The Fantastic Four were created by the general media when four explorers returned from the Marvel-1 Mission completely altered.
They brought back not only the truth behind the Negative Zone theory but also extraordinary abilities gained during that dangerous mission.
The family of scientists was quickly embraced by the general public as the planet's great superheroes, marking a new step for an entire heroic generation that would emerge from that point on.
In their first mission, the team of heroes faced the Mole Man, the forgotten fifth crew member of the Marvel-1 Mission. He had accompanied the team in a separate probe, acting as support and repair, and ended up being separated from the group amid the cosmic storm, which hurled him toward a wormhole. This teleported him to a desolate, cavernous planet, where he was welcomed by its confused and fragile inhabitants, who chose him as their king. Proclaiming the place as Subterranea, the villain used the greatest warriors of that species to embark on an expedition to the planet's surface, as the Moloids had never left their caves. Suddenly, he discovered he was inside Planet Earth itself, and that his cosmonaut companions had been instated as the nation's heroes, while the Mole Man was forgotten and buried by history. But not for long!
The group of scientists took the role of researchers and universe pioneers, willing to put themselves in highly dangerous situations in the name of science. That's why they built the Baxter Building, a retractable complex capable of installing itself on any possible surface, adapting to the situation and functioning as a mobile operations base. It was very useful when the Fantastic Four crossed the deep ocean and the dangerous sea pressure to document what they would find at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. There, they discovered the kingdom of Lemuria, long abandoned by its god-king, the war hero Namor, and now living under the regime of Attuma.
When the physicist Owen Reece became the distraught Molecule Man, the team had to return to the beginning of time, shortly after the Big Bang, to limit their enemy's powers. His defeat was only possible thanks to celestial intervention, which banished the erroneous presence of the Earthlings from that time marker. This might seem like a victory, but it actually put the Fantastic Four in the sights of the TVA.
The Fantastic Four hired Alicia Masters to act as the group's personal nurse. She quickly grew close to The Thing, who, in an effort to show his interest in the nurse, gifted her a rare type of clay collected during one of the team's missions, knowing that Alicia had a hobby of sculpting statues. As a tribute, she made a statue of her deceased father, but the alien clay was sentient, and now, in the form of Alicia's father, it began hunting the Fantastic Four to create its own twisted versions of the super-team.
The team traveled to the African continent to study the supposed spatial energy traces captured by the newly created satellites operated by NASA. There, they were able to find the isolated society of Wakanda, a technological marvel that developed completely separated from the rest of the world. The group's presence nearly sparked a civil war among the Wakandan government, but their presence was well received by the diplomatic king known as the Black Panther. Together, the Fantastic Four discovered that the energy traces present in the region had existed for millennia, ever since the meteor brought the Vibranium mineral in bulk to the Earth's surface, and which is now present throughout the subsoil of that nation. The team of explorers left the place, swearing never to reveal the secret behind
The Human Torch gets involved in a political conspiracy when he wants to help the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man investigate the mysterious Life Foundation. Using stolen technology from Reed Richards, they are able to break into the building and discover the corporation's secret project, which seeks to capitalize on some kind of sentient, alien material captured from a meteor. Spider-Man takes the material with him to conduct his own studies on the object, and a new friendship is born between the two young heroes.
Landing on the dark side of the Moon, the Fantastic Four were ambushed by a guerilla force from a long-forgotten secret society. Taken before their King, they were finally introduced to the concept of the "Inhumans," a species that developed in parallel with humanity and formed their own genocracy in the kingdom of Attilan on the lunar surface. However, this race is now experiencing a holy war thanks to the emergence of a new messianic figure. The Fantastic Four make peace with King Blackagar by being tasked with the mission to find Queen Medusa on Earth.
Sue Storm is in the final months of her pregnancy when a mysterious alien invasion settles in the exosphere. The arrival of the feared Devourer of Worlds is announced by his herald, the Silver Surfer, who is then pursued by the group of explorers for a better understanding of the threat they are about to deal with. It is the human Alicia Masters who makes Norrin Radd understand the complexity of human finiteness, which inspires him to help the team.
The Fantastic Four confront Galactus on his ship, but they are only able to stop him thanks to the discoveries made so far. The Vibranium offered by Wakanda and the Inhumans' energy batteries are combined to create a new wormhole. The anti-atmospheric pressure suits created for the heroes to enter Lemuria are the key to allowing a new trip to the Negative Zone, but this time without cosmic storms to interfere. It is there that the heroes keep Galactus incarcerated, retro-feeding on all the dark matter without finding a way to return to our galaxy.
Franklin Richards is born while the group of heroes is adrift in space, with no way out, until they are rescued by the Silver Surfer, as a way of thanking the heroes for their intervention in his dramatic destiny. The Fantastic Four expands, with the arrival of new members and allies who make it clear that the concept of family transcends any spatial limit.
Saving the planet from the threat of Galactus, the Fantastic Four take on the role of the greatest super-team on Planet Earth. But the responsibilities also increase!
Alicia Masters and The Thing get married, and Alicia takes on her role on the team as a field medic, accompanying the explorations.
Johnny Storm gets close to his college classmate Wyatt Wingfoot, and invites him to join the team as the principal aerial pilot.
Jennifer Walters is hired as the team's legal counsel, so they can have diplomatic immunity, in order to increase the number of operations around the globe.
Franklin Richards grows up in front of the cameras, but a strong wave of anti-mutant hatred follows the discovery that the child carries the X-Gene.
Reed and Sue prepare for the arrival of their second child, Valeria Richards, and the automaton H.E.R.B.I.E. is created to act as a nanny and also an autonomous repairman. But there still seems to be another mysterious figure interested in the conception of this child.
The Fantastic Four begin to be visited by a bizarre being from the fifth dimension, who they initially believed to be Franklin's imaginary friend, but who seems to have been materialized along with its entire universe by the child's unconscious mind, thanks to his latent mutant powers. The creature introduces himself as the "Impossible Man," and initially proposes cartoonish challenges for the Fantastic Four to face, which they solve easily, but they become concerned about the extent of Franklin's powers, and what that might entail in the future.
Spider-Man turned to the Fantastic Four to separate himself from the "symbiote," the alien material he had stolen from the Life Foundation a few years ago with the help of Johnny Storm. He had kept it at the back of his closet for years until he started communicating with the creature during one of the most difficult moments of his life. Initially, it seemed tempting to allow the symbiote to use his body to operate as Spider-Man on its own, almost like an "autopilot," but gradually he realized that the ease came with a price. Part of the creature remained under Reed Richards' care, while the rest ended up escaping during the separation process. In the end, Peter just had to borrow an old suit from Johnny so he could leave without being seen—it was quite humiliating.
A mysterious wanderer turns to the super-team, claiming to be Namor, the hero who once fought alongside the Invaders during World War II. The information appears to be true, and they then assist him in a memory recovery process, which makes it clear that Attuma and his militia were responsible for his downfall and amnesia. The lost king reclaims his throne with the help of the Fantastic Four, who are outraged to discover that Namor intends to execute the usurpers of his throne; perhaps the return of the sea king represents a big problem for the future.
The TVA introduces itself to the group of explorers, stating that they are an authority that looks after the continuous timeline of space-time canon, and seek help in dealing with a Machiavellian counterpart of Reed Richards who may be capable of tearing the multiversal fabric thanks to his machinations. The Fantastic Four intervene in the plans of Dr. Richards' counterpart, who proclaims himself The Maker, and believes himself responsible for the future creation of the universe where everything will be perfect.
The group pursues the Soviet scientist Red Ghost across Europe, locating him with the help of the hero Falcon, leading his own team with some members of the Avengers on a special mission, aiming to find the whereabouts of Redwing, his animal partner created by Red Ghost and kidnapped last month. The mission is a success, if you don't consider the destruction of a public square in Latvia due to the enhanced super-apes created by the mad scientist. The collaboration between the Fantastic Four and the Avengers ends well, and could mean a lot for the future.
The Fantastic Four return to the Moon, but this time to explore the satellite's center, where they find the operations base of the Watcher, an omnipresent and omniscient figure who observes and witnesses the progression of that entire timeline, and who was counting on the Fantastic Four's appearance so he could warn them that the Cosmic Cube had fallen into the wrong hands, and the mortal Victor Von Doom could now corrupt the balance of power on a cosmic level.
The team then visits Doctor Doom in his castle in Latveria, where they are invited to spend the weekend. Doom's ideals do not seem to align with those of the fundamental family, and the intrigue intensifies when Johnny Storm is detained by the cavalry chief Victorious while introducing social media to the residents of Latveria. In the US, Ben and Alicia attend a diplomatic meeting promoted by the Latverian diplomat Lucia Von Bardas, but they actively position themselves against the war technology offered by the politician to other nations. But before a clear clash could occur, Sue goes into labor, but extremely frail and ill due to some mysterious reason; she might not survive the birth of Valeria, at least not if Victor Von Doom hadn't helped. Saving the life of the mother and child using his scientific and mystical knowledge, Victor only asks that the Fantastic Four leave Latveria, in exchange for him at least being proclaimed as the godparent of the newborn. The entire team agrees with the decision, and Doctor Doom remains in possession of the Cosmic Cube.
Queen Medusa is finally located, near the Arctic. She explains to the Fantastic Four that she needed to leave the throne for some time to clear her head, but the team discovers that the queen seems to be a key piece in the revolutionary takeover of the Inhuman empire. Initially, they are inclined to tell the truth to King Blackagar, until they discover that the Arctic is where the terrestrial colonies of Attilan are installed, where the alpha-primitives are enslaved and forced to carry the society through manual labor. The team understands the motivations behind the revolution, and promises to stop involving themselves with the Inhumans and their genocracy indefinitely.
Malice manifests on Earth-7, an alternate version of Sue Storm who had everything taken from her during the Marvel-1 Mission, and who now crosses the multiverse as an agent of chaos ready to cause pain and penance wherever she goes. She easily defeats the Fantastic Four, but it is Sue Storm's sentimentality and compassion that motivates her to leave that universe, believing that perhaps there is still another chance for her somewhere. Another life to live.
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