From his inception, Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, was always a solo hero. While he has many close relationships with other superheroes, including other spider-people, he tends to work alone when crimefighting. However, on March 23, 2011, the Web-Head was finally welcomed into one of Marvel Comics‘ greatest superhero teams: the Fantastic Four. After the tragic death of Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, Marvel’s First Family went in a bold new direction, becoming known as the Future Foundation. And although the rebranding and Spider-Man’s introduction into the team marked the beginning of a new chapter for the Fantastic Four, it also paid off on what Marvel had been teasing for 50 years.
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Johnny Storm met a very tragic end during the finale of the critically acclaimed Fantastic Four storyline “Three.” While in the Negative Zone, to save his family from the approaching Annihilation Wave armada, Johnny makes the ultimate sacrifice by staying behind to let the Fantastic Four escape. Understandably, Johnny’s death shakes the surviving Fantastic Four members to their cores. However, before his death, Johnny had left a message regarding who he felt would be the best candidate to replace him if he were to perish: his close friend, Spider-Man.
Spider-Man’s Recruitment Marked a Significant Change for the Fantastic Four
The new age of the Fantastic Four, along with Spider-Man’s membership, began in FF #1. Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, first conceived the Future Foundation when his time-travelling father, Nathanial Richards, arrived in the present with information about the future. With his father’s help, Reed founded the Future Foundation. The purpose of this new team was to bring together the world’s best and brightest to advance humanity. In addition to the remaining Fantastic Four members, many other geniuses were recruited, from child prodigies like Zero G to maniacal supervillains like Doctor Doom. And of course, Spider-Man was offered a position on the team and was given an awesome white suit to match the rest of the Future Foundation.
Spider-Man was the first adult recruit of the Future Foundation and essentially took over the role once filled by Johnny as the team’s witty comic relief. Spider-Man also is no slouch in the brains department. He iconically developed all his own gadgets like the web-shooters and has worked at major technological corporations like Horizon Labs. He also has a history of educating children as a science teacher and training young heroes in the art of crimefighting. With all this on his resume, it’s no wonder that he was chosen to join the Future Foundation’s mission of pushing scientific innovation forward by teaching and inspiring the next generation of geniuses.
Naturally, in FF #1, Spider-Man had a bit of trouble adapting to the new status quo. On top of joining a superhero team after spending most of his crimefighting career as an independent hero, Spider-Man had to deal with the consequences of essentially replacing Johnny. Although no one was angry at Spider-Man for taking the position, the pain felt by Fantastic Four members like the Thing, Invisible Woman, and Franklin Richards was still very raw. Even as they were trying to cope and move forward with their lives, the loss of Johnny still weighed heavily on them and affected their actions and relationships. Still, Spider-Man quickly fell into his new role and became a welcome addition to the team thanks to his brilliance, wit, empathy, and kindness.
Spider-Man would go on to have many adventures with the Future Foundation, as a teacher and as a valuable member in the field. Together, Spider-Man and the Future Foundation would battle villains like A.I.M. and the Kree, while also developing scientific innovations. Naturally, when Johnny eventually came back to life and the Fantastic Four returned to their original brand, Spider-Man left the team. Spider-Man’s time with the team lasted only one or two years, but it was a fun and welcome development for both the Wall-Crawler and Marvel’s First Family that provided a lot of great comedy and drama.
Spider-Man Has Always Had a Close Relationship with the Fantastic Four
Spider-Man’s history with the Fantastic Four is almost as old as the character himself. In 1962’s The Amazing Spider-Man #1, the Web-Head infiltrated the Baxter Building so that he could join the team. In a bout of logical incoherence, Spider-Man thought that the best way to show the Fantastic Four why it should recruit him was by attacking it. Even though the Wall-Crawler was outnumbered four to one, he managed to use his super strength, agility, and Web-Shooters to take down each member of the Fantastic Four. However, once Spider-Man learned that the Fantastic Four didn’t pay their members, he immediately bolted. Although Spider-Man didn’t make the best first impression, he became a longtime friend of the Fantastic Four.
Throughout the decades, Spider-Man has always turned to the Fantastic Four whenever he’s trying to solve scientific mysteries. Examples include when he received the Venom Symbiote or when Aunt May had a bomb placed in her neck by the Green Goblin. Out of all the Fantastic Four members, the Web-Head has always had the closest relationship with Johnny. Given their similar propensities for engaging in childish jokes, Spider-Man and Johnny would often butt heads and play pranks on each other. Over time, the two would become good friends and even have their own Spider-Man/Human Torch miniseries. As one of the most iconic bromances in Marvel, it’s no wonder that Johnny trusted Spider-Man to look after his family.
Johnny isn’t the only member of the Fantastic Four with whom Spider-Man has a deep connection. Spider-Man and Reed naturally have a great sense of camaraderie thanks to their shared love of science. Suan Storm, aka Invisible Woman, is always the first member of the Fantastic Four to offer Spider-Man words of wisdom. The Wall-Crawler and Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, have always been good buddies and have great chemistry together. Spider-Man even has close bonds with Reed and Susan’s kids. He comforted Franklin over the loss of his uncle Johnny. Spider-Man has always been the first hero the Fantastic Four call whenever they need assistance, and the Web-Head’s recruitment into the Future Foundation was the culmination of their over 50-year-long dynamic.
Marvel Teased Spider-Man Joining the Fantastic Four for Decades
As seen by Spider-Man’s very first solo comic, Marvel has always been teasing the idea of the Wall-Crawler joining the Fantastic Four. However, numerous other heroes, such as She-Hulk, Crystal, and Luke Cage, were official members long before Spider-Man joined. Still, there have been several instances in which Marvel has pushed the idea of Spider-Man as a perfect addition to the Fantastic Four, both in alternate universes and on offshoot teams.
The iconic What If…? series, which explored parallel worlds, was the first time Marvel had Spider-Man becoming an official member of the Fantastic Four. The comic’s very first issue was “What if Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four?”, which takes place in a universe where the events of The Amazing Spider-Man #1 play out differently. On Earth-772, the Fantastic Four are amazed by the Wall-Crawler’s skills and happily recruit him. Changing their name to the Fantastic Five, the group fights all manner of villains, including the Vulture and Namor. And while things ultimately end up badly with the entire team breaking up due to interpersonal conflict, the concept itself was such a major hit that it jump-started the success of the What If…? series.
Even in the main Earth-616 universe, Spider-Man had joined a bizarre offshoot of Marvel’s First Family with an entirely original roster. In 1961, a Skrull had kidnapped the original Fantastic Four and disguised herself as Susan Storm. To acquire a powerful device from the Mole Man, the Skrull assembled a new Fantastic Four to do unknowingly her dirty work. Dubbed the New Fantastic Four, this team’s roster was the Hulk, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and Spider-Man. Given their characters, the New Fantastic Four’s teamwork was spotty at best. Still, the team eventually uncovered the Skrull’s deception and saved the original Fantastic Four. With the much more iconic and functional Fantastic Four back, there was no reason for Spider-Man’s crew to stick together so they disbanded, much to their own relief.
For decades, the New Fantastic Four was the closest the main universe Spider-Man had ever come to joining the beloved superhero team. Still, with his long history and deep connections with every member, Spider-Man had always been an unofficial fifth member of Marvel’s First Family. What separated FF #1 from Marvel’s other attempts to have Spider-Man join the Fantastic Four was that it was the first time that the original team fully acknowledged him as a member of their family. From their introduction, the Fantastic Four have always been a family first, and a superhero team second. Spider-Man was welcomed into this tightly knit and loving family of which he’s always shared a close bond to. After 50 years of teasing this team-up, Spider-Man was finally where he belonged.
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