Marvel’s Fantastic Four are about to embark on a dangerous mission to save their dying powers. Things haven’t been going so well for the Fantastic Four ever since Doctor Doom took over the world. When the FF and Avengers confronted Doom, it resulted in Ben Grimm/The Thing being stripped of his powers. Ever since then, the rest of the Fantastic Four have been losing their powers as well. Every attempt to rectify the situation has failed. However, there may be hope in the past, but the risk of survival remains slim. As Marvel ends one run of Fantastic Four, a new journey awaits.
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Marvel released a preview of Fantastic Four #33 by Ryan North, Cory Smith, Wayne Faucher, Jesus Aburtov, and VC’s Joe Caramagna. The preview begins with Valeria Richards, the genius daughter of Reed and Sue, going over her plan with the family. In the background is H.E.R.B.I.E., a Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-Type, Integrated Electronics. Cosmic rays gave the Fantastic Four their powers, and they’ve tried to harvest this energy from other universes, but failed. However, Valeria thinks they can go back in time to the Big Bang to get the rays they need.
Harvesting the Big Bang means going back to four hundred and thirty-six quadrillion seconds ago, to the start of everything, to expose Ben to cosmic rays. Meanwhile, since H.E.R.B.I.E. helps the Fantastic Four, and since the Fantastic Four help the world, it means H.E.R.B.I.E. is also assisting the world. Reed doesn’t think this is a smart plan and objects. He says that anything at the start of the Big Bang would be eradicated within seconds of arrival. Valeria is aware of this, so she plans to only stay there for nanoseconds.
She wants to time-travel back to the Big Bang just long enough to expose Ben to cosmic rays, and then go back home. It’s actually safer for history than going to their origin, since there are comparatively fewer cosmic rays carrying far too much historical weight. Sue backs up Valeria’s plan, and still has some power left to shield them with a force field. And Johnny can absorb as much heat as he can. It’s like Reed always says, they have to try.
Of course, Marvel is only ending this volume of Fantastic Four. A new Fantastic Four #1 is launching in July by Ryan North and Humberto Ramos, just in time for the theatrical release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It takes place during One World Under Doom and sends Marvel’s First Family back to different eras in the past. Their only chance to get back home is to retrieve the Forever Stone, a piece of granite that is one of Earth’s longest-lasting rocks. It also has the distinction of being accessible in every time period, and a convenient MacGuffin for a time travel story.
“But as much as this first story involves dinosaurs and time travel, it’s really about these four remarkable people and the depth of love they have for each other,” North told The Hollywood Reporter. “People often think of the FF in terms of family, and they’re not wrong, but I think there’s something really beautiful about friendship too, and we get to see that with these characters. It’s high-concept science fiction with real emotion. What’s not to like?”
Humberto Ramos added, “I’ve been lucky to illustrate many of the most iconic superheroes in the universe, but this book felt different from the start. The weight of history and legacy of these characters lay upon your shoulders, no matter who you are or how you’ve worked in this industry.”
The description of Fantastic Four #33 reads, “FANTASTIC ZERO! It all comes down to this! Thirty-three issues of fantastic adventure culminate in a final stirring adventure, back to the beginning… of EVERYTHING. When the solution to what Doom did to Ben can only be found in the past, the Fantastic Four must voyage back four hundred and thirty-six quadrillion seconds into the Big Bang! Of course, the tremendous energies there make it unsurvivable — unless H.E.R.B.I.E. is in control of the precise timing required. Action, adventure, and big ideas collide in this special final issue — which leads into our even more special new #1 issue, coming next month!”
Fantastic Four #33 goes on sale Wednesday, June 25th.
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(Photo by Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
