00:00The Fantastic Four. Their amazing powers help keep our world safe.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most interesting bits of
00:11trivia you may not know about Marvel's first family.
00:14You're Mr. Fantastic, aren't you? That's so awesome.
00:19Number 10. Sue Storm was originally the Invisible Girl.
00:23As one of Marvel's most popular and iconic female heroes,
00:26Susan Storm's legacy as the Invisible Woman needs no introduction.
00:30Sue, she's always there. Or is she?
00:34Hello, boys. Jesus.
00:35However, that's actually not the moniker she debuted in.
00:39During the Fantastic Four's initial run in the comics,
00:41Sue acted under the name The Invisible Girl.
00:44And when we say initial run, we actually mean 20 full years.
00:48I'll be with you as The Invisible Woman.
00:51That's a third of the Fantastic Four's history.
00:53It wasn't until Sue had a nasty run-in with a mind-controlling villain that she finally shed her old name
00:58and matured into the hero we know her as today, The Invisible Woman.
01:03Number 9. The Fantastic Four movie you never saw.
01:06Even if you're a die-hard cinephile, there's one superhero film you probably haven't seen.
01:11Look at you.
01:14The Fantastic Four.
01:16Mainly because it was never released.
01:19After purchasing the film rights to The Fantastic Four in the 80s,
01:22low-budget filmmakers Roger Corman and Bernd Eichinger finally put the movie into production in 1992.
01:27Why don't you have a seat?
01:30So we can maybe work this out together.
01:39And they waited.
01:41And waited.
01:42And waited some more.
01:43The release date never came,
01:45with many theorizing the two only made the movie to retain their rights to the characters.
01:49It would certainly explain the dubious quality.
01:52Pirated copies have circulated the web for years,
01:55but that's as close to an official release as this bizarre B-movie has ever seen.
01:59Pitiful.
02:01You are pitiful.
02:04Half the fun is the chase.
02:07You've robbed me of even that.
02:09Number 8. Alter Egos Be Gone.
02:12At a time when most superhero comics followed a very familiar handbook,
02:16Jack Kirby and Stan Lee decided to buck all conventions with this foursome.
02:20He did.
02:20Oh, yes, he did.
02:23Flame Boy never listens.
02:25Rather than spandex-clad vigilantes,
02:27the Fantastic Four were bona fide celebrities.
02:29They didn't wear masks,
02:31bickered like real people,
02:32and were arguably just as famous for their brains as their powers.
02:35While we can never repay them,
02:37we can certainly celebrate them.
02:39Thank you, Fantastic Four.
02:41These small but noteworthy details
02:42paved the way for a whole new kind of superhero storytelling.
02:45One where the super suits weren't as important as the people wearing them.
02:49Based on the team's long-lasting appeal,
02:51it's safe to say abandoning alter egos was a fantastic choice.
02:55Thank you all for coming to be a fantastic fifth for a day.
03:00On behalf of the Fantastic Four,
03:02we welcome you to the Baxter Building.
03:04Number 7.
03:05The Future Foundation Storyline
03:06Nothing shakes up the status quo like new suits and a new roster.
03:11Dissatisfied with the state of the world,
03:13Mr. Fantastic takes it upon himself to rebrand the team into a high-tech charitable organization.
03:17Its name?
03:19The Future Foundation.
03:20Sue, Reed, and Ben all get major upgrades,
03:23and Johnny?
03:24Well, Johnny's dead.
03:25As part of his dying wish,
03:27the friendly neighborhood webhead takes his place to round out the team.
03:30So does Doctor Doom,
03:31but that's a whole other can of worms.
03:33The Future Foundation rebuilt everything people thought they knew about the Fantastic Four,
03:37and remains one of the most notable sagas in the team's modern history.
03:41Number 6.
03:42Sue and Reed have super-powered offspring.
03:45Sue and Reed.
03:46Reed and Sue.
03:47Their romance is written in comic history for a reason,
03:50and so it only makes sense that they have a pair of super-powered twerps.
03:54What isn't expected is that Franklin and Valeria are uber-strong.
03:58Like, strong enough to make Galactus himself sweat.
04:00While Valeria's only superpower is her father's brains,
04:04Franklin has the ability to unravel all of reality.
04:07As a matter of fact,
04:08he is often ranked as one of Marvel's most powerful beings,
04:11and that's counting gods and cosmic beings.
04:14Forget the supervillains.
04:15Raising a kid like that is the biggest challenge Sue and Reed will ever face.
04:20Number 5.
04:21A revolving roster.
04:22Across all of the Fantastic Four's mainstream appearances,
04:25the lineup has remained incredibly consistent.
04:28Famous around the world.
04:31Please welcome...
04:32The Fantastic Four.
04:34You've got the Invisible Woman,
04:36Mr. Fantastic,
04:37the Human Torch,
04:38and the Thing.
04:39The comics, however,
04:40are a very different story.
04:42As strange as it is to hear,
04:44there have been more than four members of the team on multiple occasions.
04:48Everyone,
04:48I'd like you to meet Dr. Henry Pym,
04:51also known as Ant-Man.
04:53Hi there.
04:54Funny,
04:55I thought you'd all be taller.
04:56The most notable recruits include Spider-Man,
04:59Hulk,
05:00Ant-Man,
05:00Storm,
05:01Black Panther,
05:02and so many more.
05:03Occasionally,
05:04they even butt out mainstays like Sue and Reed.
05:07While the Core Four are still the most iconic,
05:09don't be surprised when you open a Fantastic Four comic
05:12and see a very different team inside.
05:14How's this hot stuff?
05:17Of course.
05:18You're cool.
05:20Number four.
05:21They introduced some of Marvel's biggest characters.
05:24The Fantastic Four aren't just legendary on their own.
05:27Man, I love this job.
05:30Job, huh?
05:32Well, we do have a suit.
05:34They're legendary because of how much they brought to Marvel canon.
05:38So many of the brand's biggest characters and storylines
05:40branched out of the first family's comics.
05:42The team's cosmic origins opened the door to Galactus,
05:45the Inhumans,
05:46the Skrulls,
05:47and later Black Panther,
05:49who would go on to become comics' first major black superhero.
05:52That's without even mentioning the team's frequent run-ins with the Avengers.
05:56If the Fantastic Four hadn't been so popular,
05:58we wouldn't have just lost Sue, Reed, Ben, and Johnny.
06:01We would have missed out on a whole new era of Marvel comics altogether.
06:05At last,
06:06the Black Panther's prey has arrived.
06:09Number three.
06:11The Human Torch predates the Fantastic Four.
06:14Johnny Storm may be Sue's younger brother,
06:16but the Human Torch has been around a whole lot longer.
06:19Now picture that.
06:20But everywhere.
06:22It was everywhere.
06:26What?
06:27While Mr. Fantastic,
06:28the Invisible Woman,
06:29and the Thing were all created specifically for the Fantastic Four,
06:33John Hammond spent decades scorching comic pages as the Human Torch.
06:36Alongside Captain America and Namor,
06:39the pyrotechnic android was considered one of Marvel's biggest draws.
06:43Ironically, though,
06:44his popularity burned bright and fast,
06:46which later allowed for a new hero to carry the torch.
06:49Pun intended.
06:50Even though Johnny Storm wasn't the first to flame on,
06:53there is no denying he brings the heat.
06:55Oh my god,
06:56he's gonna say it.
06:57Ha!
06:58Oh my god,
06:59he's gonna say it!
07:00Say what?
07:01Avengers!
07:01Blame on!
07:02Sorry, what now?
07:04Number two.
07:05The Fantastic Four were created by copying DC's homework.
07:09They don't call these guys Marvel's first family for nothing.
07:12They're extraordinary heroes,
07:14but they're an ordinary family.
07:17We make a point to do family dinner every week.
07:19Marvel's first family.
07:23The Fantastic Four.
07:25Until this foursome came along,
07:27most heroes were lone wolves with an occasional team-up.
07:30But after seeing high sales for DC's Justice Society of America,
07:33Marvel decided to try their own hand at a super-powered group.
07:36Thus,
07:37The Fantastic Four were born.
07:39That's what they're calling you.
07:40The Fantastic Four.
07:42Cool.
07:43As it turned out,
07:44quadrupling the lead characters also quadrupled the success.
07:47The Fantastic Four was a smash hit.
07:50And despite the challenges of balancing so many characters,
07:53it emboldened Marvel into greenlighting even more ambitious crossovers.
07:57You may have heard of them.
07:58The Avengers.
08:08Whoever said cheaters never prosper?
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08:27Number one.
08:28They saved Stan Lee's career at Marvel.
08:30As you may have picked up on,
08:32The Fantastic Four reinvented a lot of what defined Marvel comics at the time.
08:36The very same things that Stan Lee was growing tired of.
08:39Books were doing well and I had a steady job,
08:42but it wasn't satisfying.
08:45Because I really think of myself as a reasonably good writer.
08:49I like to write.
08:51So I really wanted to quit and try something else.
08:55He had been in the world of comics for two decades at the time
08:57and was about to retire from the medium when The Fantastic Four burst onto shelves.
09:02Well, the book did wonderfully.
09:04It sold great.
09:06It was fresh,
09:07it was relatable,
09:08and it was so much fun to write that it kept Lee aboard the comic train well into the 90s.
09:13Whenever you think about all Stan Lee brought to the Marvel Universe,
09:16just remember,
09:17you have The Fantastic Four to thank for a lot of it.
09:20Welcome back to the back, sir, Dr. Richards.
09:23I've got the usual for you.
09:25Good to have you back, sir.
09:27Did we miss any fantastic facts?
09:29Let us know in the comments below.
09:30But without our powers, The Fantastic Four is...
09:33is...
09:34Kaputski.
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