The Fantastic Four are doomed. When Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm were exposed to cosmic rays during an experimental space flight in 1961’s Fantastic Four #1, Marvel’s First Family of superheroes was born: Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing. But now the core four will be down to two as the ongoing Fantastic Four comic run by writer Ryan North and artist Cory Smith is impacted by One World Under Doom.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Marvel has been teasing that the Fantastic Four will suffer a brutal defeat at the hands of their archnemesis Doctor Doom in One World Under Doom #2. Now that he’s taken on the mantle of Earth’s new superior Sorcerer Supreme, Doom will use his newfound powers to depower the Fantastic Four โ one member at a time.
Fantastic Four #30 reveals the aftermath of One World Under Doom #2, in which Emperor Doom mystically strips the Thing of his powers. Renamed the Fantastic Three, the former foursome will then be rechristened the Fantastic Two in April’s Fantastic Four #31 as Reed and Sue attempt to recreate the cosmic storm that granted the four their powers. See the solicitations below.

RELATED: One World Under Doom, Explained: How Doctor Doom Became Marvelโs New Superior Sorcerer Supreme
“I wrote Issue #7 of Fantastic Four as a Doctor Doom story and I think we started talking about it after that. Itโs something thatโs been in my head for years and years,” North told ComicBook ahead of the nine-issue event series (on sale Feb. 12). “Part of me almost thinks you need a big event like this whenever you have Reed and Doctor Doom in the same room because they are such opposites, but also so much like each other. And neither of them will ever admit it. Itโs such a fun dynamic.”
“What happens in this One World Under Doom event affects the Marvel Universe for the next 10 months, the rest of the year,” North teased. “That obviously touches what goes on in Fantastic Four. There are a lot of one-shot stories and one-and-dones under this status quo of, ‘Doom is in charge. What are we going to do about it?’”
Four No More? A History of the Fantastic Four Three

The core four have all left the team at one point, and even Doom has joined their ranks when the Fantastic Four expanded with the Future Foundation. Crystal of the Inhumans temporarily joined the team while Sue was on maternity leave (in Fantastic Four #81), and another of the Inhumans, Medusa, replaced Sue when she took a leave of absence (in FF #130-159). Luke Cage, a.k.a. Power Man, briefly replaced the Thing when Ben temporarily lost his powers (in FF #168), and the Four disbanded for a time as they went their separate ways (FF #191-196).
The Four were Three when Reed disappeared (FF #257-261), and She-Hulk replaced the Thing when he chose to stay on the Beyonder’s Battleworld as “Rocky Grimm” after the events of 1984’s Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. When Reed and Sue took a leave from the Fantastic Four, they named Crystal and Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura) as their replacements (FF #305-326). Following Reed’s apparent death battling Doctor Doom in 1993’s FF #381, Sue, Johnny, and Ben operated as a trio (with the book “retitled” as The Fantastic Three) until Ant-Man (Scott Lang) joined the team in 1993’s FF #384.
More recently, the team’s roster has included the then-married Black Panther and Storm (in 2007’s FF #544), Spider-Man (2011’s FF #1), and Lang formed a new Fantastic Four with She-Hulk, Medusa, and Miss Thing (Darla Deering) in 2012’s FF #1. In 2017’s Marvel 2-In-One #1, the Fantastic Four were reduced to a duo of the Human Torch and the Thing when Reed and Sue were missing and presumed dead. The Four were eventually reunited โ just in time for an appropriately-titled “Family Reunion” (2018’s Fantastic Four #3).
Fantastic Four: One World Under Doom
One World Under Doom #1

ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM! Six months ago, Doctor Victor Von Doom became Sorcerer Supreme – then disappeared behind Latveria’s closed borders. For most, there’s enough going on in the world that Doom’s absence is not a priority, and some time without him feels like a blessing. Only a few recognize it for what it truly was…the calm before the storm. It is a storm that has now arrived. The world has woken up to a new reality: Doctor Doom, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, has magically taken over every broadcast medium on the planet and declared himself Emperor of the World – the ruler of a new United Latveria! And shockingly, impossibly, all of Earth’s leaders seem to be going along with this. Luckily, whether it’s mind control or Doombots, whatever’s affecting them hasn’t affected Earth’s heroes – and so they quickly form a strike team to stop Doom’s machinations. But will they succeed? And what happens when some begin to welcome their new Emperor with open arms, clamoring for One World Under Doom? Marvel’s biggest and most shocking event ever begins right here with ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM #1.
On sale: Feb. 12
Fantastic Four #29

The impossible has happened! DOCTOR DOOM has taken over the world! And the Fantastic Four are NOT going to let that stand. As Reed locks himself in his lab, trying to solve the Problem of Doom, Ben treats Sue to a trip to NYC with their mutual friend, JEN “SHE-HULK” WALTERS, to help get her mind off of things. But tensions after vampires overran the world in their Blood Hunt remain, and when Ben, Sue and Jen find themselves on the wrong side of mob justice, they face a choice…and it’s one they will not be able to take back!
On sale: Feb. 26
One World Under Doom #2

Doctor Doom has taken over the world, and Earth’s mightiest heroes have failed twice: first to stop him, and now to overthrow him. But the Fantastic Four know Doom better than anyone, which makes them ideally suited to take on Earth’s new Emperor…except for the fact that he knows THEM just as well. As Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Sue and Johnny Storm prepare to face down Doom at the United Nations, Doom pays a secret visit to speak to the only person on Earth who holds both his favor, his respect…and his love. But can Valeria Richards change her uncle’s mind? And if she fails, what will stop Doom from visiting a shocking fate on the Fantastic Four that not even he can undo? And, as the Avengers reel from their losses, the course of the Marvel Universe will change – and Marvel’s First Family won’t be the same!
On sale: March 19
Fantastic Four #30

FANTASTIC THREE! After Ben Grimm has suffered a terrible (and very public) defeat at the hands of Doom, he’s left lost, adrift – and more vulnerable than he has been in years. And when a trip to New York goes wrong and his fate suddenly turns from bad to worse, Ben has never been more vulnerable – and soon takes a shocking shortcut he won’t be able to undo! This is one Thing and Alicia story you won’t soon forget!
On sale: March 26
Fantastic Four #31

On sale: April 30