Merge:Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four is Marvel Comics' flagship comic book superhero team, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and debuting in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961).

Although the group's membership has occasionally changed temporarily, it almost always consists of these four core friends and family-members, who gained superpowers after being exposed to cosmic rays during an outer space science mission:


 * Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards), the leader of the group, a genius-level scientist who can stretch his body.
 * The Invisible Woman (Susan Richards, née Storm; originally the Invisible Girl), Reed Richards' wife, and the team's second-in-command, who can become invisible at will and create invisible force fields.
 * The Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Sue's brother, who can surround himself with flames and fly.
 * The Thing (Ben Grimm), their grumpy friend with a heart of gold, who possesses superhuman strength and durability, but with monstrous, craggy, orange skin that looks as if made of scales or plates (often mistakenly referred to as "rocks").

Since its introduction - in which the groundbreaking team did not even adhere to the convention of superhero costumes in its first two issues - the Fantastic Four has been portrayed as a somewhat dysfunctional yet loving family. Uniquely at the time, and also breaking convention with comic-book archetypes, its members would squabble and even hold animosities both deep and petty toward one another at times, though ultimately truly caring for and supporting each other. Also, unlike many other comic book superheroes, the Fantastic Four have no anonymity, maintaining somewhat of a celebrity status in the public eye.

The team launched the revival of Marvel Comics in the early 1960s, giving it a pivotal place in the history of American comic books. The Fantastic Four have remained more or less popular since, and have been adapted into other media, including three animated television series, an aborted 1990s low-budget film, and a major-studio motion picture, Fantastic Four (2005).

The comic-book series, which famously added the hyperbolic tagline "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" above the title starting with issue #4 (issue # 3 declared itself "The Greatest Comic Magazine in the World!"), dropped the "The" from the cover logo with #15, becoming simply Fantastic Four.

Publication history
Legend has it that in 1961, longtime magazine and comic book publisher Martin Goodman was playing golf with rival publisher Jack Liebowitz of DC Comics, also known as National Periodical Publications. Liebowitz, according to the story, bragged about DC's success with the superhero team the Justice League of America, which had debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28 (Feb. 1960) before going on to its own hit title (premiere cover-date: Nov. 1960). Whether or not this mythic meeting actually occurred, Goodman, a publishing trend-follower aware of the JLA's strong sales, directed his comics editor, Stan Lee, to begin publishing a comic-book series about a team of superheroes. According to Lee in 1974: Martin mentioned that he had noticed one of the titles published by National Comics seemed to be selling better than most. It was a book called The [sic] Justice League of America and it was composed of a team of superheroes. ... ' If the Justice League is selling ', spoke he, ' why don't we put out a comic book that features a team of superheroes?'

Lee, who'd served as editor-in-chief and art director of Marvel and its predecessor companies, Timely Comics and Atlas Comics, for two decades, had by now found the medium restrictive: [My wife] Joan was commenting about the fact that after 20 years of producing comics I was still writing television material, advertising copy and newspaper features in my spare time. She wondered why I didn't put as much effort and creativity into the comics as I seemed to be putting into my other freelance endeavors. ...[H]er little dissertation made me suddenly realize that it was time to start concentrating on what I was doing - to carve a real career for myself in the nowhere world of comic books.

Lee teamed with artist Jack Kirby to produce a groundbreaking series featuring a family of superheroes who were fallible and more naturalistically human than virtually anything seen in superhero comics to that time. Lee wrote that: For just this once, I would do the type of story I myself would enjoy reading.... And the characters would be the kind of characters I could personally relate to: they'd be flesh and blood, they'd have their faults and foibles, they'd be fallible and feisty, and - most important of all - inside their colorful, costumed booties they'd still have feet of clay.

To forestall possibly upsetting DC (which, in addition to being a competing publisher, was also the distributor of Marvel's limited line of comics), Lee and Kirby deliberately avoided making the new book look like a competing superhero comic; the new characters appeared on the cover without costumes and had no secret identities. Lee's intended swan song became unexpectedly and phenomenally successful; Lee and Kirby stayed together on the book and began launching other titles from which the vaunted "Marvel Universe" of additional interrelated titles and characters grew.

Through its creators' lengthy run, the series produced many acclaimed stories and characters that have become central to Marvel, including Doctor Doom; the Silver Surfer; Galactus; the Watcher; the The Inhumans; the Black Panther; the rival alien Kree and Skrull races; and Him, who would become Adam Warlock. As well, the daring duo of Lee & Kirby, who eventually shared credit as co-plotting collaborators, introduced such concepts as the Negative Zone and unstable molecules, two core elements of the Marvel mythos. In the book's most groundbreaking yet utterly natural development, Fantastic Four presented superhero comics' first pregnancy, culminating with the birth of a superhero family's first child, Franklin Benjamin Richards, in Fantastic Four Annual #5 (1968).

After Kirby's departure from Marvel in 1970, Fantastic Four continued with Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Marv Wolfman as its consecutive regular writers, working with artists including John Romita, Sr., John Buscema, Rich Buckler, and George Perez, with longtime inker Joe Sinnott helping to provide some visual continuity. Jim Steranko contributed a handful of covers. In the 1980s, John Byrne created what many critics call the series' best run since Lee & Kirby's. He joined the title with issue #209 (Aug. 1979), doing pencil breakdowns for Sinnott to finish. Byrne then scripted two tales as well (#220-221, July-Aug. 1980) before writer Doug Moench and penciler Bill Sienkiewicz took over for 10 issues. With issue #232 (July 1981), the aptly titled "Back to the Basics", Byrne began his celebrated run as writer, penciller, and (initially under the pseudonym Bjorn Heyn) inker. His key contribution was the modernization of the Invisible Girl into the Invisible Woman - a self-confident and dynamic character whose newfound control of her abilities made her the most powerful member of the team.

Byrne also staked bold directions in the characters' personal lives, having the married Sue and Reed Richards suffer a miscarriage, and having the Thing's longtime girlfriend, Alicia Masters, and Johnny Storm fall in love and marry. The rift brought on by the latter would linger for several years, with the Thing quitting the Fantastic Four and the She-Hulk being recruited as his long-term replacement.

Byrne was succeeded as writer by Steve Englehart, who had Reed and Sue retire to try and give their son a normal childhood. The returned Thing's new girlfriend, Sharon Ventura, and Johnny Storm's former lover, Crystal, joined the team. Sharon was quickly turned into a female "Thing", and the Thing himself further mutated, developing jagged spikes after being exposed to cosmic radiation during this roster's first mission. When writer Walt Simonson next took over the series for the next year-and-a-half, Crystal left, Sue and Reed came out of retirement, and the Thing temporarily lost his powers and reverted to his human form.

Following Simonson was Marvel editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco. DeFalco nullified the Johnny Storm-Alicia Masters relationship by retconning that the Skrull Empire had kidnapped the real Masters shortly after the start of John Byrne's scripting run and replaced her with a Skrull spy named Lyja, with whom Storm unwittingly fell in love and married. Once discovered, Lyja, who herself had fallen for Storm, helped the Fantastic Four rescue the Masters. Ventura departed after being further mutated by Doctor Doom, with whom she'd sought alliance after the Thing and Masters reconciled.

Other key developments included Franklin Richards being sent into the future and returning as a teenager; the return of Reed's time-traveling father, Nathaniel; and Reed's apparent death at the hands of an seemingly mortally wounded Doctor Doom. It would be two years before DeFalco resurrected the two characters, revealing that their seeming deaths were orchestrated by the tyrannical futuristic offspring of Rachel Summers (daughter of the X-Men Jean Grey and Cyclops) and Franklin Richards.

In 1996, the ongoing Fantastic Four series was cancelled with issue #416 and relaunched as part of the Heroes Reborn imprint which retold their first adventures in a modern setting in a parallel universe.

Following the end of that year-long experiment, Fantastic Four was relaunched with a new #1 in late 1997. Initially penciled by Alan Davis, it was written by Scott Lobdell, succeeded after three issues by Chris Claremont. Mark Waid later became the series' writer.

The title reverted to its original numbering with issue #500, with Vol. 2 (Heroes Reborn), #1-13 and Vol. 3, #1-70 considered as #417-499 of the original run.

Following Waid, J. Michael Straczynski became the writer.

Spin-offs
Marvel launched the Marvel Knights 4 spinoff Fantastic Four series in April 2004. Other spinoff titles have included the 1970s quarterly Giant-Size Fantastic Four, and the 1990s Fantastic Four Unlimited. As well, there have been numerous miniseries.

In February 2004, Marvel launched Ultimate Fantastic Four, a version of the group in the "Ultimate Marvel" alternate universe.

Character history
The Fantastic Four acquired superhuman abilities after an experimental rocket ship designed by scientist Reed Richards passed through a storm of cosmic rays on its test flight to outer space. Upon crash landing back on Earth, the four impromptu astronauts found themselves transformed and possessed of bizarre new abilities. Richards, who took the name Mr. Fantastic, was now able to stretch his body to inhuman proportions (similar to Timely Comics' Thin Man and Quality Comics' celebrated Plastic Man). His fiancée, Susan Storm, gained the ability to become invisible at will and named herself the Invisible Girl (later the Invisible Woman). She later developed the ability to project force fields, create invisible objects, and turn other objects visible or invisible. Her younger brother, Johnny Storm, possessed the incendiary powers of the Human Torch, enabling him to control fire, project burning bolts of flame from his body, and fly. Finally, pilot Ben Grimm was transformed into a monstrous, craggy humanoid with orange, plate/scale-covered skin and incredible strength/durability. Filled with anger, self-loathing and self-pity over his new existence, he dubbed himself the Thing, the term Susan used in her initial, startled reaction to his transformation.

The four characters were modeled after the four classical Greek elements: earth (The Thing), fire (The Human Torch), wind (The Invisible Girl) and water (the pliable and ductile Mr. Fantastic). They also appear to be inspired by co-creator Kirby's similarly unmasked though non-superpowered DC Comics quartet the Challengers of the Unknown.

The team of adventurers have used their fantastic abilities to protect humanity, the Earth and the universe from a number of threats. Propelled mainly by Richards' innate scientific curiosity, the team have explored space, the Negative Zone, the Microverse, other dimensions and nearly every hidden valley, nation and lost civilization on the planet.

They have had a number of headquarters, most notably the Baxter Building in New York City. The Baxter Building was replaced by Four Freedoms Plaza, built at the same location, after the Baxter Building's destruction at the hands of Kristoff Vernard, adopted son of the Fantastic Four's seminal villain (and rumored half-brother of Mr. Fantastic) Doctor Doom. Pier 4, a warehouse on the New York waterfront, served as a temporary headquarters for the group after Four Freedoms Plaza was condemned, due to the actions of another superhero team, the Thunderbolts. In the mid-2000s, an orbiting satellite version of the Baxter Building has been used.

The comic books have typically emphasized that the Fantastic Four, unlike most superhero teams, are truly a family. Three of the four members are directly related, with The Thing being the exception. Although not strictly related, The Thing's role is that of the beloved Dutch uncle, and his relationship with Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch is nonetheless quite sibling-like. The children of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards, are also regulars in the series.

Unlike most superheroes, the Fantastic Four's identities are not secret and they maintain a high public profile, enjoying celebrity status for their scientific and heroic contributions to society. Recent issues have controversially revealed that this is a deliberate move by Reed Richards, who works to keep the team highly visible and well-regarded out of guilt for causing their mutations.


 * List of Fantastic Four members

The Human Torch
Johnny Storm starred in an early Silver Age solo series beginning in Strange Tales #101 (Oct. 1962), in 12- to 14-page stories plotted by Lee and initially scripted by his brother, Larry Lieber, and drawn by penciler Kirby and inker Dick Ayers. Here Johnny was seen living with his elder sister, Susan, in fictional Glenview, Long Island, New York, where he continued to attend high school and, with youthful naivete, attempted to maintain his "secret identity". (In Strange Tales #106 (Mar. 1963), Johnny discovered that his friends and neighbors knew of his dual identity all along, from Fantastic Four news reports, but had humored him.) Supporting characters included Johnny's girlfriend, Doris Evans, usually seen only in consternation as Johnny cheerfully flew off to battle bad guys. (She was seen again in a 1970s issue of Fantastic Four, having become a heavyset but cheerful wife and mother.) Ayers took over the penciling after 10 issues, later followed by original Golden Age Human Torch creator Carl Burgos and others. The FF made occasional cameo appearances, and the Thing became a co-star with #123 (Aug. 1964).

"The Human Torch" shared the "split book" Strange Tales with fellow feature "Doctor Strange" for the majority of its run, before finally flaming off with issue #134 (July 1965), replaced the following month by "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.".

Decades later, an ongoing solo series, Human Torch, ran 12 issues (June 2003 - June 2004). This was followed by the five-issue miniseries Spider-Man/Human Torch (March-July 2005), an "untold tales" team-up arc which spanned the course of the pair's friendship.

The Thing
The "ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing", as Ben Grimm sometimes refers to himself, appeared in the team-up title Marvel Two-in-One, co-starring with Marvel heroes not only in the present day but occasionally in other time periods (fighting alongside the Liberty Legion in #20 and Doc Savage in #21, for example) and in alternate realities. The series ran 100 issues (Jan. 1974 - June 1983), with seven summer annuals (1976-1982), and was immediately followed by the solo title The Thing #1-36 (July 1983 – June 1986). Another ongoing solo series, also titled The Thing, ran eight issues (Jan.-Aug. 2006).

For a list including one-shots, miniseries, graphic novels, and trade paperback collections, see Thing bibliography.

Heroes

 * Mr. Fantastic - Reed Richards
 * ThingThe Thing - Benjamin Jacob "Ben" Grimm
 * Invisible Woman (previously Invisible Girl) - Susan Richards (née Storm)
 * The Human Torch - Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm

Temporary replacement members

 * Medusa An Inhuman who filled-in when the Invisible Girl separated from Mr. Fantastic due to marital problems.
 * Crystal An Inhuman and Johnny Storm's girlfriend at the time who left due to pollution allergies.
 * Luke Cage (Power Man) Replacement during the Thing's brief absence.
 * Nova mutant Frankie Raye. She later became herald to Galactus.
 * She-Hulk Jennifer Walters, first cousin of Bruce Banner, the Hulk, who joined as a replacement for the Thing.
 * Ms. Marvel Former professional wrestler Sharon Ventura, who gained powers and an appearance similar to the Thing's.
 * Lyja An undercover Skrull whom Johnny Storm married, believing her to be Alicia Masters.
 * Ant Man II Scott Lang, reformed thief utilizing Henry Pym's shrinking particles. He briefly joined when Reed Richards was missing and presumed dead.
 * Kristoff Doctor Doom's protege, who was mind-conditioned to behave as Doom. He was attracted to Ant Man's daughter, and joined team in last issues of the series first volume.
 * The Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Ghost Rider served as a complete replacement-Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #347 (December 1990), 348 (January 1991), and 349 (February 1991), in a storyline written by Walter Simonson and pencilled by Arthur Adams, in which they were called "The New Fantastic Four". In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, they remained in the roles more permanently.

Allies/Supporting characters
Franklin Richards (son) Valeria Richards (daughter)
 * Alicia Masters
 * The Inhumans
 * Black Bolt
 * Crystal (former FF member)
 * Medusa (former FF member)
 * Gorgon
 * Karnak
 * Triton
 * Lockjaw
 * Namor the Sub-Mariner
 * Black Panther
 * Silver Surfer
 * The Watcher
 * Postal worker Willie Lumpkin
 * Wyatt Wingfoot
 * New Avengers
 * Spider-Man
 * Daredevil

Antagonists

 * Air-Walker
 * Annihilus
 * Blastaar
 * Crucible
 * Devos the Devastator
 * Diablo
 * Doctor Doom
 * Doctor Sun
 * Dragon Man
 * Fearsome Foursome
 * Frightful Four
 * Galactus
 * Hate-Monger
 * Hydro-Man
 * Hyperstorm
 * Impossible Man
 * Kang the Conqueror/Rama-Tut/Immortus
 * Klaw
 * Mad Thinker
 * Maximus the Mad
 * Mephisto
 * Mole Man
 * Molecule Man
 * Overmind
 * Power Skrull
 * Psycho-Man
 * Puppet Master
 * Ronan the Accuser
 * Red Ghost
 * Salem's Seven
 * The Sandman
 * Skrulls
 * Super-Skrull
 * Terrax
 * Thanos
 * Thundra
 * Trapster
 * Wizard

Comic book within a comic book
See also: List of comics creators appearing in comics

Issue #10 (Jan. 1963) established the concept that the Fantastic Four (and by extension the rest of the Marvel universe) existed in the same world as Marvel Comics; the team-members, it was explained, had licensed their names and likenesses to the company, and the rights to adapt their "real-life" adventures. In this issue, Doctor Doom himself came to Marvel's Madison Avenue offices. Sharp-eyed fans would later note that this "real-world" Marvel was even more fictional than it seemed: Not only was penciler Jack Kirby working at a drawing table there, rather than at home per his wont, but the office door was labeled "Lee and Kirby" - suggesting the kind of comradely partnership fans wanted and expected.

The following issue reinforced this notion of "real-world superheroes" by having the Fantastic Four, in civilian clothes, stroll to a newstand hoping to pick up their latest comic book. This was in "A Visit with the Fantastic Four", the first of two stories in issue #11 (Feb. 1963).

The second story introduced the impish Impossible Man, who starred in writer Roy Thomas' self-referential update in Fantastic Four #176 (Nov. 1976), "Improbable As It May Seem - The Impossible Man Is Back In Town!" Here he invaded the Marvel offices demanding to have his own comic. Lee, Kirby, writer Thomas, issue artists George Perez and Joe Sinnott, and Marvel staffers Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, Marie Severin, Marv Wolfman, and John Verpoorten all made cameo appearances.

This conceit was again used in #262 (Jan. 1984), which depicted writer-artist John Byrne being asked by editor Michael Higgins for the latest issue, since it was almost late. Byrne explained he had been unable to contact the Fantastic Four for the latest story, since they were away. He was about to make up a story when the Watcher whisked him away to take part in the FF's latest adventure. At the end of the issue, Byrne submitted his story. Byrne made use of this comic-within-the-comic notion in his 1990s Sensational She-Hulk run.

Marvels Comics: Fantastic Four (2000) was a mock-up of what the comic book published in the Marvel Universe might have looked like, and was (within the fictional context of the story) produced with the official approval of "Fantastic Four, Inc."

Other media
There have been three The Fantastic Four animated TV series and two feature films (though one of the movies went unreleased, and is only available in a widely circulated bootleg). The Fantastic Four also guest-starred in the "Secret Wars" story arc of the 1990s Spider-Man animated series. There was also a very short-lived radio show in 1975 that adapted early Kirby/Lee stories, and is notable for casting a pre-Saturday Night Live Bill Murray as the Human Torch.

Animated Series

 * Fantastic Four (1967 TV series)
 * Fantastic Four (1978 TV series)
 * Fantastic Four (1994 TV series)
 * Fantastic Four (2006 TV series), a new series produced by MoonScoop, who produced Code Lyoko. It was recently announced that the show would premiere September 2nd.

Video games
In 1998 a side-scrolling video game was released for the Sony PlayStation home video game system / platform, based on the Fantastic Four characters. In the game you and a friend could pick among the Fantastic Four characters (along with the She-Hulk), and battle your way through various levels until you faced Doctor Doom. The game was widely panned by critics for having weak storyline and handling of the characters' powers.

The Fantastic Four also appeared in the Super NES and Sega Genesis video games based on the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, and inevitably, they starred in their own multi-platform games based on the 2005 movie.

The Thing and the Human Torch appeared in the 2005 game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.

The Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing will appear in the new 2006 video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance with all their respective powers. Because of their appearance there is speculation that Mr. Fantastic may be in the game aswell, thus giving players the opportunity to play as any of the Fantastic Four.

Movies


A movie adaptation of The Fantastic Four was completed in 1994 by famed b-movie director/producer Roger Corman. While this movie was never released to theaters or video, it has been made available from various bootleg video distributors. The film was made on a shoestring budget and is largely mocked by fans of the comic book foursome for what they see as poor acting and disappointing special effects (at one point, The Human Torch - played by a human actor - turns into an obvious cartoon upon "flaming-on"). It was ultimately revealed by Stan Lee that unbeknownst to the cast and crew, this movie was never intended to be released in the first place. It was only made because the studio who owned the movie rights to the Fantastic Four would have lost them if it had not begun production by a certain deadline date (a tactic known as creating an ashcan copy).

Another feature film adaptation of Fantastic Four was released July 8, 2005 by Fox, and directed by Tim Story. Fantastic Four opened in approximately 3,600 theaters and despite predominantly poor reviews grossed US$156M in North America and a total of $329M worldwide, weighed against a production budget of $100M and an officially undisclosed marketing budget. It stars Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Alba as Susan Storm/Invisible Woman, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Julian McMahon as Victor Von Dr. Doom, with Stan Lee making a cameo appearance as Willie Lumpkin, the mailman.

On October 22, 2005, Fox announced plans for a sequel, Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer, to be directed by Story and written by Don Payne, with production scheduled to begin August 2006.

Parodies and references

 * The cover of The Fantastic Four #1 has been parodied, alluded to, and paid homage to many times.


 * The animated TV series The Tick featured in several episodes a Fantastic Four parody called the Civic Minded Five, which included team members Four-Legged Man, Captain Mucilage, The Carpeted Man, Jungle Janet, and Feral Boy.


 * In DC Comics' Adventures of Superman #466, a space shuttle crew gained the powers of the Fantastic Four, but were unable to control them. The Thing and Human Torch analogues died as a result. The Mr. Fantastic analogue managed to prevent his wife from fading from existence before seeming to die himself. He would later appear as the Cyborg Superman.


 * An episode of the animated series The Venture Bros. titled "Ice Station -- Impossible!" involved a parody of the Fantastic Four (especially their costumes) but with significantly less useful versions of their powers.


 * An early episode of Batman Beyond, called "Heroes," features a trio of superheroes who closely resemble The Fantastic Four.


 * In Blade: Trinity, the character Hedge (Patton Oswalt) wears a Fantastic Four t-shirt displaying the "4" logo.


 * The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V" had a parody of the Fantastic Four, although SpongeBob's powers were a parody of The Flash and not of a Fantastic Four member.


 * The Fantastic Four's Negative Zone costume with white instead of black may have been the inspiration for the costume of Nicktoons' superhero Danny Phantom


 * The animated series The Simpsons has also poked fun at the Fantastic Four.
 * In the episode "Treehouse of Horror X", Bart and Lisa are exposed to radiation and transformed into Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl
 * In "Treehouse of Horror XIV", Bart discovers a magic stopwatch; near the end of the episode he gives it to Lisa Simpson, who presses the button repeatedly - at one point briefly turning the family into the Fantastic Four.
 * In "I Am Furious Yellow", guest-starring Stan Lee, a boy (Data) in the comic-book shop wants to buy a Batman action figure, but Stan tries to sell the boy an action figure of The Thing instead.
 * The universe of writer Kurt Busiek's various Astro City comics includes a Fantastic Four-like group called The First Family.


 * The 2004 Disney/Pixar animated feature The Incredibles is built around a family of superheroes whose powers include stretching, super strength, invisibility/force field, and, to a more briefly seen extent,Jack-jack turns into flame. dash has superspeed.) Marvel Studios chairperson Avi Arad told Entertainment Weekly that, "In the words of Stan Lee, when someone asked him about The Incredibles, he said, 'You know, it feels like I wrote it.'"


 * An episode of "The Mask" animated series featured four stones that granted the exact same powers as those of the Fantastic Four. Only the invisibility stone was used, however.


 * An episode of "Atomic Betty", featured three Betty clones possessing the powers of the Torch, Mr. Fantastic, and the Thing, including their traditional colors.


 * The Wildstorm comic series Planetary has as its main villains a group called simply The Four. They are counterparts to the Fantastic Four in many ways, mostly in their powers and in the relationships between the analogs to Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman.


 * In issues 29-30 of the 1989 Legion of Super-Heroes series, a team of four villains (Elasti-Kid 5, Ghost 6, Flare and Alloy 12) had powers based on those of the Fantastic Four.


 * In issues 50-52 of Power Pack, a quartet of Kymellian heroes called Force 4 (Teamleader, Ghostmare, Firemane and Thunderhoof) was based in powers (though Teamleader's power was only his superior intelligence, and not any variation of Mr. Fantastic's stretching power and Ghostmare's abilities was more similiar to Kitty Pryde's phasing powers) and in name (the real names of these heroes was a Pig Latin version of their Fantastic Four counterparts'. In other words; Teamleader was 'Ydrai', Firemane was 'Onijay', Thunderhoof's 'Enbé', and Ghostmane[revealed within the OHOTMU A-Z #6 Issue] was 'Oosay') on the Fantastic Four. Ghostmare was later renamed Matriarch, paralleling the Invisible Woman's role in the Fantastic Four family as well.


 * The opening of a Garfield Sunday strip parodied the opening of a FF comic book. Garfield was the Thing, Odie was Mr. Fantastic, Nermal was the Human Torch (who was trying to blow out his flaming tail), and Arlene was the Invisible Woman. The name of the comics company that turns out Garfield was placed instead of Marvel Comics, as Paws Comics Group.


 * In the Family Guy episode "Petarded", Peter Griffin refers to Fantastic Four while playing the board game Trivial Pursuit.


 * In the MC2 imprint, a team called the Fantastic Five exists. Its membership consists of the Human Torch, Ms. Fantastic (Lyja), Psi-Lord (Franklin Richards), Big Brain (a robot with the mind of Reed Richards), and the Thing (though he may be dead). Had the Fantastic Five book lasted longer, the team would have been succeeded by their superpowered offspring.


 * In Runaways Vol. 2, #1, a time-traveller refers to a future team called the Fantastic Fourteen.


 * In the PBS animated series Arthur, a daydream sequence features Buster Baxter, Arthur's best friend, emerging from a space shuttle and exhibiting the powers of the Fantastic Four (one limb streches, one bursts into flame, one turns invisible, and one turns into orange rock)


 * In the Mutants and Masterminds role-playing game's Freedom City campaign setting, both the Atom Family and the Factor Four can be considered varying interpretations of the Fantastic Four.


 * In the movie The Ice Storm, the Tobey Maguire character refers to the Fantastic Four in his narrative.


 * In an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, it was suggested that after generations of racial mixing, the people of the United States would be orange. The American of tomorrow was then portrayed as looking almost exactly like The Thing. The man (occasional cast member John Hodgman) giving the presentation shot down this idea, saying that the thing had blue eyes, while the American of the Future would have brown eyes. It would be irrelevant anyway, because they would all be enslaved by a race of cyborgs, known as "the Whites".


 * The "TV Funhouse" segment of Saturday Night Live has occasionally featured a cartoon sketch, "The X Presidents", wherein four former Presidents of the United States were given special powers from cosmic radiation while appearing at a celebrity golf tournament.


 * In May 2006, the shoe company Nike released a Fantastic Four line of styles, each based upon one of the four characters..
 * In The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius episode "The N-Men", Jimmy and his friends are on a space shuttle, inadvertently go through a gas belt, and crash land on Earth with powers partially similar that of the Fantastic Four. Jimmy is similar to the Thing, Libby to the  Invisible Woman, and Sheen and Cindy to the DC Comics characters the Flash and Wonder Woman, respectively.