Marvel Makes Iceman a Member of the Fantastic Four

Marvel just brought back the Fantastic Four and it turns out one of the founding X-Men, Iceman, is a member.

SPOILERS for Fantastic Four #3 by Dan Slott, Sara Pichelli, Nico Leon, and Marte Gracia follow.

The Fantastic Four have been missing from the Marvel Universe for months. After the events of Secret Wars, the Human Torch and the Thing returned to the Marvel Universe. While the world assumed the Richards family had died saving the universe, they and the Future Foundation actually escaped into the wider multiverse, repopulating it with new worlds of their own creation.

Things were going fine until Franklin Richards’ universe-creating powers ran out of juice. The Griever at the End of all Things, a cosmic manifestation of entropy, chose that moment to make herself known, killing the Molecule Man, guaranteeing the multiverse expansion is at an end.

The Griever proved too powerful for even Franklin to handle. The Richards family and the Future Foundation made a run for it, but the Griever chased and destroyed several universes in the process. Valeria finally forced her family to stop running and make a stand.

Knowing that the Griever is beyond their ability to defeat alone, Mr. Fantastic goaded the Griever into allowing him to invite the other members of his family into the battle. This reunited Reed and Sue with the Human Torch and the Thing, but that still seemed unlikely to sway the battle against the griever. Reed reminded the others that the Fantastic Four family had grown to include more than just its original members.

That’s when every Fantastic Four member ever appeared alongside the originals: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Medusa, Crystal, She-Hulk, She-Thing, Ms. Thing, Storm, Ant-Man, HERBIE, Luke Cage, Black Panther, Nova, and Namorita. Even the Hulk arrived to lend a hand, though he hid his himself from all the others save the Human Torch.

And lastly, there was…Iceman? When did Iceman join the Fantastic Four? Don’t worry, even the Human Torch was a little confused about why Bobby Drake showed up to the Fantastic Four’s part. The story of how Iceman joined the FF hasn’t been told yet and apparently the validity of his claim is up for debate, but it does have something to do with Namor.

The editor’s note reads, “An untold tale for another day. Honest.” We’d guess that series writer Dan Slott is planning a flashback story to shed light on this previously untold tale of the Fantastic Four. For now, fans will just have to take Bobby’s word for it. Or Johnny’s word that no, that one time doesn’t count.

What do you think of Iceman being a member of the Fantastic Four? Let us know in the comments!

Fantastic Four #3 is on sale now.