THE Fantastic FourThe hardcore spinoff is back, and it’s the key to transforming Marvel’s first family into the MCU’s next. Avengersfranchise on several levels. With the surprise return of the Fantastic Force, Marvel has just unlocked the way to get the most out of the MCU’s Earth-828 (at the center of the recent Fantastic Four: First Steps.)
The Fantastic Force is a combat-focused FF spin-off
The franchise dates back to 1994
In The Ultimates #17 – by Deniz Camp, Phil Noto and Travis Lanham – Marvel has just presented a new version of Fantastic Force. Many of Marvel’s biggest teams have darker offshoots that take a deadlier approach to protecting the world. The Avengers have the Secret Avengers, the X-Men have the X-Force, and the Fantastic Four have the Fantastic Force.
Fantastic Four: first steps introduced MCU fans to the FF, and even sneakily introduced their support team, the Future Foundation. However, in terms of future films, the team has one major disadvantage: there are only four of them.
Although there have been many members of the Fantastic Four – like She-Hulk, Ant-Man and Storm – they are far less than the heroes of the Avengers roster. The franchise also generally focuses on the Richards/Storm family. This makes Fantastic Four an inherently insular franchise, with four core characters who can never disappear for too long, and supporting characters who can only take their place briefly in the meantime.
Marvel has tried to address this in several ways, from introducing the next generation of the FF family to making their stories complement the Future Foundation roster. However, if the FF wants to become an Avengers-level franchise, they need something more radical: they need the Fantastic Force.
Who is the Fantastic Force?
In the Ultimate Universe, the Fantastic Force is a superhuman army created by (the heroic) Doctor Doom, exposing young heroes to carefully controlled cosmic radiation. Doom then tested and trained the new superheroes, with a few like Magna controlling magnetism and Gravity Girl altering density.
However, the franchise actually dates back to 1994, when Reed’s dimension-hopping father Nathaniel Richards needed a team to take on the villainous Hyperstorm. The founding members were Psi-Lord (aka Franklin Richards), Huntara (Franklin’s teleporting aunt), Vibraxas (a hero from Wakanda with vibrational powers), and Devlor (a beast-like member of the Inhumans.) The team was mentored by both Black Panther and Human Torch.
The name was reused in 2009, describing a group of futuristic world heroes introduced in Old Man Loganincluding an older Wolverine, Galactus’ former herald Lightwave, and Hulk’s son Bruce Banner Jr.
This team not only defeated Galactus, but killed him and turned him into a power source for their time machine. In short, the Fantastic Force is traditionally an aggressive, time-travel-related team assembled to defeat a god-like villain.
Warning, spoilers for Fantastic Four: first steps from now on.
How the MCU can use the Fantastic Force
Fantastic Four: first steps ends with Galactus far away in space, but with a definite grudge against Earth. It makes perfect sense that Reed Richards would prepare for Galactus’ return with a more combat-focused team like the Fantastic Force. With the film introducing snippets of lore like the Mole Man’s Subterranea and alien worlds like the Silver Surfer’s home, it would be easy to bring in associate heroes, just as the original Fantastic Force exploited the Inhumans and Wakanda.
Fantastic Four is defined by the core family members, but the team roster must be able to change and evolve to support a true film franchise. The Fantastic Force as a team is much more like the Avengerswith a few core characters but the ability to constantly cycle new characters through its roster.
Ultimates #17 proves that Marvel has not forgotten the Fantastic Force. If the MCU’s Earth-828 wants to survive and build the Fantastic Four in its own franchise, the introduction of Fantastic Force is the perfect way to do so, giving the franchise the versatility of Avengers while allowing the central family to persist as a distinct but connected group.
Ultimates #17 is available now from Marvel Comics.
- First film
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Fantastic Four
- First episode broadcast date
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September 9, 1967
