The much-anticipated film titled “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” has officially hit theaters, allowing both longtime fans and newcomers to witness Marvel’s inaugural family in their natural habitat. Although the team has graced the big screen on multiple occasions, including a notorious 1994 production that was initially intended for private viewing, this installment could be the one that captures the essence of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s Silver Age genius. However, don’t let the vibrant, futuristic aesthetic deceive you into believing the original comics were a walk in the park for the team. At times, the members have encountered difficulties, and at other times, these challenges have led to the untimely demise of our beloved heroes.
Throughout the entire span of the comics series up until now, the Fantastic Four have encountered death and loss on multiple occasions. With the new movie out and the team making a triumphant return, let’s delve into their somber history by exploring the numerous times the Fantastic Four have died during their comic book journey. Keep reading to uncover moments that seemed deceptive or staged, as well as those poignant and impactful deaths that significantly shaped the characters in various time periods.
11) The New Fantastic Four
Following their capture and rumored death at the hands of the Skrulls, the Fantastic Four find themselves in need of replacements. Stepping up to the plate are Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider. The Skrulls, who orchestrated the kidnapping, bring these heroes together. Assuming the original Four were deceased, this new team operates under the manipulation of Skrull telepath De’Lila, who seeks to capture the real Fantastic Four and execute her scheme. However, the seemingly dead Fantastic Four miraculously return and join forces with their replacements to thwart De’Lila’s menace, turning her over to the Skrulls for retribution. An exciting twist, but ultimately a false alarm!
10) Onslaught Takes Them All
In another twist of events, the heroes from the Marvel Universe make a selfless move, giving up their lives to imprison the psychic form of Onslaught following a desperate battle that came dangerously close to annihilating the X-Men and bringing back the Savage Hulk. Enraged and destructive, the Hulk manages to destroy the villain’s armor but fails to eliminate its psionic essence, which continues to grow without a suitable container. It was then that Thor, Ben Grimm (The Thing), and Johnny Storm (Human Torch) stepped up, sacrificing themselves as a vessel for the enemy. This selfless act ultimately casts the X-Men in an unfavorable light due to their role in attacking Onslaught, but while they appear deceased, they are secretly whisked away to another dimension by Franklin Richards, leading to the storyline known as Heroes Reborn.
9) Future Sue Storm Electrocuted by Doom
In Mark Millar’s tenure on the primary Fantastic Four series, a captivating story arc titled “The Death of the Invisible Woman” stood out. Contrary to expectations, it wasn’t the traditional Sue Storm who perished; instead, a future version of Sue traveled back in time with her team, the New Defenders, with the aim of averting the destruction of her Earth and saving its 8 billion inhabitants. This tale incorporates various science-fiction elements, such as a time machine constructed from Galactus’ remains. However, it is later revealed that future Sue was merely a decoy after she abducted the Human Torch and Doctor Doom to fuel the time machine. True to his word, Doctor Doom seeks revenge and carries it out by the story’s conclusion, electrocuteing Future Sue instantly. Despite her questionable actions, Future Sue manages to save the 8 billion people of her future Earth, who are transported to Nu-Earth. In retaliation for her actions, Doom takes vengeance and kills her on the spot.
The triumph of Nu-World is fleeting: After it’s set up, its star changes into a black hole, disrupting its spatial position. Following this, Natalie X absorbs all of Nu-World’s inhabitants into a single consciousness. Galactus discovers Nu-World later, seeking retribution upon learning they utilized his body for time travel. Reed Richards buries the remnants of Nu-World, while Future Sue emerges victorious by avoiding the unpleasantness that follows.
8) Heroes Reborn Against Galactus
In essence, “Heroes Reborn” serves as an intriguing “What If?” scenario for Marvel’s superheroes, showcasing their alternate lives following their demises in the primary Marvel universe. Towards the conclusion of this experiment, numerous significant characters meet their end during the struggle against Galactus, owing to time travel’s miraculous properties. A particularly poignant scene unfolds at the start of “Heroes Reunited,” when the Thing aids in destroying one of Galactus’ destructive machines. Regrettably, this destruction also reverts him briefly into human form, mere moments before Black Panther arrives and Terrax unleashes a massive stone fist, crushing both characters. Despite repeated failures, the heroes ultimately triumph on the final day, as Doom journeys back in time to guarantee Galactus is vanquished.
7) Doom Killed Fighting Mad Celestials
Concerning Doom, he became part of the team during Hickman’s tenure on Fantastic Four, as the group transformed into the Future Foundation. Later, he was apprehended by an alternate Reed Richards during the War of Four Cities. In this predicament, Doom collaborated with the renegade Richards to confront the destructive Mad Celestials that had annihilated the remaining Council of Reeds members. The situation seemed dire after Rogue Reed was obliterated by a variant of the Ultimate Nullifier, but then Doom displayed courage and held off the entities in a selfless act that suited his character. It’s later discovered that he didn’t perish, providing him an opportunity to rule, fail, and eventually forfeit his godlike powers, which he had acquired with the remaining two Infinity Gauntlets left by the other founders of the Council of Reeds.
6) Lazy Johnny Storm Accidentally Gets Sue Storm Killed
The day intended for cleaning by Susan Storm, interrupted by Johnny Storm’s lethargy, sets the stage for the story titled “Death in the Family“. As Sue insists on tidying up, Johnny slacks off, causing friction between them. However, their ordinary day takes a drastic turn when an alarm sounds from Reed Richard’s laboratory. A colossal creature from another dimension breaks free and attacks both siblings. The creature’s energy blasts are found to penetrate Sue’s force field, leading to her demise. In desperation, Johnny uses Doom’s Time Platform to journey back in time, attempting to avert their deaths. Despite his success in at least one timeline, he is unable to alter the past events affecting himself due to the complexities of time travel.
5) Secret Wars
In essence, the narrative of Secret Wars begins on a somber note as most members of the Fantastic Four meet their demise following a separation from Richard’s life raft during the initial phase. However, the tale takes an unexpected turn when Doctor Doom rebuilds the universe after vanquishing the Beyonders. In this new reality, he reformed Richards’ family, with Johnny Storm becoming the Sun wielding his flame abilities and Ben Grimm transformed into a colossal wall to prevent hordes of zombies, robots, and the Annihilation wave from overrunning his kingdom.
After Reed and his fellow survivors from the original universe begin causing trouble and devising a strategy against Doom, Grimm transforms into an enormous version of The Thing, prepared to assist in the conflict. However, this confrontation is brief when Franklin Richards arrives with Galactus, engaging the giant Thing in battle. Not wishing to fight Franklin, Galactus destroys the Thing instead.
4) Reed Richards at the hands of Doctor Doom
As issue #400 of Fantastic Four approached, it showed Doctor Doom managing to kill Reed Richards in a final burst of energy after they had joined forces to defeat The Hunger. However, neither character truly perished; instead, they faced Hyperstorm, who turned out to be Franklin Richards’ son from the future. Instead of death, Reed and Doom were transported to the future. Months later, when the team encountered Hyperstorm once more, Reed had grown a beard and let his hair grow long.
3) The Maker Returns Home
In a new transformation, Reed Richards, also known as Mister Fantastic, reappears in the Ultimate universe, but this time with an ominous twist. Following significant life-altering events such as the loss of his marriage and the devastation caused by the Ultimatum wave, Reed transformed into a tyrannical figure called The Maker. During the Secret Wars, he was captured but managed to manipulate various characters.
By the time he decides to return to the Ultimate universe, he sets in motion a plan to regain control. Utilizing time travel, he maneuvers through different timelines and makes it known that his objective is to eradicate or severely limit the existence of heroes in his universe. The Fantastic Four become his primary targets, with him altering their rocket trip to prevent them from gaining powers and subjecting Reed Richards to unimaginable torment, earning him the title of Doom in that world.
2) Human Torch Takes on the Annihilation Wave
During Jonathan Hickman’s tenure, the Fantastic Four suffered their first significant loss in years in issue #587, during the War of Four Cities. In this installment, Johnny Storm bravely gave up his life to seal the entrance to the Negative Zone from within, confronting countless enemies and Annihilus as the door closed, with Ben Grimm watching on. He later reappeared in issue #600, disclosing that he had been resurrected and killed repeatedly by monsters, forced to fight in an arena, and ultimately overpowered Annihilus, commandeering his forces.
1) The Thing Shot by Reed Richards
Around the turn of the millennium, the Fantastic Four emerged from the “Heroes Reborn” phase to kickstart their series with fresh numbering. However, by 2003, they opted to revert to their original issue numbers on many of their relaunched books, conveniently timing it for Fantastic Four #500. In this landmark issue, the family finds themselves at the culmination of their battle against a Doctor Doom empowered by Hell, who had abducted Franklin Richards and transported him to the underworld.
After solving the problem at hand, it comes to light that Reed Richards was compelled to destroy The Thing following a clash with Doom. It is uncovered that Doom had seized control of Grimm’s body, leaving Richards no choice but to destroy him. This revelation leaves both Richards and readers stunned, prompting Richards to attempt the extraordinary – rescuing Ben Grimm from the afterlife, and even going so far as to illicitly seize his body from military custody.
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2025-07-28 03:12