny Inhumans, a spinoff of Charles Soule’s Inhuman. Marvel revealed the Human Torch will join Medusa’s extended family in the upcoming Free Comic Book Day issue. Johnny’s move is a signal that our earlier prediction may come true. When the Fantastic Four cancellation was announced we found new homes and teams for these iconic characters in the larger Marvel Universe.
Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards:
Before his epic Avengers run and upcoming Secret Wars, Jonathan Hickman was writer of the Fantastic Four and launched the Future Foundation. Reed has played a critical role in New Avengers and found himself on the wrong side of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Susan Storm for his actions with the Illuminati. Richards will be central to Hickman’s Secret Wars epic but will he survive the experience?
I honestly love seeing Reed in a battle of wits and wisdom with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner in Civil War and in The Illuminati in New Avengers. What if Reed led a new team of Marvel’s biggest brains including Banner, Amadeus Cho and Prodigy? After rereading Civil War I was amazed at the incredible potential and danger caused when two inventive geniuses like Tony Stark and Reed Richards get together. Remember the Negative Zone prison they put their friends in or Ragnarok the Thor Clone?
Invisible Woman/Susan Storm Richards and Thing/Ben Grimm:
Sue and Ben will likely be fighting with Reed in Secret Wars but what happens after?
Sue is arguable the most evolved of all the members of the team. A woman who turn become invisible seemed like a passive power but it’s Sue’s spirit and potential that’s inspired writers to turn into the team’s most powerful member and strong heart and head keeping the extended power family together.
Inspired by the success of the all-female X-Men and upcoming all-female Avengers (A-Force) Susan would be the perfect leader of a squad of Marvel’s mightiest matriarchs (Storm, Medusa, the All Mother) after Secret Wars.
Susan is strong enough on her own to lead a solo or team-up book. I really enjoyed Sue and Wolverine’s time-twisting mission in Age of Ultron.
No more Four? Maybe it’s time for this classic version of the book and team to take an extended break but these characters are great on their own. Maybe it’s time to let Reed, Susan, Ben and Johnny move on to new alliances and adventures in the Marvel Universe.
The book has a legacy of having substitute members so maybe there will be an all-new Fantastic Four after Secret Wars? Perhaps a new generation of adventurers will be the next version of the team in the spirit of the Young Avengers.
The end of the Fantastic Four series doesn’t have to mean the end of four incredible characters who still have so much story potential.
Fantastic Four #645 arrives Wednesday.
By Editor