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Every Member of the Fantastic Four, Ranked By Power (Not Including the Original Team)

The Fantastic Four birthed the modern Marvel Universe. They were the House of Ideas’ most important team in the Silver Age, with Mister Fantastic, the Thing, Invisible Woman, and Human Torch becoming four of the most beloved heroes on the planet. However, there was more to the Fantastic Four than just the Richards-Storm-Grimm family. Over the years, there have been numerous heroes joining the main team to replace other members. There have also been two entirely new versions of the group, each of them having a completely different roster. The original team is powerful, but if we’re being honest, the other members of the team are more powerful.

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Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben are tough, but these other members of the team are some of the most powerful people on Earth. They more than lived up to the examples of the team’s greats, saving the day regardless of who was a member. These other members of the Fantastic Four aren’t as well known for their time with the team, but they were powerful enough to battle the biggest threats in the cosmos while wearing the “4”.

10) Ant-Man II

Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Hank Pym originated the Ant-Man mantle, but would leave it behind to become Giant-Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket over the years. Scott Lang stepped into the mantle, hanging around with the Avengers and eventually became an ally of the Fantastic Four. He’d later join the secondary Fantastic Four team in FF (Vol. 2) #1-16. He could shrink and talk to ants, so he wasn’t exactly a powerhouse but he made a difference when it counted, using his size-changing powers in smart ways.

9) Black Panther

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Black Panther is the king of Wakanda and is mostly known for this time with the Avengers and the Illuminati. However, he first appeared meeting the Fantastic Four and has his own history with the team. Civil War saw Reed and Sue on separate sides, breaking the team. After the conflict, they decided to take some time off and Reed asked T’Challa and Storm, who had just married, to replace the couple. Panther was able to step into the place of the team’s big brain, but as far as powers go, he’s on the lower end. He wasn’t there to be all-powerful, though, he was there to do the thinking and he was perfect for that.

8) Wolverine

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At one point, the Fantastic Four disappeared, and four new heroes stepped up to take their place โ€“ Spider-Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine. Logan was in the phase of his career where most non-mutant heroes didn’t really like him and the team clashed over their opening mission and their later return to the team. Wolverine has survived some brutal battles, but he was the least power of the New Fantastic Four. Sure, he could survive anything thrown at him and cut through anything, but he was on a team with Hulk, Ghost Rider, and Spider-Man. He’s formidable, but he’s the proverbial coughing baby hanging out with atom bombs.

7) Medusa

Medusa in Marvel Comics
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Medusa is the current queen of the Inhumans, but she wasn’t always a member of the royal family. When she first appeared, she joined the Frightful Four, with the Wizard, Sandman, and Paste-Pot Pete. She’d leave villainy behind when she married Black Bolt and worked with the Fantastic Four several times over the years along with the Inhumans. She later became a member of the team in FF (Vol. 2), using the power to control her hair to battle the team’s enemies. Hair control isn’t the greatest power in the world, but Medusa makes it work for her.

6) She-Thing

Sharon Ventura in her She-Thing form
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Sharon Ventura started hanging around the team after she met and fell for the Thing. She’d gain superhuman strength and durability and become Ms. Marvel II, before eventually transforming into the She-Thing and fighting alongside the Fantastic Four after Thing had mutated to a rockier form. She’d later end up a member of the FF (Vol. 2) team, except she had to wear a Thing suit because she had lost her powers. With the suit on, she was the team’s muscle. While she wasn’t exactly on the Thing’s level, she was one the upper end of the strength spectrum.

5) Spider-Man

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Spider-Man is Marvel’s most relatable hero, especially when it comes to money. Peter Parker doesn’t have a lot of money and when he decided to become a superhero, he “tried” out for the Fantastic Four, hoping they would pay him to join the team. They didn’t but he became an ancillary member of the group, going on adventures with them at times. He’d end up on the team with Hulk, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider, and joined the Future Foundation after the death of the Human Torch. Spidey is mid-level when it comes to powers, but his tendency to never give up means that he punches way above his weight class.

4) She-Hulk

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She-Hulk joined the Fantastic Four in the early ’80s, taking the Thing’s place after Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. She’d end up becoming a reserve member of the group, her time with them earning her membership in the Avengers. Years later, she’d end in the FF (Vol. 2) team as well, where she was easily the most powerful member. She has the same powers as her cousin the Hulk, but she’s in better control of her anger, so it takes her longer to get stronger. She’s more than up to any challenge the Fantastic Four could throw at her.

3) Storm

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Storm is one of the greatest X-Men but the team took up all of her time. After marrying Black Panther, she took a leave of absence from the group and ended up joining the Fantastic Four with her new husband. As is tradition for the wife of the smart member of the Fantastic Four, she was the most powerful member of the team. Her ability to control the weather gives her control over electromagnetism and she has magical proclivities as well. She’s always been superlatively powerful and was the perfect person to take over for Invisible Woman.

2) Ghost Rider

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Ghost Rider is one of the last people you’d ever expect to join the Fantastic Four, but he ended up a member of the group with Hulk, Spider-Man, and Wolverine. Danny Ketch was the host of the Spirit of Vengeance at this point, using the power to battle evil in all its forms. Stan Lee once said that Ghost Rider was one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe and that makes sense. Empowered by the demonic energies of Zarathos, he has high-level super-strength and is basically indestructible by anything but powerful magical forces. Add in his magical chain, his control over hellfire, and the Penance Stare and you have one of the most powerful members of the Fantastic Four ever.

1) Hulk

Hulk using massive strength in Marvel Comics
Image courtesy of Marvel Comics

The Hulk is the strongest one there is and he’s had a long history of his own with the Fantastic Four. He fought the Thing a lot, the two of them gaining a grudging respect for the other, and he was colleagues with Reed Richards, the two of them moving in the same scientific circles at times. He’d end up a member of the New Fantastic Four twice, using his gamma-irradiated might to battle the team’s enemies. The Jade Giant has infinite power and is one of the most powerful humans, if not the most powerful humans, to ever exist. He’s the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four ever.

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