7 Best Alternate Versions of the Fantastic Four

Known as Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four is one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic superhero teams. As a superpowered family that primarily focuses on exploring the unknown, it’s no big surprise that alternate versions of the Fantastic Four can be found on numerous worlds across the multiverse. Many Marvel Comics’ stories about the multiverse center on Fantastic Four variants with different origins and rosters. Even the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Fantastic Four: First Steps depicts a version of the team that lives in a retro-futuristic parallel universe. The multiverse offers many unique and compelling variants of the Fantastic Four, and these are the best of the best.

In the main Earth-616 universe, the Fantastic Four’s roster of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing includes some of the most beloved characters in Marvel Comics history. Marvel has offered many interesting reimaginings of this team.

7) Megascale Metatalent Response Team Fantastic Four

Earth-2301, also known as the Mangaverse, is a bizarre universe where versions of familiar Marvel characters are given new designs and origins based on the styles and tropes of Japanese Manga. In this universe, four scientists, Reed Richards, Sioux, Jonatha Storm, and Ben Grimm, were caught in a catastrophic lab accident that gave them powers. Reed could alter his brain structure to get smarter, Sioux could make force fields, Jonatha could cover herself in burning plasma, and Ben gained geokinetic powers. Together, they became the Megascale Metatalent Response Team Fantastic Four and protect the world from all extraterrestrial threats. It’s this type of creative, over-the-top reimagining that makes the Mangaverse so fun and unique.

6) Four Fantastics

Despite being the archnemesis of the Fantastic Four in most universes, on Earth-187319, not only is Doctor Doom the leader of Marvel’s First Family, but it also helps him rule the planet with an iron fist. Although the Four Fantastics initially portray themselves as heroes, it’s eventually revealed that Victor Von Doom used genetic engineering to make it so everyone on Earth was subservient to his will. In addition to Invisible Woman and Human Torch, Doom’s Four Fantastics team includes the Hulk. Heroes like She-Hulk who resist the Four Fantastics are brainwashed and are added to Doom’s forces. The universe of the Four Fantastics is a terrifying look into a world where Doom uses their gifts to dominate rather than save it.

5) Fantastic Five

When Marvel Comics began its What If…? series that investigated parallel universes, their introductory tale was “What if Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four?” As the name suggests, on Earth-772, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man joins the Fantastic Four when they first met back in The Amazing Spider-Man #1. Now known as the Fantastic Five, the Wallcrawler becomes a welcome addition to the team as he helps them more easily take down villains like the Vulture and Red Ghost. Although it rarely appears now, the original Fantastic Five showed the potential of the What If…? series and paved the way for many more engaging storylines across the multiverse.

4) Fantastic Force

The new Ultimate Universe, dubbed Earth-6160, was created by an evil Mr. Fantastic variant known as the Maker. To ensure his dominion over this world, the Maker made it so that many heroes never got their powers, including the Fantastic Four. After setting up the deaths of Susan, Johnny, and Ben, the Maker tortured the powerless Reed until he became his servant Doom. However, Doom rebelled against the Maker and worked with the revolutionary group the Ultimates to create a new Fantastic Four. Through experimentation, Doom empowered dozens of individuals and split them into groups of four. Collectively known as the Fantastic Force, the team with its wide array of abilities acts as the Ultimates’ army. Its members also help Doom heal from the trauma of losing his friends.

3) Ultimate Fantastic Four

The original Earth-1610 Ultimate Universe was one of Marvel’s most successful projects because of its dark and compelling reinterpretations of its characters. Even the campy Fantastic Four underwent a drastic revision. In this universe, Reed was working on a teleportation device that would let people travel to the dimension known as the N-Zone. However, Victor Van Damme tampered with the calculations. This sabotage led to the Fantastic Four and Victor being transported to the N-Zone and returning heavily mutated. The Ultimate Fantastic Four offered an engaging modernization of Marvel’s First Family. And of course, this version of Mr. Fantastic would go on to become the iconic and menacing multiversal villain, the Maker.

2) The End Fantastic Four

In a multiverse with countless grim dystopias, the universe of Fantastic Four: The End offers a world where Marvel’s First Family creates a utopia. After a catastrophic war on Earth-71166, the Fantastic Four use its scientific genius not only to rebuild the world but also to make it better. With its technology, the Fantastic Four ends all crime and helps humanity colonize the rest of the solar system. However, the grief from the apparent death of Franklin and Valeria causes the Fantastic Four to break up. Eventually, the team gets back together when it discovers that the kids are alive and goes to rescue them. This version of the Fantastic Four presents the team’s unlimited potential to advance humanity.

1) MC2 Fantastic Five

On Earth-982, aka MC2, the heroes of Marvel Comics pass their mantles onto the next generation. Another incarnation of the Fantastic Five, this version sees many familiar faces undergo drastic changes. In this future, Human Torch became the leader of the Fantastic Five. He’s joined by his Skrull wife Lyjia, a cyborg Thing, a teenage Franklin Richards called Psi-Lord, and the brain of Mr. Fantastic, which now resides in a flying robot body and goes by the name Big Brain. Over time, the team expands to include Invisible Woman, Johnny and Lyjia’s son Torus, and Doctor Doom’s adoptive son Kristoff. The Fantastic Five are a compelling team who symbolizes the unlimited potential the future holds for Marvel’s First Family.

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