Axel Alonso Teases The Return of Marvel 2-in-1

Who will Benjamin J. Grimm, better known as the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing, team up with next?

Well, it’s hard to say, but it looks like readers might find out sooner than later, as Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso today tweeted an image featuring the hero’s rocky body, cracking his knuckles, wearing a belt with a “2” on it.

For most of his existence, The Thing has been a member of the Fantastic Four, and often has worn a 4 on his belt as a result — but for years, he was the primary lead in Marvel 2-in-1, an ongoing team-up book that paired Grimm with dozens of other Marvel heroes for one stand-alone story at a time.

Currently appearing in Infamous Iron Man, The Thing was a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy for a while after the events of Secret Wars. At the end of that story, the Fantastic Four went their separate ways, with Johnny Storm joining up with the Inhumans and Reed and Sue Richards taking some time away from superheroics to be with their family.

The Fantastic Four, Marvel’s first major superhero book of the Silver Age, was cancelled around the time of Secret Wars and has not yet returned. Rumor has it that the team’s role has been diminished because Marvel publishing chief Ike Perlmutter didn’t want to promote characters whose movie rights were owned by 20th Century Fox, although Marvel has disputed such claims.

While the original Two-in-One was an anthology series with a rotating roster of guests and a done-in-one format, but those characteristics would be a big gamble in the current comics climate; some fans are speculating in the comments below Alonso’s tweet that the “two” in the book might be The Thing and a second, static co-star. If that were the case, an obvious choice would likely be The Human Torch (Johnny Storm), whose name came up in more than one guess.