Thank God, it is finally happening!! Marvel Comics was disjointed and broken down when most of its flagship assets were sold out for pennies to big production houses when the publication house almost went bankrupt. With Disney helping Marvel get back on its feet, that threat was fortunately averted.
The Start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a much needed shot in the arm for Marvel, helping it reach back to its established fan base with popular and well-known superheroes. The MCU was started by Marvel but the latter was made more mainstream by the former. Talk about Irony!! Marvel Comics still did not have all of their superheroes for movie rights distribution so they had to work with B-List and C-List heroes.
Thanks to the Fox-Disney merger, that is now changing. Marvel Comics is back on track as a major Superhero team who the comics industry had stopped publishing a while ago is making a comeback to the Marvel Comics Universe.
Can you guess which Superhero team we are talking about??
It’s the freaking Fantastic Four!! Marvel’s certified First Family is returning to the pages of Marvel Comics in their own standalone issue. It was in 2015 when Marvel disbanded the Fantastic Four and discontinued the ongoing FF-4 issue. The burden then fell on Jonathan Hickman to leave a possibility for the team to make a comeback in the future. In 2015 Secret Wars storyline, the Fantastic Four were responsible for recreating the Multi-verse. Reed and Sue Richards left the team to explore the alternate realities while Johnny and Ben aka The Thing were left behind on Earth.
During the secret Wars narrative, the first family of the marvel comicverse was divided into groups and sent around all of the battle worlds so that the writers could use each member of the four to tell a particular story. But when it comes to secret Wars, none of the heroes played as important role as the son to sue and Reed Richards.
Yes, I’m talking about Frankiln Richards. The child is blessed with reality shaping powers and in fact he was the one who rebuilt the universe and gave effect to the soft reboot of marvel post the secret Wars. Although it seemed rather abrupt and primitive on the part of marvel publications to give a reboot to their universe and subsequently disband their first family of heroes, the fantastic four and discontinue their books.
It seems that Marvel has finally realized the worth of these heroes. For back by popular demand, the fantastic four will be returning to comics on a monthly issue basis. This is great news for Marvel fans, especially veterans who have grown old with these characters would like to see them do well even when the child grows up. Once a nerd, always a nerd.
The storyline had an ulterior motive. Since Fox was adamant about not selling back the distribution rights to Disney then, Marvel Comics decided to stop publishing the F4 under orders from Disney. If there was no more comic book issue for Fantastic Four, there would be no way for the fans drooling over them anymore. Why publicize for the enemy? The fox was the enemy then. It was a shrewd move but a necessary one.
The Fantastic Four have been since in comic book issues but only in a supporting role. There have been no solo issues focusing on Marvel’s First Family yet since 2015. Nothing lasts forever. Marvel Comics recently announced it was bringing back the iconic superhero team from the dead and gifting the team a new lease of life. The series writer will be Dan Slott while h will be joined by Sara Pichelli.
Dan has been popular around all nerd circles for his work on Amazing Spider-Man while Sara was previously the frontrunner of the Ultimate Spiderman’s creative team. Two talented artists are going to spearhead this project so it is gonna be awesome!!!
When it comes to the fantastic four, there has always existed this underlying misguided sense of affection towards the family. Even though we see the teams like Avengers taking over when it comes to visual media, the fantastic four have long ruled the comic space, with no place for Avengers, no matter how popular the individual characters might be.
There is only one other team in marvel that even comes close to matching the glory of Fantastic Four. The team is X-Men. And with the Fox Disney Merger now on the horizon, it seems that we might get to see the mutants and the four on the silver screen sooner rather than later. Fans hope for the arrival of Franklin Richards. The young man (child to Sue Storm and Reed Richards) is a capable individual with reality-bending powers.
The news was something that did not surprise the hardcore Marvel Fans. The comics did bring Johnny and Ben back together in Marvel Two-in-One. The issue saw the duo head back into the inter-universal realm in search of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. So it was just a matter of time before this news was about to become reality. The Fantastic Four is arguably Marvel’s greatest and most valuable property.
The First Family first debuted in 1961 and has been an integral part of Marvel Comics since then. Marvel’s ‘Fresh Start’ is going to be a back to basics approach which will see most of the heroes going back to the roots, including The Fantastic Four. With Disney only inches away from buying Fox’s assets, it is a good move on Marvel’s part to bring back the team into the fold.
Since the MCU could see the F4, why not start publications of the team within the comics and make them even more popular before that happens.
Slott and Pichelli have a lot of work to do. Slott is slated to be Marvel’s lead writer after most of their mainstream writers flocked to DC. Slott is already known for his decade-long run on Amazing Spider-Man and he is also the lead writer in Invincible Iron Man. Pichelli is also known for her work in Ultimate Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel’s First Family is in good hands for now.
Marvel even posted a video to showcase the return of the first family to solo comic book issues. But does this mean that even though due to interference by Comcast into the Disney Fox deal, the media house is confident that the characters like fantastic four and other Marvel properties will come back to Disney? The idea is exciting but we can do nothing more than speculate. Although the timing of this announcement is rather sinister.
With the first issue of the new series launching somewhere around the release of infinity war. It seems that there is a good chance that Marvel will use this opportunity to add Easter eggs in the new issue itself. Is there even a possibility of seeing the fantastic four appearing on the silver screen alongside the cast of infinity war. There is always the distinct possibility that Disney will charm us all by introducing the extra characters, including the characters acquired back from Fox and others like Captain Marvel, at the end of infinity war to keep the excitement rising.
The possibility of seeing the first family take its place alongside the Avengers is something fans have longed for a long time. Reed Richards is the most intelligent man in the Marvel comic verse. The portrayal of him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe needs to be as accurate as possible because the Marvel Cinematic Universe still does not house a wise guy. Even if Doctor Strange has taken over that role on a temporary basis.
The idea that our heroes need someone to help them understand the cosmos doesn’t seem so peculiar when you put Reed Richards in the mix. Moreover, the first family taking back it’s rightful place in comics sets the path for the Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance. Might we even see Franklin Richards enter the fray in a future Marvel Cinematic Universe movie? What do you, the fans, think? Leave us a comment.
Don’t Miss: Here’s Why Zack Snyder Opted For The Knightcrawler Instead of Bat-Cycle In Justice League
