Reed Richards was one of the first characters that Marvel Comics introduced when the company formed and began making superhero comics. Reed has always been a controversial and polarizing hero because he is one of the most intelligent characters in the Marvel Universe, but also one of the most arrogant and off-putting. He constantly talks down to people, including his own wife, and lets anyone around him know that he knows the best in almost every situation, even if he is wrong. However, this has also made him someone who has caused almost as many problems as he has solved in his life as a Marvel hero.
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From the original Earth-616 version to some of his more problematic variants, here is a look at the worst versions of Reed Richards, ranked by their threat level.
7) Reed Richards (Earth-616)
Reed Richards has been part of some terrible decisions over his time as a hero in Marvel Comics. He has done some despicable things, including agreeing to help send the Hulk to Sakaar, inadvertently causing the Secret Invasion event, standing by and allowing Captain America to have his mind wiped, and hiding the existence of the Incursions until it was too late to save the Earth. That was all just as part of his role in the Illuminati.
During the Civil War storyline, he created a prison in the Negative Zone for superheroes who refused to register. In fact, it was Reed who opened the Negative Zone to the universe, which caused Annihilation to break through and kill billions of people. Reed Richards has done a lot in the name of science that backfired, and he is one of the most dangerous heroes in Marvel Comics.
6) The Brute
Bruite is Reed Richards on Counter-Earth, which the High Evolutionary created. This Reed Richards variant is similar to the Earth-616 counterpart, but when he was in the space accident, things ended up going very differently. Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm suffered minor injuries, and Sue Storm was in a coma for several years. However, Reed Richards was the only person mutated this time by the cosmic rays.
Instead of gaining stretching powers, he became almost a werewolf-type character. Every time there was a full moon, he would transform into a large purple creature known as Brute. Thanks to his high intelligence, Reed figured out how to control the transformation and soon was able to change at will. While Man-Beast tried to control him, Brute hungered for more cosmic power and turned evil when he gained it. He has Reed’s intelligence and strength, similar to The Thing. He is also manipulative and traveled to Earth-1123, where he became the President of the United States.
5) The Dark Raider
The Dark Raider is Reed Richards from Earth-0944, and he suffered the greatest tragedy of almost any Reed variant. Galactus consumed his Earth, and he blamed himself. The big difference on this Earth is that Watcher sent Reed Richards to get the Ultimate Nullifier from the Worldship of Galactus instead of the Human Torch. On Earth-616, Torch found it and came right back, but Reed started examining other weapons instead and took too long to return, allowing Galactus to consume the Earth.
One of Galactus’s weapons exploded in Reed’s face, scarring him, and he returned to Earth to see that he was too late. He accepted full blame for the failure and decided to punish himself by traveling throughout the multiverse and killing every variant of himself to make up for it. He killed at least four known Reed Richards before he finally fell in defeat on Earth-616.
4) Reed Richards (Zombie)
Reed Richards is already deadly because of his immense intelligence. However, in the Marvel Zombies world, the heroes and villains maintain their intelligence and gain a bloodlust as zombies. To make Reed Richards even scarier, he and his family are also connected mentally to the Galacti, which gives them cosmic powers as well. It is terrifying.
It was Reed Richards who tricked his Ultimate Universe counterpart into opening a portal that allowed the zombies to get through and start feeding there. In Marvel Zombies: Resurrection, he and his wife, Susan, fought to get Franklin to them so they could turn him and gain his cosmic powers to conquer the universe. This Reed is not only deadly, but he is also one of the most corrupt zombie heroes.
3) Alpha (Earth-12498)
Alpha is the Reed Richards from Earth-12498. He is a deadly and terrifying variant because he is one of the three Reed Richards who founded the Interdimensional Council of Reeds, and all three of them had their own Infinity Gauntlet, fully loaded. He survived when the Mad Celestials attacked the Council and annihilated it, and he showed up on Earth-616 to start the War of Four Cities.
This Reed Richards became close to the Reed from Earth-616, as he tried to convince him to join after the 616 Reed built the Bridge to travel the multiverse. He was extremely powerful and even captured Doctor Doom and worked with the Earth-616 version of Nathaniel Richards to take the attack to the Mad Celestials. While he died in battle with the Celestial, it doesn’t take away from his importance and power in the multiverse.
2) Doom (Earth-20208)
Earth-20208 is one of the Earths that Immportus removed from the timeline to banish to the Null-Time Zone. As the Earth began to suffer from entropy and was slowly dying, Reed Richards took it upon himself to save the planet. Reed knew he had to sacrifice himself to save Earth, so he replaced his eyes with the Time and Reality Stones so he could exert his will on the timeline.
This drove Reed insane, and he began to use his powers to destroy anyone who stood in his way. He killed Celestials so he could drink their blood and absorb their power. He even threatened the main timeline, trying to save his own world, but he ended up falling in battle with Kang, who arrived with Anatoly Petrov, a regular man who shocked Kang by killing Reed. Despite this, it was only a surprise attack that fell this deadly Reed Richards variant.
1) The Maker
The deadliest Reed Richards by pure threat levels is the Ultimate Universe version, also known as the Maker. He started off as a hero, as he did on Earth-616, but his arrogance here was too great, and he soon pushed away his family in the Fantastic Four. When Susan Storm chose Ben Grimm over Reed, it pushed him over the edge, and he ended up as one of the most dangerous villains on Earth-1610.
He started the Children of Tomorrow and used them in an all-out attack that destroyed Asgard. Reed ended up having all his atoms scattered across the multiverse, but he soon was reborn and created his new Ultimates reality, known as Earth-6160, and became the god of that world.
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