One of Marvel’s Strangest Fantastic Four Villains Returns

Pop! goes the perplexingly impossible Poppupian.

April 27, 2025, 3:20pm

The Impossible Man pops up when you least expect him. Ever since he first came to Earth in 1963’s Fantastic Four #11 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the impish Poppupian from the planet Poppup has long been one of the Fantastic Four’s most perplexing problems. The green-skinned extaterrestrial shapeshifter was introduced in the most offbeat issue of the Fantastic Four’s first dozen issues, which pit the Four — Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Girl, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/Thing — against the likes of Mole Man’s monster army, the alien Kurrgo from the Planet X, the menacing magician Miracle Man, and the other green-skinned shape-shifting alien race: the Skrulls.

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Hailing from the dangerous planet Poppup, the Poppupians evolved to be able to change themselves into anything in an instant to survive. When he realized that his powers made him the most powerful being on Earth, the Impossible Man managed to wreak havoc that even the Fantastic Four couldn’t stop — until Reed realized that the so-called Impossible Man could be driven away from Earth due to boredom from being ignored.

There’s no ignoring Marvel’s Impossible! variant cover series, which will cover upcoming issues of Fantastic Four, Avengers, Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man, and more in May. In addition to the homage variants, the Impossible Pop-Up variant covers feature the Impossible Man popping up where you least expect him.

Below, see the Impossible! homage and Impossible Pop-Up variants from artists Logan Lubera (Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch), Michele Bandini (Immortal X-Men), David Baldeon (The Immortal Thor), Ron Lim (Silver Surfer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld), Nic Klein (The Incredible Hulk), Pepe Larraz (Amazing Spider-Man), Joshua Cassara (Fantastic Four), David Marquez (Uncanny X-Men), and Valerio Schiti (Avengers).