For most of their existence, the Fantastic Four were more of a family than a team, with Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing as the four members. However, there have been multiple times throughout the team’s history when other superheroes have joined the team. Some of these are well known, such as when She-Hulk joined the team after the first Secret Wars event. Others include heroes who almost no one remembers, including Sharon Ventura, who went by the name She-Thing.
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At the same time, there have been some major, big-name superheroes that many fans might have forgotten served as members of the Fantastic Four. These include heroes who are better known for other teams and at least one member who isn’t known to play well with others at all. Of these five former Fantastic Four members, two are also about to make their Marvel Cinematic Universe debuts.
5) Wolverine
Wolverine joined the New Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #347 (1990) by Walt Simonson and Arthur Adams. When the Skrull renegade De’Lila took down the real Fantastic Four, De’Lila posed as Sue Richards and recruited Wolverine, Spider-Man, the Hulk, and Ghost Rider. In Fantastic Four #349, the two teams joined forces, beat De’Lila and the Skrulls chasing her, and the replacement team broke up once the original Fantastic Four were back.
This lineup of the Fantastic Four was mismatched, and every member other than Spider-Man had anger issues that made it hard to get along. In fact, in one of the issues, Spider-Man compared his teammates to mean older brothers. Wolverine left a lasting mark on the team. When the group reunited as Doctor Strange’s Secret Defenders in Fantastic Four #374, Wolverine scarred the Thing’s face, and the scars stayed until #409. Marvel brought the lineup back in New Fantastic Four #1 (2022) by Peter David and Alan Robinson, a story set just after the original.
4) Storm
Storm (Ororo Munroe) joined alongside her husband, Black Panther, in Fantastic Four #543 (2007) by Dwayne McDuffie and Paul Pelletier. Reed and Sue decided to take a second honeymoon following their estrangement during the events of “Civil War,” where they fought on separate sides of the conflict. Knowing the world still needed a Fantastic Four, they asked Storm and Black Panther to take their place on the team, since the two heroes were the most similar to Reed and Sue.
A lot happened while Storm and Black Panther were members of the Fantastic Four. They fought in a cosmic story with the young hero Gravity, Galactus, and the Silver Surfer. In a Black Panther crossover, Storm ends up on the Skrull planet Kral IV, which copied Earth’s 1930s gangster culture, along with duplicates of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. After only seven issues, T’Challa announces it is time to go, and the Wakandan embassy moves out of the Baxter Building, with the couple leaving in the middle of a family dinner. Maya Boyd has officially been cast as Storm in the MCU’s X-Men reboot.
3) Ant-Man
The second Ant-Man, Scott Lang, was not only a member of the Fantastic Four, but healso led the team at one point when he was on the team. He first joined in Fantastic Four #384 (1993) by Tom DeFalco and Paul Ryan. With Reed Richards presumed dead, Sue brought Lang in as an electronics expert to work on Reed’s equipment, on Tony Stark’s recommendation. He became a full field member, joining Sue, Ben, and Johnny on missions. He stayed until Reed returned in Fantastic Four #407.
He came back in Fantastic Four #43 (2001) to form a temporary Fantastic Four with the Human Torch, She-Hulk, and Namorita while the others were trapped in the Negative Zone. He then returned to become the leader of the Fantastic Four when the main team traveled through time. This lineup included She-Hulk, Medusa, and Ms. Thing (Darla Deering). During this stint, Scott was grieving his daughter’s death and aimed the team at making Doctor Doom pay.
2) Luke Cage
It is easy to forget that Luke Cage was part of the Fantastic Four because his stint only lasted for a short time. Cage, then going by Power Man, joined in Fantastic Four #168 (1975) by Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler. Ben Grimm lost his Thing powers, and the team’s charter requires every member to have powers, so Reed picked Cage after he destroyed a series of training robots. This was the first time the comics revealed that the Fantastic Four even had a team charter.
His first mission was beating the Wrecker during a bank robbery, with a powerless Ben getting in the way. The Puppet Master then took control of Cage, who trashed headquarters and stole the Fantasticar to break the villain out of jail; the control broke when the Puppet Master chose to save his stepdaughter Alicia over his puppet. Interestingly, the Fantastic Four paid Luke as a member, but he donated his salary to charity. Luke left when Ben returned in a robotic exoskeleton, and Reed said Luke was never going to be a permanent member.
1) Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider joined the Fantastic Four along with Wolverine, Spider-Man, and the Hulk in Fantastic Four #347 (1990) by Walt Simonson and Arthur Adams when De’Lila, a mind-reading Skrull fugitive, disguised herself as Sue Richards and recruited them. He was one of the most important of the new members because of his powers. Ghost Rider used his Penance Stare on De’Lila, and his stare worked like a truth serum on the pursuing Skrulls, forcing them to talk.
He left when the team disbanded in #349, once the original Fantastic Four were back. The lineup reunited later as Doctor Strange’s Secret Defenders in Fantastic Four #374. Ghost Rider is coming to the MCU in 2028, with Ryan Gosling rumored to be playing Johnny Blaze in the movie. However, this version of Ghost Rider was Danny Ketch, Johnny’s brother. What If This Was the Fantastic Four? #1 (2008) swaps in Johnny Blaze as Ghost Rider and lets the team win and stay together.
Who were your favorite members of the Fantastic Four other than the main four? Let us know your favorite versions of the team in the comments below.
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