After 65 Years, Marvel Officially Announces New Team Name For The Fantastic Four

Marvel's Fantastic Four are getting a new codename, sixty-five years after Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created Marvel's 'First Family' and changed superhero media forever.

Debuting in 1961, the introduction of the Fantastic Four marked the beginning of the modern Marvel Universe - one in which science-fiction, fantasy and mythology co-exist, and the latest explosive threat to Earth might attract anyone from the Asgardian God of Thunder to a gawky teen with spider-powers.

Now, the Fantastic Four are once again present for the birth of a new universe, but this time it's not one grounded in the bombastic sci-fi of the '60s, but the unsettling horror of the 2020s.

Midnight's Fantastic Four Are 'The Four'

Marvel recently launched its new 'Midnight' imprint, debuting a new continuity that reinvents its most iconic characters with a horror slant. Midnight: Fantastic Four #1 - from Benjamin Percy, Kev Walker, Frank D'Armata and Joe Sabino - has introduced very different versions of Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing.

The new FF aren't the naive pop art heroes of Lee and Kirby, but ruthless capitalists and desperate obsessives exploring eldritch secrets that could threaten the entire planet. Accordingly, Marvel is stripping the team of their "Fantastic" title, with Midnight describing the team as just "The Four."

The team name is used in the summaries for issues 3 and 4, implying it will be a permanent title for the group. That makes sense, given they're not exactly chasing the 'Fantastic' in this canon. Instead, Reed's efforts to access the Negative Zone are opening up a realm described as "Hell" by the one person who's actually seen it.

Midnight's Fantastic Four Are A LOT Less Heroic

The removal of 'Fantastic' from the team's name isn't just about the eldritch realm they're exploring, but about the people who make up the team. In the first issue, each of the 'heroes' is shown as deeply flawed, but none more than leader Reed Richards. Reed is depicted as an obsessive genius hooked on pills, with the two combining to fry his best friend 'Victor' (seemingly this continuity's Doctor Doom.)

Even as Victor lies dying, Reed is so obsessed that his last words to his friend are to ask him what he saw while being burned to death. Reed only escapes prison because ruthless businesswoman Susan Storm pulls strings to get him released, using his addiction to force him to work for her failing corporation.

Rather than Reed's childhood friend, Benjamin Grimm is Sue's enforcer, carrying out water torture on anyone whose secrets Sue wants access to. Finally, Johnny Storm is a former pilot traumatized by the loss of his legs, unhealthily attempting to relive his glory days.

Things Will Only Get Darker For 'The Four'

Each of these characters' flaws will combine to doom them, warping their bodies into grotesque new forms as the gate to the Negative Zone is opened, and a Lovecraftian version of Galactus is seemingly loosed upon the Earth.

As Marvel rolls out its new Midnight initiative, it's becoming clearer and clearer that this isn't just a universe with horror imagery - it's one where the heroes are every bit as flawed and dangerous as their classic villains, and that applies double to the Fantastic Four.

Midnight: Fantastic Four #3 is available December 16, and issue #4 January 20 from Marvel Comics.