Promotional poster for the 2005 Fantastic Four movie. Photo Credit: Marvel, Disney
A brief history of Marvel’s first superhero family.
The Fantastic Four made a comeback to the theaters this summer, gaining popularity yet again and generating nearly $220 million during its first week in theaters.
This superhero family has a history far beyond the successful 2025 film.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a major superhero movie universe that is based on the original Marvel comics, formerly Timely Comics.
The first Marvel hero was the Human Torch, who was originally an android. Marvel writers like Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee wrote him into Marvel’s first superhero family: The Fantastic Four.
The Fantastic Four consists of heroes Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm, Susan’s brother. Richards is the leader of the team, particularly known for his brilliant mind.
Susan Storm co-founded the Fantastic Four with Richards. After losing both parents, Susan and Johnny took on the responsibility of looking out for each other.
However, Johnny Storm, known for his hot-headedness, always got himself into trouble.
Ben Grimm, a former Yancy Street Gang member, grew up with his aunt and uncle. Eventually, Grimm went to college and roomed with Richards.
These four members went into space exploration on an experimental space flight. The radiation of cosmic space storms altered their DNA, giving them each unique abilities.
Reed transformed into a person who can stretch any part of his body, adopting the name Mister Fantastic.
Susan took on the name Invisible Woman, referring to her ability to disappear out of thin air. She also gained the power to create forcefields.
Johnny Storm, or the Human Torch, gained pyrokinesis, the ability to create and control fire. This is the origin of his popular catchphrase, “Flame On!”
Grimm, now named the Thing, turned into a human-adjacent monster made of rocks. His extreme strength allowed him to destroy anything, similar to the Hulk. His famous catchphrase is, “It’s clobberin’ time!”
Marvel’s first superhero family was supposed to make their film debut in 1994, but the movie was never released.
Less than a decade later, new actors Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Ioan Gruffudd and Michael Chiklis took on the heroes’ roles in 2005. The family battles a foe named Dr. Doom, played by the late Julian McMahon.
The movie’s sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, focuses on a herald of an intergalactic being called Galactus. Galactus sends a chromatic celestial being with an intergalactic surfboard, called the the Silver Surfer, to send a message to planets that they are marked for death.
In this movie, Galactus’ true form cannot be seen, but there is a glimpse of what he looks like in the Marvel comics as a dark cloud.
This year, the family was reintroduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starring notable actors Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Vanessa Kirby and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Fantastic Four: First Steps follows the same route as the sequel to the original film but features a comic-accurate version of Galactus played by Ralph Ineson. The movie takes place in a different universe, as well as a different time period, and is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
