The Fantastic Four comic books have been inactive for the past three years, leaving fans of the superhero team wondering what would come next. The wait was excruciting, especially after the failure of the Fantastic Four film starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jaime Bell back in 2015. Today, Marvel Comics revealed that everyone’s favorite squad will be getting an ongoing comic book series in August.
The Fantastic Four’s first issue was released back in 1961. It was one of the first comic books that Marvel had ever released and ended up being the anchor for the company’s future. These superheroes were the foundation for Marvel, but have been put on the backburner since 2015. In the comics, the team split up; Sue Storm (the Invisible Woman) and Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) took their kids on a journey through the multiverse, while Ben Grimm (the Thing) and Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) remained the dynamic duo fans are used to seeing back on Earth. Since then, though, not much has been revealed about the characters. Marvel released a video of an interview with Marvel Comics’ Editor-in-Chief, C.B. Cebulski, on Twitter with the announcement:
A special announcement from Marvel Editor-in-Chief, @CBCebulski. #MarvelComics pic.twitter.com/8fab2xo5ji
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) March 29, 2018
So why now? Why revive the series after so many people thought it to be done for? According to C.B. Cebulski, “We’ve [Marvel Comics] been waiting for the right creators to become available for this book. It’s been in the works a long time; we’ve been waiting for them to free up. They’ve both finished their current commitments.” He goes on to announce that the duo behind The Fantastic Four series will be Marvel veteran, Dan Slott (currently finishing up his 10-year run on The Amazing Spider-Man) and Sara Pichelli (known for her artistic work in Guardians of the Galaxy and Runaways).
Dan Slott was originally set to write the Iron Man series, news that was announced back in January along with him stating he’d be departing from The Amazing Spider-Man. There wasn’t any indication from the video that Dan wouldn’t be writing Iron Man, only that he will be the lead writer for The Fantastic Four coming in August.
On another note, considering Marvel’s parent company, Walt Disney Studios, acquired a number of 21st Century Fox’s assets back in December, there could be a film with the Fantastic Four crossing over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the near future. The same goes for the X-Men. Again, none of this is confirmed… But the fact that Marvel is releasing a number of new comic book series based on characters with films that have recently been released (Black Panther) or those that are coming very soon (Captain Marvel), then it’s very possible. Keep an eye out here as we learn more about this new The Fantastic Four comic book series, and the characters’ future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For now, check out the promo image that was revealed, below.