Marvel Just Took Away What Makes the Fantastic Four the Fantastic Four

Mon, August 24, 2026 at 4:33 AM UTC

Marvel just removed the Fantastic Four’smost essential element. Benjamin Percy explained how his Midnight Fantastic Four reimagines the team’s core identity and what their powers actually mean.

Midnight Fantastic Four separates Marvel’s First Family before transforming them

Benjamin Percy’s Midnight Fantastic Four reimagines Marvel’s First Family as strangers, AIPT reported. Writer Percy revealed the four characters share no prior connection in this horror-driven origin story. “At the start of the story, none of these people they aren’t together,” Percy said. “Reed Richards has no idea who Sue is, who Ben is, who Johnny is.”

Percy described the series as a “very slow burn” for the characters’ entanglement. The four gradually cross paths before acquiring their abilities through dimensional forces. This approach marks a sharp departure from traditional Fantastic Four stories. In those versions, Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben already function as a family unit.

Percy also reframes the team’s iconic abilities as something far more disturbing. “These so-called powers that they have, which are actually curses,” Percy explained. He emphasized that the characters should not be viewed as traditional superheroes. “These are not heroes,” Percy said. “These are people who are facing horrors within that help them battle back against the horrors without.”

The writer offered a grotesque example of Reed Richards unlocking a door with his elasticity. Percy described Reed’s bones staying stationary while his skin begins to “dribble down.” “You start to see these green and red tendrils from veins and flesh work their way downward beneath the crack at the door and up the other side, unlocking it so that he could then get in,” Percy said. “You should feel absolute revulsion when looking at him transforming,” he added.

Percy and artist Kev Walker draw from cosmic and Lovecraftian horror for the series. The reimagined transformations suggest every team member will face disturbing physical changes.

Midnight Fantastic Four #1 launches October 7 as part of Marvel’s new Midnight Universe imprint.