You thought the Fantastic Four had their powers permanently? Think again.
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00:00Now, despite the Fantastic Four's clear importance on the comic book history, there
00:04are still a lot of details the readers get wrong about the iconic quartet. Contrary to
00:09popular belief, the leader, Reed Richards, isn't the world's smartest superhero.
00:13The Thing isn't the strongest team member, and the group didn't receive their powers
00:17accidentally. Confused? Well, let's have a chat, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:21and these are 10 Lies You Always Believed About The Fantastic Four.
00:26The Fantastic Four Are Marvel's First Superheroes
00:29In August 1961, Marvel Comics published Fantastic Four Number One, making them the first Marvel
00:35superheroes, right? Well, at least that's what many people believe. Contrary to popular
00:39belief, Marvel wasn't created in the 1960s. The company was formed in 1939, only one year
00:45after Superman officially debuted. At the time, the company was called Timely Comics.
00:49But unlike DC Comics, this incarnation of Marvel didn't focus on superhero stories
00:54and instead had a plethora of diverse series, including mystery, horror, and romance. But
00:59when the company decided to focus on superheroes, they rebooted under the name Marvel Comics,
01:04in the 1960s. Although the Fantastic Four were the first superheroes under this banner,
01:08there were many other iconic characters long before, including Namor the Sub-Mariner, Citizen
01:13V, The Original Vision, Hellcat, Bucky, and of course, Captain America.
01:17Number Nine. The Fantastic Four Got Their Powers Accidentally
01:21Reed Richard, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm obtained their powers after being
01:25struck by cosmic rays whilst in space. This incident transformed them into Mr. Fantastic,
01:30the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and The Thing, respectively. For the longest time,
01:34the team assumed that this encounter was a freak accident. But in Fantastic Four Volume
01:396, Number 14, they discovered that this wasn't actually the case. On that fateful day, Reed
01:44and his company ventured to space, hoping to find an Earth-like planet. However, an
01:48entity called Overseer learned of Reed's voyage and deduced his ship would eventually
01:52arrive on his world, Spire. Terrified that the four explorers' arrival would jeopardize
01:56his harmonious society, Overseer blasted the ship with cosmic rays, forcing it to return
02:01to Earth. As a result, Overseer is indirectly responsible for creating the Fantastic Four.
02:07Weirdly, this revelation contradicts Fantastic Four Number 530, when an entity called The
02:11Entity told the Fantastic Four that he created the cosmic rays that struck their ship. The
02:16Entity claims that the rays served as a beacon to help him find others who sought the secrets
02:20of the universe. It's not certain if the Overseer story is a retcon, or the creative
02:24team just forgot about The Entity's backstory, but either way, those cosmic rays were deliberately
02:29intended.
02:30Number 8. The Fantastic Four are the first Marvel Super Team
02:33Even though the Fantastic Four are known as Marvel's first family, this nickname is
02:37highly debatable. The first team to exist in the Marvel Universe chronologically was
02:41Avengers 1,000,000 BC, which was forged in, well, you can probably guess, comprised of
02:45Odin, Lady Phoenix, the original Black Panther, Agamotto, Iron Fist, and the first Ghost Rider,
02:50the heroes united to defeat a mad celestial who invaded the world.
02:54So okay, the Fantastic Four might not have been the first heroes to band together, but
02:57surely they're the first super team in the modern world, right? Nope, because the first
03:00team to appear in a Marvel series was the All-Winners Squad in 1946. This team was composed
03:06of Namor, Bucky, the Fred Davis version, the robotic human Torch, Toro, Miss America, Whizzer,
03:11and Captain America.
03:13But in 1969, it was revealed that the original Cap, Steve Rogers, formed a team called the
03:17Invaders in the early 1940s, making them the first superhero team of the 20th century.
03:23So depending on how you phrase it, the first Marvel Super Team was either Avengers 1,000,000
03:27BC, the Invaders, or the All-Winners Squad. But one thing is for certain, it wasn't
03:31the Fantastic Four.
03:32Number 7. Their powers are permanent
03:35Since Reed Richards and Sue Storm are scientists, they understand their powers on a microscopic
03:40and quantum level. Not only does this help the Fantastic Four learn how their powers
03:44work, but it also helps them discover new ways to utilise their abilities. Even though
03:47Reed and Sue have analysed their superpowers for years now, there's one thing that they
03:51never realised until quite recently, that their abilities only work if the Fantastic
03:55Four are in constant contact. After Reed and Sue vanished for several months, Ben and Johnny
04:00noticed that their powers were kind of on the fritz.
04:03After being analysed by a superhero scientist, which is a pretty standard job in the world
04:06of comics, Ben and Johnny discover that their abilities are tethered together, meaning that
04:10they only function when all four members are in proximity to one another. If any one of
04:15them is separated from the rest of the group for an extended period of time, the Fantastic
04:19Four can lose their abilities forever. Even though the team had their powers for years,
04:23they never knew this until recently, since they were never away from each other for longer
04:26than a couple of weeks.
04:28Number 6. The Thing can never revert to human form
04:31Despite the Fantastic Four's happy-go-lucky demeanour, the Thing has earned quite the
04:35reputation as one of Marvel's most tragic superheroes. Although the orange hide covering
04:39his body empowered him with super strength and durability, Ben Grimm can't help but
04:43feel like a bit of a monster. Despite Reed Richards' best efforts to help his friend,
04:47he's never been able to permanently reverse Ben's transformation.
04:50But that doesn't mean that Ben has never reverted to his original appearance. In the
04:53second issue, Ben briefly turned to normal after being exposed once more to the cosmic
04:57rays, and Reed has performed a series of experiments to allow Ben to experience normality for a
05:02couple of hours or days. When he was exposed to a batch of radioactive material, he actually
05:06lost his rocky exterior for several months. More recently, the Future Foundation invented
05:11a gadget that can revert Ben to normal for one week every year. When Reed travelled 3,000
05:15years into the future, he discovered that Ben was still alive, proving that he doesn't
05:19age while in his rocky form. Even though Ben used this gadget to revert to human form many,
05:24many times over the millennia, this story proved that Reed never found a way to permanently
05:28cure his friend.
05:295. Johnny Storm is a bit of an idiot
05:32Johnny Storm is known for being the brash and impulsive member of the Fantastic Four.
05:36He may be loyal to his family, to a fault, but is regularly scolded for his immaturity
05:40and propensity to stir trouble. Because he tends to recklessly jump into danger without
05:45a second thought, it's no surprise that he's constantly accused of being an idiot.
05:48And when his sister and best friend are amongst the smartest people in the world, this accusation
05:52seems to have some merit to it. Johnny may not be a scientist, but that doesn't make
05:56him an imbecile. Since his teenage years, he's been able to fix or drive any vehicle.
06:00In fact, his aptitude for driving at phenomenal speeds is what led him to earn a place on
06:05the space program. Although the higher-ups at NASA were certain that he would flunk the
06:08test since he was only 16 years old, Johnny succeeded with flying colors, becoming the
06:12youngest space pilot in history. He may not be able to split an atom or make an equation
06:17gain sentience like Reed Richards did, but that doesn't mean Johnny Storm is a moron.
06:214. Reed Richards is the world's smartest person
06:25There is no room for doubt that the Fantastic Four's leader, Reed Richards, is one of
06:28the most brilliant minds on Earth. He's patented over a thousand inventions, created
06:33a quantum calculator, and figured out how to turn urine into drinking water. He was
06:37terribly proud of that discovery. When he was labelled as the world's smartest person,
06:41no one seems to have contested it, save for Doctor Doom.
06:44And he may be one of the greatest geniuses to ever live, but that doesn't mean that
06:47Reed is the top dog. The cosmic radiation in Reed's DNA was passed on to his daughter,
06:52Valeria, granting her with intelligence that exceeded his own by the time she was two years
06:56old. But guess what? Valeria isn't the biggest brain box either. When renowned scientist
07:01and occasional Hulk, Amadeus Cho, performed an intelligence test on the superheroine Lunella
07:06Lafayette in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 12, he was astounded to learn her genius exceeded
07:11everyone else's on the planet, including Bruce Banner, Hank Pym, and, of course, Reed
07:15Richards.
07:16Now, technically, Reed is still the world's smartest, but that's only because the people
07:19cleverer than him are actually children.
07:22Their nemesis, Doctor Doom, has never shown his disfigured face
07:25While the Fantastic Four's arch-enemy, Victor Von Doom, was in college, an experimental
07:30machine blew up in his face, scarring him permanently. He was so horrified by his deformed
07:34appearance, Doom has worn a metal mask ever since. Anytime the Latvian monarch takes his
07:39mask off, his face is obscured in some way, enticing readers to speculate upon his appearance.
07:44However, readers forget that we actually saw Doom's face immediately after the accident
07:48in Fantastic Four number 278. In this issue, we can see the burns that the egomaniacal
07:53dictator suffered were nowhere near as bad as one would presume. Unfortunately, Doom
07:56was so narcissistic, he ordered his followers to seal a metallic face over his head before
08:01it cooled, charring his face beyond recognition.
08:04In the 2015 saga Secret Wars, Doom unmasked himself to Susan Storm, revealing that the
08:08burns on his face had become so severe, his nose had rotted away. Although his appearance
08:13was healed in the story's conclusion, he was scarred again soon after. In Christopher
08:17Cantwell's miniseries Doctor Doom, Victor seemed to embrace his appearance for once,
08:21since he showed off his face to multiple people, including Morgana Le Fay and Kang the Conqueror.
08:262. The Thing is the strongest Fantastic Four member
08:30For a superhero team to work, each member needs to have a purpose. In the Fantastic
08:33Four, Reed is the big brain, Sue uses force fields to protect her teammates, and Johnny
08:37can move at super speed. And since Ben Grimm's skin, bones, and organs are layered in rock,
08:42you'd assume that he's the muscle. After all, the ever-loving blue-eyed Thing has gone
08:45toe-to-toe with the Incredible Hulk and lived to tell the tale. He's even defeated the
08:49Jade Giant once or twice.
08:51But for all of Ben's powers, Susan Storm is arguably stronger. Because she has the
08:55ability to create psionic shields, Sue is only limited by her imagination. Hypothetically,
09:00she can create a micro force field in a person's heart or brain, killing them instantly. She's
09:05said that she can easily take down the Hulk by creating a force field in his lungs and
09:08then expanding it to the size of a football stadium. She's so powerful that she's
09:12fought Iron Man, Captain America, Falcon, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Iron Fist, Spider
09:16Woman, and the Hulk at the same time, and won. It may be dangerous to face Ben in combat,
09:22but it is a sure death to go up against Susan Storm.
09:241. Why Herbie Was Created
09:27In 1967, Hanna-Barbera Productions released the first animated series of the Fantastic
09:32Four. Ten years after the series concluded, NBC created their own show based on the Marvel
09:36characters, which is better known as the New Fantastic Four. But viewers were confused
09:40by the cartoons, since the Human Torch had been replaced by a comic relief robot called
09:44Herbie.
09:45Naturally, fans assumed the studio removed Johnny Storm because they were worried younger
09:49viewers could start fires, attempting to replicate the exploits of the flame-creating superhero.
09:53Although this rumor has persisted for decades and has appeared on dozens of random-fact
09:57websites, it is completely untrue. During the 1970s, Marvel licensed the Human Torch
10:02to Universal, hoping to have a live-action film or TV series that centered around the
10:07character. During this time, Johnny wasn't allowed to appear in other mediums, including
10:10the 1978 cartoon. So there you go, the real reason that Johnny was absent from the show
10:14was due to a legal issue.
10:16This inconvenience seemed to work out in the long run, though, since Herbie became such
10:20a popular figure, he made the jump into comics one year later and has become a valuable member
10:24to the Fantastic Four ever since.
10:25And there we go, my friends, those were 10 Lies You Always Believed About The Fantastic
10:29Four. I hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down
10:32in the comments section below. As always, I've been Jules, you can go follow me over
10:35on Twitter at RetroJWithA0, or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice, where I do all of
10:40my streaming outside of work, and it'd be great to see you over there, my friends. But
10:43before I go, I want to end things on a bit of a positive note, a fantastic note, considering
10:47the subject of this list, and that is just to make sure that you're treating yourself
10:50with love and respect, my friend, because you are a massive ledge. And don't let anyone
10:54or anything else tell you otherwise, alright? I'm going to go up there and smash it like
10:57it is, god damn clobberin' time. As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome,
11:02never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.