To many Marvel Comics fans – and to many citizens within the Marvel Universe itself – the Fantastic Four are considered the world’s greatest heroes. While their roster might not always be as stacked as teams like the Avengers or the X-Men, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and the rest of their family truly bring something special to the House of Ideas and have saved the universe on more than one occasion. With such a sterling track record, there should always be a Fantastic Four, but maintaining the team’s awe-inspiring legacy comes at a dark price.
Fantastic Four 2099 #1 by Karla Pacheco, Steven Cummings, Chris Sotomayor, and VC’s Travis Lanham examines the cost reuniting the world’s most fantastic family. The 2020 issue sees the original team’s trusty robo-helper HERBIE unites a new group of superhumans as the Fantastic Four of the future. Unfortunately, their combined abilities prove to be unstable when joined together. Three members of the titular team are killed before HERBIE reveals that he used cosmic rays to empower these seemingly random individuals in order to recreate his long-lost family. Lamenting yet another failure, HERBIE immediately murders his witnesses – Venture and the Invisible Boy – and promises to start the process all over again.
The Richards’ Legacy Isn’t So Fantastic
Earlier in the issue, HERBIE rewatches an old recording of the one and only Valeria Richards, who instructs him to bring back the Fantastic Four should anything go wrong. Based on the android’s monologue, it’s made expressly clear that this group is far from the first to be bombarded by HERBIE’s cosmic rays. Like all the other iterations before this one, it’s clear that the Fantastic Four’s old ally considers their replacements to be a failed experiment. But while it’s no surprise that HERBIE wants to recreate his family, the cost of upholding the team’s legacy is clearly higher than any of the original members would be willing to pay.
Both as their own team and alongside other heroes of the Marvel Universe, the Fantastic Four have saved the world more times than anyone can count. From celestial beings like Galactus to otherworldly threats like Annihilus, the Richardses have defeated enough foes to prove that the Marvel Universe will always need a Fantastic Four. But there’s no way they would expect HERBIE to go to such macabre lengths to keep their team going. And with how many lives that have been shattered by the well-meaning machine’s malevolent machinations, the Fantastic Four’s legacy could be tarnished beyond repair.
This Isn’t What The Fantastic Four Would Want
As heroes, the Fantastic Four truly live up to their name, but the Richards family may be the only ones fantastic enough to bear the weight of their legacy. While the universe will always need its greatest heroes, there’s no way the likes of Mister Fantastic or the Thing would sign off on others dying to fill their superheroic shoes. Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm may be Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four, but thanks to HERBIE, their legacy is anything but fantastic.