Rumors have been swirling for some time that Marvel Comics will be cancelling Fantastic Four to avoid publicity for the upcoming Fox film version of the team, and now it seems that they are true. It has, admittedly, been quite a while since Fantastic Four was actually the central point of the Marvel Universe as in the sixties, but it also seems that this could be the final nail in the coffin of the increasingly-alienated team. If you ask me (although nobody ever does) a better solution would be to simply recast the team in such a manner that they no longer resemble what we’ll see in theaters, perhaps even using the alternate “FF” or “Future Foundation” designations until such time as there’s no worry about making money for the competition. Reed Richards is lost in the Negative Zone, blah blah blah fishcakes, former member She-Hulk reforms a team to save the other FF, fifteen issues of madness with covers by Olivier Coipel? Boom! Headshot! But who would she recruit, you ask? Seems like a lovely place to launch today’s fantastical query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) recommends a team of Fat Cobra (for his knowledge of combat and other dimensions), former Captain Marvel Spectrum (for raw power and smarts) and Ms. Marvel (because Kamala Khan rules), asking: What Marvel characters would you assemble for an alternative version of the Fantastic Four?
7 Comments
OK, see, this is my book. This is the one book that I will always buy as long as it is coming out. That is the reason why this question is frustrating. The Fantastic Four revolves around two concepts: family and adventure. This is why the New Fantastic Four (as amazing as that line up is) does not capture the feel of the original Fantastic Four and that is also why you absolutely need Shulkie in this group. Although many people would see her as the power house, and thus the analog to The Thing, she actually is more of the Sue Storm of the group. She is the glue of the team, she understands the ideals and core concepts of the FF, she is the mediator. My second choice would be Nightcrawler. The stealth of Sue Storm, the pranks of Johnny Storm, and the battle prowess of… Nightcrawler. I think he could bring in the sense of swashbuckling fun that the team would need. Third would be Morbius the Living Vampire. Covering not only the misunderstood monster of Benjamin J Grimm but also the sciency scienceness of Reed Richards, if to a somewhat lesser extent. Fourth would be Spider-man. I know. It’s kind of a cop-out but Spider-man is a character that in someway represents the personality traits of each existing member of the Fantastic Four. Plus, Spidey is familiar with each of these characters and has worked with all of them in some capacity.
Second Alternate:
Spider-Man
Superior Spider-man
Spider-Ham (imagine the cover of Fantastic Four 51 redone as “This Man This Porker”
Spider-Monkey
I think your first lineup is top notch and your reasons for each are spot on…although I don’t know Morbius well. So I can’t complain if his characterizations change.
Hank Pym trying to get his s#% together by emulating the FF and constructing his own nuclear(fusion) family. That would make for an interesting book.
“Now the story of a unhealthy family who lost everything, and the one father who had no choice but to keep them all together.
It’s Hank Pym’s Arrested Development.”
Hank Pym
Wasp
Hulk
Speedball
And the kids; Ultron and Jocasta!
They put the fun in dysFUNctional!
Of course with cameos by Mr. Fantastic (mistah eff!), checking up on them.
I got the rights! (He didn’t get the rights)
Fantastic one, fantastic two, fantastic three, fantastic 4!
I would read the hell out of a Hulk/Speedball team up
Not gonna lie, I loved Byrne era FF with She-Hulk. I think it was a welcome change and overall better team dynamic. Things self pity and constant bickering with Human Torch got old like 20 years before they finally changed things around.
I’d finally let all of the Power kids grow up and have them take the mantle. They were good friends with Franklin (admittedly, I don’t follow FF stories at all, so I have no idea if Franklin’s still around) so that could be a connection, but beyond that, I got nuthin’ except there’s four of them and they’re all family, so it keeps in line with the family/adventure style of the FF.
My problem with many of the suggestions are that the FF is supposed to be a family, not just poopy on the wall and see if it sticks using a popular name.
With that said, I would go with the following.
She-Hulk reforms the team.
Bruce Banner (Depowered) is recruited now that he can not be an avenger sans Hulk.
New York native and Human Torch friend Spider-man fills in for his latent syphilitic buddy.
Lastly, Hell’s Kitchen (Doesn’t exist anymore except under Chef Ramsey) Hero Daredevil fills out the team from a woman who goes invisible to a man that can’t see.