10 Lies You Always Believed About The Fantastic Four
You thought the Fantastic Four had their powers permanently? Think again.
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00:00 Now despite the Fantastic Four's clear importance on the comic book history, there are still
00:04 a lot of details the readers get wrong about the iconic quartet. Contrary to popular belief,
00:09 the leader, Reed Richards, isn't the world's smartest superhero. The Thing isn't the
00:13 strongest team member, and the group didn't receive their powers accidentally. Confused?
00:18 Well, let's have a chat. As I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10
00:22 Lies You Always Believed About The Fantastic Four.
00:25 10. The Fantastic Four Are Marvel's First Superheroes In August 1961, Marvel Comics
00:31 published Fantastic Four #1, making them the first Marvel superheroes, right? Well, at
00:36 least that's what many people believe. Contrary to popular belief, Marvel wasn't created
00:40 in the 1960s. The company was formed in 1939, only one year after Superman officially debuted.
00:47 At the time, the company was called Timely Comics. But unlike DC Comics, this incarnation
00:51 of Marvel didn't focus on superhero stories, and instead had a plethora of diverse series,
00:56 including mystery, horror, and romance.
00:58 But when the company decided to focus on superheroes, they rebooted under the name Marvel Comics,
01:03 in the 1960s. Although the Fantastic Four were the first superheroes under this banner,
01:08 there were many other iconic characters long before, including Namor the Sub-Mariner, Citizen
01:12 V, the original Vision, Hellcat, Bucky, and of course, Captain America.
01:17 9. The Fantastic Four Got Their Powers Accidentally Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm,
01:23 and Ben Grimm obtained their powers after being struck by cosmic rays whilst in space.
01:27 This incident transformed them into Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and
01:32 the Thing, respectively. For the longest time, the team assumed that this encounter was a
01:36 freak accident. But in Fantastic Four Vol. 6 #14, they discovered that this wasn't
01:41 actually the case.
01:42 On that fateful day, Reed and his company ventured to space, hoping to find an Earth-like
01:46 planet. However, an entity called Overseer learned of Reed's voyage and deduced his
01:51 ship would eventually arrive on his world, Spire. Terrified that the four explorers'
01:55 arrival would jeopardize his harmonious society, Overseer blasted the ship with cosmic rays,
02:00 forcing it to return to Earth. As a result, Overseer is indirectly responsible for creating
02:05 the Fantastic Four.
02:06 Weirdly, this revelation contradicts Fantastic Four #530, when an entity called The Entity
02:12 told the Fantastic Four that he created the cosmic rays that struck their ship. The entity
02:16 claims that the rays served as a beacon to help him find others who sought the secrets
02:20 of the universe. It's not certain if the Overseer story is a retcon, or the creative
02:24 team just forgot about the entity's backstory, but either way, those cosmic rays were deliberately
02:29 intended.
02:30 #8, the Fantastic Four are the first Marvel Super Team
02:33 Even though the Fantastic Four are known as Marvel's first family, this nickname is
02:37 highly debatable. The first team to exist in the Marvel Universe chronologically was
02:41 Avengers 1,000,000 BC, which was forged in, well, you can probably guess. Comprised of
02:45 Odin, Lady Phoenix, the original Black Panther, Agamotto, Iron Fist, and the first Ghost Rider,
02:50 the heroes united to defeat a mad celestial who invaded the world.
02:54 So okay, the Fantastic Four might not have been the first heroes to band together, but
02:57 surely they're the first super team in the modern world, right? Nope, because the first
03:00 team to appear in a Marvel series was the All-Winners Squad in 1946. This team was composed
03:06 of Namor, Bucky - the Fred Davis version - the robotic human Torch, Toro, Miss America, Whizzer,
03:11 and Captain America.
03:12 But in 1969, it was revealed that the original Cap, Steve Rogers, formed a team called the
03:17 Invaders in the early 1940s, making them the first superhero team of the 20th century.
03:23 So depending on how you phrase it, the first Marvel Super Team was either Avengers 1,000,000
03:27 BC, the Invaders, or the All-Winners Squad. But one thing is for certain, it wasn't
03:31 the Fantastic Four.
03:32 #7, their powers are permanent
03:35 Since Reed Richards and Sue Storm are scientists, they understand their powers on a microscopic
03:40 and quantum level. Not only does this help the Fantastic Four learn how their powers
03:44 work, but it also helps them discover new ways to utilise their abilities. Even though
03:47 Reed and Sue have analysed their superpowers for years now, there's one thing that they
03:51 never realised until quite recently - that their abilities only work if the Fantastic
03:55 Four are in constant contact. After Reed and Sue vanished for several months, Ben and Johnny
04:00 noticed that their powers were kind of on the fritz.
04:02 After being analysed by a superhero scientist - which is a pretty standard job in the world
04:06 of comics - Ben and Johnny discover that their abilities are tethered together, meaning that
04:10 they only function when all four members are in proximity to one another. If any one of
04:14 them is separated from the rest of the group for an extended period of time, the Fantastic
04:18 Four can lose their abilities forever. Even though the team had their powers for years,
04:23 they never knew this until recently, since they were never away from each other for longer
04:26 than a couple of weeks.
04:27 #6, The Thing can never revert to human form
04:31 Despite the Fantastic Four's happy-go-lucky demeanour, The Thing has earned quite the
04:34 reputation as one of Marvel's most tragic superheroes. Although the orange hide covering
04:39 his body empowered him with super strength and durability, Ben Grimm can't help but
04:43 feel like a bit of a monster. Despite Reed Richards' best efforts to help his friend,
04:47 he's never been able to permanently reverse Ben's transformation.
04:50 But that doesn't mean that Ben has never reverted to his original appearance. In the
04:53 second issue, Ben briefly turned to normal after being exposed once more to the cosmic
04:57 rays, and Reed has performed a series of experiments to allow Ben to experience normality for a
05:01 couple of hours or days. When he was exposed to a batch of radioactive material, he actually
05:06 lost his rocky exterior for several months. More recently, the Future Foundation invented
05:10 a gadget that can revert Ben to normal for one week every year. When Reed travelled 3,000
05:15 years into the future, he discovered that Ben was still alive, proving that he doesn't
05:19 age while in his rocky form. Even though Ben used this gadget to revert to human form many,
05:24 many times over the millennia, this story proved that Reed never found a way to permanently
05:28 cure his friend.
05:29 5. Johnny Storm is a bit of an idiot
05:31 Johnny Storm is known for being the brash and impulsive member of the Fantastic Four.
05:36 He may be loyal to his family, to a fault, but is regularly scolded for his immaturity
05:40 and propensity to stir trouble. Because he tends to recklessly jump into danger without
05:44 a second thought, it's no surprise that he's constantly accused of being an idiot.
05:48 And when his sister and best friend are amongst the smartest people in the world, this accusation
05:52 seems to have some merit to it.
05:54 Johnny may not be a scientist, but that doesn't make him an imbecile. Since his teenage years,
05:58 he's been able to fix or drive any vehicle. In fact, his aptitude for driving at phenomenal
06:02 speeds is what led him to earn a place on the space program. Although the higher-ups
06:06 at NASA were certain that he would flunk the test since he was only 16 years old, Johnny
06:10 succeeded with flying colors, becoming the youngest space pilot in history. He may not
06:15 be able to split an atom or make an equation gain sentience like Reed Richards did, but
06:19 that doesn't mean Johnny Storm is a moron.
06:21 4. Reed Richards is the world's smartest person
06:24 There is no room for doubt that the Fantastic Four's leader, Reed Richards, is one of
06:28 the most brilliant minds on Earth. He's patented over a thousand inventions, created
06:33 a quantum calculator, and figured out how to turn urine into drinking water. He was
06:37 terribly proud of that discovery. When he was labelled as the world's smartest person,
06:41 no one seems to have contested it, save for Doctor Doom.
06:43 And he may be one of the greatest geniuses to ever live, but that doesn't mean that
06:47 Reed is the top dog. The cosmic radiation in Reed's DNA was passed on to his daughter,
06:52 Valeria, granting her with intelligence that exceeded his own by the time she was two years
06:56 old.
06:57 But guess what? Valeria isn't the biggest brain box either. When renowned scientist
07:00 and occasional Hulk, Amadeus Cho, performed an intelligence test on the superheroine Lunella
07:05 Lafayette in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #12, he was astounded to learn her genius
07:10 exceeded everyone else's on the planet, including Bruce Banner, Hank Pym, and of course,
07:15 Reed Richards.
07:16 Now technically, Reed is still the world's smartest, but that's only because the people
07:19 cleverer than him are actually children.
07:21 3. Their nemesis, Doctor Doom, has never shown his disfigured face
07:25 While the Fantastic Four's arch-enemy, Victor Von Doom, was in college, an experimental
07:29 machine blew up in his face, scarring him permanently. He was so horrified by his deformed
07:34 appearance, Doom has worn a metal mask ever since. Any time the Latvian monarch takes
07:39 his mask off, his face is obscured in some way, enticing readers to speculate upon his
07:43 appearance.
07:44 However, readers forget that we actually saw Doom's face immediately after the accident
07:48 in Fantastic Four #278. In this issue, we can see the burns that the egomaniacal dictator
07:53 suffered were nowhere near as bad as one would presume. Unfortunately, Doom was so narcissistic,
07:57 he ordered his followers to seal a metallic face over his head before it cooled, charring
08:02 his face beyond recognition.
08:03 In the 2015 saga Secret Wars, Doom unmasked himself to Susan Storm, revealing that the
08:08 burns on his face had become so severe, his nose had rotted away. Although his appearance
08:13 was healed in the story's conclusion, he was scarred again soon after. In Christopher
08:17 Cantwell's miniseries Doctor Doom, Victor seemed to embrace his appearance for once,
08:21 since he showed off his face to multiple people, including Morgana Le Fay and Kang the Conqueror.
08:26 2. The Thing is the strongest Fantastic Four member
08:29 For a superhero team to work, each member needs to have a purpose. In the Fantastic
08:33 Four, Reed is the big brain, Sue uses force fields to protect her teammates, and Johnny
08:37 can move at super speed. And since Ben Grimm's skin, bones, and organs are layered in rock,
08:42 you'd assume that he's the muscle. After all, the ever-loving blue-eyed Thing has gone
08:45 toe-to-toe with the Incredible Hulk and lived to tell the tale. He's even defeated the
08:49 Jade Giant once or twice.
08:50 But for all of Ben's powers, Susan Storm is arguably stronger. Because she has the
08:55 ability to create psionic shields, Sue is only limited by her imagination. Hypothetically,
09:00 she can create a micro force field in a person's heart or brain, killing them instantly. She's
09:05 said that she can easily take down the Hulk by creating a force field in his lungs and
09:08 then expanding it to the size of a football stadium. She's so powerful that she's
09:12 fought Iron Man, Captain America, Falcon, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Iron Fist, Spider
09:16 Woman, and the Hulk at the same time, and won. It may be dangerous to face Ben in combat,
09:21 but it is a sure death to go up against Susan Storm.
09:24 At number one, why Herbie was created.
09:27 In 1967, Hanna-Barbera Productions released the first animated series of the Fantastic
09:31 Four. Ten years after the series concluded, NBC created their own show based on the Marvel
09:36 characters, which is better known as the New Fantastic Four. But viewers were confused
09:40 by the cartoon, since the Human Torch had been replaced by a comic relief robot called
09:44 Herbie.
09:45 Naturally, fans assumed the studio removed Johnny Storm because they were worried younger
09:48 viewers could start fires, attempting to replicate the exploits of the flame-creating superhero.
09:53 Although this rumor has persisted for decades and has appeared on dozens of "random fact"
09:57 websites, it is completely untrue. During the 1970s, Marvel licensed the Human Torch
10:02 to Universal, hoping to have a live-action film or TV series that centered around the
10:07 character. During this time, Johnny wasn't allowed to appear in other mediums, including
10:10 the 1978 cartoon. So there you go, the real reason that Johnny was absent from the show
10:14 was due to a legal issue.
10:16 This inconvenience seemed to work out in the long run, though, since Herbie became such
10:19 a popular figure, he made the jump into comics one year later and has become a valuable member
10:24 to the Fantastic Four ever since.
10:25 And there we go, my friends, those were 10 Lies You Always Believed About The Fantastic
10:29 Four. I hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down
10:32 in the comments section below. As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over
10:35 on Twitter @RetroJWithA0, or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice, where I do all of
10:40 my streaming outside of work, and it'd be great to see you over there, my friends.
10:43 But before I go, I want to end things on a bit of a positive note, a fantastic note,
10:47 considering the subject of this list, and that is just to make sure that you're treating
10:50 yourself with love and respect, my friend, because you are a massive ledge. And don't
10:53 let anyone or anything else tell you otherwise, alright? I'm going to go up there and smash
10:57 it like it is goddamn clobberin' time.
10:59 As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
11:03 to you soon. Bye.