Mister Fantastic

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Mr. Fantastic
Reed Richards on the cover for Fantastic Four #534. Art by Mike McKone.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #1 (Nov. 1961)
Created by	Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
In story information
Alter ego	Reed Richards
Species	Human Mutate
Team affiliations	Fantastic Four Avengers Defenders Illuminati
Notable aliases	Invincible Man, Reed Benjamin
Abilities	Superhuman intellect, durability and full body elasticity

Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero and a member of the Fantastic Four. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961).

Possessing a mastery of mechanical, aerospace and electrical engineering, chemistry, all levels of physics, and human and alien biology, Richards is often considered one of the most intelligent human beings in the Marvel Universe, alongside Bruce Banner, Hank Pym, Professor Charles Xavier, Doctor Doom, Tony Stark, M, Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy, and a few others. He is the inventor of the spacecraft which was bombarded by cosmic radiation on its maiden voyage, granting the Fantastic Four their powers. Richards gained the ability to stretch his body into any shape he desires.

He is the leader of the Fantastic Four, although his methodical manner sometimes makes him seem cold and distant to his teammates, particularly best friend the Thing, who somewhat blames Richards for his transformation into a large, rocky creature. Whenever he is confronted with a scientific challenge, his attention can be so focused that he can neglect even his own family which has caused marital problems between him and Sue and has put his family in danger on rare occasions. He is, however, the husband of Susan Storm, father of son Franklin Richards and daughter Valeria Richards, and mentor of the Human Torch. According to BusinessWeek, Mr. Fantastic is listed as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics.^[1]

Reed Richards is portrayed by Ioan Gruffudd in the 2005 film Fantastic Four and the 2007 film sequel Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer.

Contents 1 Fictional character biography 1.1 Pre-Fantastic Four 1.2 Leadership of the Fantastic Four 1.3 Subplots and story arcs 1.4 Onslaught & Heroes Reborn 1.5 Civil War 1.6 World War Hulk 1.7 Secret Invasion 2 Powers and abilities 3 Equipment and technology 4 Other versions 4.1 1602 4.2 Bullet Points 4.3 Counter Earth 4.4 Dark Raider 4.5 Earth-A 4.6 Marvel Mangaverse 4.7 Marvel Zombies 4.8 MC2 4.9 Mutant X 4.10 Ultimate Mr. Fantastic 5 In other media 5.1 Television 5.2 Film 5.3 Video games 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Fictional character biography

[edit] Pre-Fantastic Four

Born in Central City, California, Reed is the son of Evelyn and Nathaniel Richards. Nathaniel was a scientific genius, and Reed inherited the same level of intellect. A child prodigy with special aptitude in mathematics, physics, and mechanics, Reed Richards had enrolled in college by the time he was fourteen, attending such prestigious universities as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Columbia University, and the fictional Empire State University. By the tender age of twenty, he had several degrees in the sciences under his belt.

It was at Empire State University that he met and became the roommate of Benjamin J. Grimm. Reed had already begun designing a starship capable of traveling in hyperspace. Sharing his plans with his new roommate, Grimm jokingly volunteered to pilot the craft.

When 19-year old Reed continued his education by attending Columbia University in Manhattan, he rented a room in a boarding house owned by the aunt of a young girl named Susan Storm. To his embarrassment, the young girl, who was 12, instantly fell in love with him. Even though Reed had to move on, they continued to carry a torch for each other. Also while at Columbia, he met a brilliant fellow student, Victor Von Doom. In Richards, Doom had met the first person who could rival him intellectually; regarding Richards as his ultimate rival, Doom became increasingly jealous of Richards. Determined to prove he was better, Doom conducted reckless experiments which eventually scarred his face and would lead him to become Doctor Doom.

Moving on to Harvard, Reed earned Ph.D.s in both physics and electrical engineering while working as a military scientist, all this by the age of 22. He also worked in communications for the army. Three years later, now in his mid-twenties, Reed then began using his inheritance, along with government funding, to finance his research. Determined to reach the instellar regions of Mars and beyond, the fateful project began, based in Central City. Susan Storm, now a young adult, moved into the area and within a short time, found herself engaged to Reed. Due to her family's lucrative savings and involvement in charitable foundations, she provided more funding when his money ran out. Likewise, Reed's old college roommate, Ben Grimm, had gone on to become a successful test pilot and astronaut and was indeed slated to pilot the craft.

All seemed well; however, when the government threatened to cut funding and cancel the project, Reed, Ben, Sue and her younger brother Johnny, all decided to sneak aboard the starship and take it up immediately. They knew they had not completed all the testing that had been planned, but Reed was confident they would be safe.

It was on Reed's initiative that the fateful mission which had Susan Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm accompanying him into space took place. When their ship passed through the Van Allen belt they found their cockpit bombarded with nearly lethal doses of cosmic radiation. Reed had somehow neglected to account for the abnormal radiation levels in the atmosphere. The cosmic rays wreaked havoc on the starship's insufficient shielding and they were forced to return to Earth immediately. When they crash-landed they found that their bodies were changed dramatically. Reed found that his entire body was elastic and that he could reshape any portion of his body at will. It was at Mister Fantastic's suggestion that they decided to use their new abilities to serve mankind as the Fantastic Four. Mr. Fantastic was chosen to lead the group.^[2] He later told his daughter, by way of a bedtime story, that the reason he suggested they become adventurers and gave them such outlandish costumes and names as "Mister Fantastic" and "The Thing" was that he knew they would likely be hated and feared for their powers without such an over-the-top public image.

This history has been changed over the years in order to keep it current. In the original comics, Richards was a veteran of World War II who had served behind enemy lines in occupied France, and the goal of his space mission was a manned space flight to the regions of Mars before the Communists were able to. This was later changed to getting there before the Chinese Communists to explore the instellar areas of the red planet and beyond. Also, in the earlier stories, Reed was said to have met Susan when he was 23 and she was 12, but this has been retconned to a six-seven year age difference.

[edit] Leadership of the Fantastic Four

The early career of the Fantastic Four led Mister Fantastic to a number of discoveries, and had their first encounters with many unusual characters. In the team's first appearance, they first battled the Mole Man.^[3] They then first battled the Skrulls.^[4] Soon after that, the team first encountered the Sub-Mariner.^[5] They then first battled Doctor Doom, and Reed and the team time traveled for the first time.^[6] They later first journeyed to a subatomic world.^[7] Soon after that, they first encountered Rama-Tut.^[8] They then battled the Molecule Man.^[9]

As the team leader, Mr. Fantastic created numerous exotic devices and vehicles for the team to use such as clothing made of 'unstable molecules' so that it can be used with their powers safely. Furthermore, he often leads the team into daring expeditions such as into the Negative Zone in addition to opposing evil. Also, he has felt personally responsible for Ben Grimm's grotesque change and has labored off and on to reverse it permanently.

Under his guidance, the team went on to become Earth's most celebrated band of heroes. Together, they would save the world countless times. Ever driven by his quest for knowledge, Reed is believed by most to be the Earth's foremost intelligence. There is little he cannot create, fix, or understand given time. The patents and royalties on his inventions alone have funded the group over the years.

However, there are drawbacks to his association with the team. Chief among them is the team's violent encounters with Doctor Doom, who believes that Reed was responsible for the accident that scarred him. Doom has never forgiven Reed and has sworn revenge. Doom has even gone as far as transforming Reed into a monstrous freak, attacking Reed's children and attempting to seduce Sue.

[edit] Subplots and story arcs

After many adventures as the Fantastic Four, Reed married Sue.^[10] Not long after that, the team encountered the Inhumans for the first time.^[11] They next encountered Galactus and the Silver Surfer.^[12] Reed then opened a portal to the Negative Zone for the first time.^[13] Soon, the team first battled the Psycho-Man.^[14] Before long Reed and Sue had a baby, young Franklin Richards; the team battled Annihilus right before Franklin's birth.^[15] Franklin was a mutant with incredible powers, but, due to the cosmic ray alteration to his parents' DNA, they manifested while he was still very young (in the Marvel world, most mutants like the X-Men get their powers while teenagers). Franklin appears to have power that can rival a member of the Celestials; the power of a living god in the body of a small child. The couple briefly separated,^[16] and Reed further alienated Sue by shutting down Franklin's mind in order to prevent his power from causing global catastrophe;^[17] Sue Storm initiated divorce proceedings but the couple were reconciled soon after.^[18]

Reed also saved Galactus's life during the course of his adventures.^[19] He then bought the Baxter Building.^[20] Later, he was tried by the Shi'ar for saving Galactus's life.^[21] Reed's battle with Gormuu prior to getting his powers was recounted.^[22] Just after that, Reed was reunited with his father in an alternate timeline.^[23] Some time later, Reed and Sue retired from the Fantastic Four,^[24] and then joined the Avengers.^[25] Eventually, they did rejoin the Fantastic Four.^[26]

In the course of fighting an alien called Hunger, Doctor Doom was seriously injured. The Fantastic Four were also part of the battle against Hunger and Doom asked for his old enemy to take his hand. At that point they both disappeared in a flash, leaving nothing but ashes. It would appear as if the two sworn enemies had fittingly died in each others' hands.

However, unknown to anyone else at the time, Reed and Doom had actually been thrown back into the time of barbarians and onto an alien world by a being called Hyperstorm, Reed's grandchild from an alternate future, the child of Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers, daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. They were so far into the past, and with no technology, that even their brilliant minds couldn't find a way back home. Doom was captured and held prisoner by Hyperstorm. Reed wandered aimlessly for about a year.

Meanwhile the rest of the FF recruited Scott Lang as scientific advisor. They even confronted an insane alternative version of Reed called the Dark Raider who was traveling from reality to reality, destroying all the various versions of himself.

A while later, the remaining members of the FF along with the Sub-Mariner, Lyja and Kristoff Vernard found themselves trapped in the same era as their Reed and Doom. They found Reed but faced a new problem: during his time alone, Reed had resigned himself to the reality that it was impossible for his old friends to stage a rescue and attacked them but soon realized that these truly were his friends. After returning to their own time period, he sought out Galactus as he was the only being in the Universe who could defeat Hyperstorm. Upon Hyperstorm's defeat at the hands of Galactus, the FF returned to the present day where they continued their lives, not only as a team, but as a family.

[edit] Onslaught & Heroes Reborn

Shortly after their return, the FF were confronted by a being called Onslaught. Onslaught took control of an army of Sentinels and invaded New York City, hunting down every mutant being he could find. Onslaught wished to add the abilities of the godlike Franklin Richards to his own. Only through the apparent sacrifice of the Fantastic Four's own lives and that of many of the heroes in the Marvel universe was Onslaught finally vanquished. The heroes would have died then and there if not for Franklin, who created an alternate reality for them to reside in. Completely oblivious to what had taken place, Reed and his compatriots relived most of their lives. In their absence the Fantastic Four's headquarters, Four Freedoms Plaza, was annihilated by a super villain group called the Masters of Evil, posing as heroes, The Thunderbolts. One year later, Franklin returned with his family along with the other heroes from the parallel reality. Reed was overjoyed to see his son again, but he and the rest of the FF found themselves without a home, moving into Reed's storage warehouse on Pier 4, overlooking the East River. Making this their home, the Fantastic Four continued with their lives, eventually managing to move back into the Baxter Building.

It has emerged that Reed is one of the members of the "Illuminati", unknown to his wife. He is also in possession of the "Power" gem of the Infinity Gauntlet.

[edit] Civil War

Main article: Civil War (comics)

In Marvel's Civil War miniseries and crossover event, Reed Richards is one of the leading figures, along with Iron Man, on the side which is in favor of the Superhuman Registration Act. He speculates that this will lead to conflict with his wife, which came true in issue #4 of the miniseries when a clone of Thor, created by him and Tony Stark, went out of control and killed Goliath and nearly killed all the rest of the Secret Avengers until Sue Storm stepped in and saved them. Soon after, Sue left Reed, along with Johnny, to join the Secret Avengers in hopes that it would drive Reed to end the conflict quickly.

In Amazing Spider-Man #535, which takes place shortly before the events of Civil War #5, Peter Parker demands to see the conditions inside the detention facility designed by Reed to hold unregistered superhumans. After being escorted to and from the prison by Iron Man, Parker returns with more doubts than ever about whether he is on the right side and asks Reed why he supports the Superhuman Registration Act, a question Reed answers by telling the story of his paternal uncle, Ted. A professional writer, Reed remembers his uncle as "funny", "colorful" and "accepting." As a boy, Reed loved spending time with Ted. Unfortunately, Ted was also "an eccentric" and "stubborn." Because he had a career in the arts and because he stood out, Ted was called before HUAC, imprisoned on contempt of Congress charges for six months, and was unable to find work after he'd served his sentence. He was even shunned by Reed's father. Ted lost everything, which Reed says finally "killed him" without going into greater detail. Richards opines that his uncle was wrong to take such a stand, to pick a fight he couldn't win, and to fail to respect the law.

However Fantastic Four #542 reveals that the real reason for supporting the registration act is due to his development of a working version of Isaac Asimov's fictional Psychohistory concept. His application of this science indicates to him that billions will die in escalating conflicts without the presence of the act. In the final battle of the war, he is shot by Taskmaster, saving Sue Storm's life. With Reed on the brink of death, a furious Susan decimates Taskmaster with a telekinetic field. Reed survives, however, and Sue returns to him in the aftermath of the battle, having been granted amnesty. Seeking to repair the damage done to their marriage as a result of the war, Sue and Reed take time off from the Fantastic Four, but ask Storm and the Black Panther to take their places in the meantime.

[edit] World War Hulk

Within the midst of Civil War, Reed Richards learned from a brief conversation with Mastermind Excello that the Hulk isn't on the planet where the Illuminati had intended to exile him. After a conversation over the good the Hulk has done for humanity, Reed tells Iron Man of what happened to the Hulk and also states that the Hulk has friends and "may God help us if they find him before we do."

Within the aftermath of Civil War, Reed Richards had been keeping tabs on Mastermind Excello and when the She-Hulk found out about the Hulk's exile, Reed Richards sends out Doc Samson to confront her when he sees her meeting with Mastermind Excello.

In issue #1 of World War Hulk, Reed is shown with Tony Stark, as Iron Man. Both men were trying to convince the Sentry into fighting the Hulk, thinking that the calm aura that the Sentry produces may be able to stop the Hulk's rampage.

In issue #2 of World War Hulk, with the aid of the rest of the Fantastic Four, Storm, and the Black Panther, Reed was able to create a machine that projects an image of the Sentry and recreates the hero's aura of calm. He uses the machine on the Hulk just as he is about to defeat the Thing, but the Hulk knows that that wasn't the real Sentry and destroys the machine. In a last line of defense, Sue Storm tries to protect her husband by encapsulating Bruce in an energy field while pleading with him to spare Reed. The Hulk doesn't listen and is able to easily exert enough strength against her force field to cause Susan to collapse and experience a nosebleed from the stress, before she dooms Reed to the Hulk's wrath.

He is later seen among the various heroes that the Hulk defeated so far, within the depths of the Hulk's Gladiator arena located within Madison Square Garden. He and all of the Heroes are outfitted with "obedience disks" that are used to suppress their powers. These disks are the same that were used upon the Hulk during his time on Sakaar. With the disks Hulk orders Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic to face off in battle. Richards, after having the upper hand on Stark is then given the thumbs down by Hulk to kill him.

However the Hulk spares their lives, showing them that he proved his point to the world. They survived the encounter by Hulk's mercy and the timely invention of the Sentry, who weakens Hulk enough for Stark to use prototype defense satellites to negate the Hulk's powers. The Illuminati is also cleared from the responsibility of Sakaar's destruction when Miek, one of the Hulk's alien allies, admits he saw the Red King forces breach the ship's warp core and kept quiet to initiate what Miek felt was Hulk's destiny as the "Worldbreaker"^[27].

[edit] Secret Invasion

Mister Fantastic was at the Illuminati's meeting discussing the threat of the Skrulls when the Black Bolt with them was revealed to be a Skrull in disguise.

Mister Fantastic and Hank Pym autopsy the body of the Skrull who impersonated Elektra (with Reed pretending to be seeing the corpse for the first time) thus keeping the secret of the Illuminati. After completing the dissection, Reed claims to have discovered the secret of how the Skrulls have been able to conceal their identities. Before he can elaborate, "Hank Pym" reveals himself to be a Skrull and shoots Richards with a weapon that violently leaves his elastic body in a state of chaotic disarray similar to Silly String. His current condition is unknown.^[28] A preview of Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four reveals that a Skrull has taken the identity of Richards to capture his wife Sue.

[edit] Powers and abilities

Reed Richards gained the power of elasticity from irradiation by cosmic rays. In Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 Richards' power is associated with the classical element of water. The association between and the element of water was also referenced in Heroes Reborn Fantastic Four, X4: X-Men and Fantastic Four, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four #232 , and in the Marvel Boy and Fantastic Four 1234 mini-series by Grant Morrison. He has the ability to convert his entire body into a highly malleable state at will, allowing him to stretch, deform, and reform himself into virtually any shape. Reed Richards has been observed as being able to utilize his stretching form in a variety of offensive and defensive manners, such as compressing himself into a ball and ricocheting into enemies or flattening himself into a trampoline or a parachute to rescue a teammate. He can squeeze through openings sometimes even as small as one molecule's breadth. He can twist or reshape his body or stretch roughly three miles fully extended before physical pain. He can flatten himself to the thickness of a sheet of vellum. Due to Reed's distaste for violence, he will usually wrap an opponent up in his body to attempt to control and compromise with them. To trap an opponent, he can also flatten his body and smother his opponent until they give in. Other applications of his powers include expanding his lungs allowing him to hold his breath longer, adjusting the distance between his cornea and retina to allow for natural ocular magnification, and in at least one case shortening the distance between the synapses in his brain allowing him to process thought at impossible speeds. He has also shown that he can stretch his brain, cerebellum, as to facilitate operation of Cerebro, the mutant finding computer devised by Professor Charles Xavier.

Because of his elastic nature, Mr. Fantastic cannot be harmed by traditional bullets or most other projectile weapons, including knives, missiles, darts, etc, and has superhuman durability. He can often cause projectiles to rebound back towards the attacker. Despite this, Reed is not completely invulnerable. His skin has been cut at least once by an evolved form of a Brood queen; while reaching into a direct hole to Hell created by Elizabeth Cromwell, a random demon reached out and inexplicably broke his arm; and on occasion if he suffers a large head trauma he'll lose consciousness. He has also shown to have all the weaknesses of rubber, as he melts and weakens when exposed to extreme heat and will freeze and crack when exposed to super-cool temperatures. He has also occasionally demonstrated other applications of this molecular control. While imprisoned by Psycho-Man, meditation allowed him to reduce his body to a nearly liquid state in order to flow out of a glass encasement specially prepared by the villain to have only the most infinitesimal of openings.

Reed's elasticity makes it extremely difficult for attackers to hold or pin him, as his body can become slippery or so thin that he can slip out of a grasping fist. However, Reed is vulnerable to types of energy weapons, and even to taffy-puller-style machines that forcibly stretch him to the limits of his tensile durability eventually causing physical pain, as well as the temporary loss of his solid state due to the mental stress.

Reed can alter his physical makeup as well. He can, for instance, disguise his appearance to mimic another person, an inanimate object, or even, in one case, mimic the physical form of an extra-terrestrial. He can also concentrate his mass into a single body part, such as when he enlarges a fist into a solid hammer or mace-style weapon. All of these feats require extreme concentration but thanks to his training, and mental discipline, they can be performed rather quickly. On one occasion, he increased his entire body's size and mass, bulking his body to "Thing"-like proportions while increasing his strength as well.

Despite this, Richards' strength comes more from the powers of his mind than the powers of his body; indeed, he once told Spider-Man that he considers his stretching powers to be expendable compared to his intellect.^[29] Reed Richards is a visionary theoretician and inspired machine smith who has made breakthroughs in such varied fields as space travel, time travel, extra-dimensional travel, biochemistry, robotics, computers, synthetic polymers, communications, mutations, transportation, holography, energy generation, spectral analysis and more. Richards has earned a PhD. in mathematics, physics, and engineering. Dr. Richards is often known to rewrite works of Stephen Hawking and decode alien languages. He is considered by many in the scientific community to be the greatest intellect on earth (much to Doctor Doom's consternation). Not only has Reed proven himself to be a genius in virtually every science native to Earth, he has shown himself to be more knowledgeable than even some of the most highly advanced alien civilizations in the known universe as well. Reed's patents are so valuable that he is able to bankroll the Fantastic Four, Inc., without any undue financial stress. Some writers have shown that Reed's intelligence was expanded by the cosmic rays that gave him his elastic powers, and that, when his powers are nullified, he is not as hyper-intelligent (at times barely keeping up with Doctor Doom). Mind control is rarely effective on him and when it does work, it wears off sooner than it would a normal person, due to what he describes as an "elastic consciousness".

Mr. Fantastic is, however, not without flaws. The accident that resulted in the Fantastic Four gaining their powers was the direct result of a hasty miscalculation on Reed's part. For years he has tried to restore The Thing to his human form, but a permanent solution has eluded him. He has admitted, on more than one occasion, to being incapable of understanding magic, as he cannot begin to fathom an aspect of science (as he calls it) that is "not based in quantifiable laws and rules". He has, however, utilized simple magic spells.^[30] He learned to let go of his ego and admit he did not actually understand magic, but that it does exist. (This is generally thought to be the only advantage that Doctor Doom has over Reed in as much as he has successfully joined the science with magic.)

Reed has also admitted to not having the same kind of specialist knowledge as his peers, though such occasions are, admittedly, rare and generally reflect a lack of experience in a specific narrow field or application rather than a lack of ability. On such occasions, he shows no hesitation in bringing in an expert to consult.

[edit] Equipment and technology

Although the Fantastic Four have numerous devices, crafts, and weapons, there are some items that Reed Richards carries with him at all times.

Fantastiflare: Launches a fiery "4" into the sky that is used during combat situations to let other members of the group know their location.

Uniform Computer: Like all the Fantastic Four's costumes and the rest of Reed's wardrobe, his suit is made of "unstable molecules". This means that the suit is attuned to his powers, which is why Johnny's costume doesn't burn when he "flames on", Sue's costume turns invisible when she does, and Reed's costume stretches with him. The costume also insulates them from electrical assaults. In addition, the team's uniforms are also, in essence, wearable computers. Their costumes have a complete data processing and telemetry system woven into the material of the uniform on a molecular level. This forms a network with the entire team, providing a constant, real-time uplink of everyone's physical condition as well as their location and current situation. The suit is capable of displaying data and touch-pad controls on the gauntlets. Its sensors can track all of the team's uniforms and provide a picture of their immediate vicinity. The suit has an intricate scanner system which can detect things around the wearer, from how many people are in the next room to what dimension or planet they are on. Reed can also up-link the bodysuit to any computer by stretching his fingertips to filament size and plugging them in to an I/O data-port. With this, Reed can establish a fairly comprehensive database of any computer's cybernetic protocols and encryption algorithms.

[edit] Other versions

[edit] 1602

In Neil Gaiman's Marvel Universe set in the 17th century, Reed (apparently called Sir Richard Reed, although he is often addressed as "Sir Reed" or "Master Richards") is the leader of 'The Four from the Fantastick', and his pliability is compared to water. Sharing the genius of his counterpart, he has devised uses for electrical force, categorized the sciences, and speculated as to whether light has a speed.

According to Peter David, who is writing a Marvel 1602 miniseries about the Four, Gaiman describes Sir Richard as even more pedantic than the mainstream Mr. Fantastic.

[edit] Bullet Points

In Bullet Points Dr. Reed Richards is drafted by the government to act as technical support to Steve Rogers, who in this reality is Iron Man. Along with Sue, Ben and Johnny, he later attempts the rocket flight that in the mainstream continuity saw the creation of the Fantastic Four, but the flight is sabotaged and the rocket crashes, killing everyone aboard except Reed. He thus never develops superpowers, and following the tragedy, he accepts the position as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Having lost his eye in the rocket crash and taken to wearing an eyepatch, he bears a strong resemblance to Nick Fury.

[edit] Counter Earth

The Counter-Earth version of Reed Richards is from a world created by the High Evolutionary. He was exposed to cosmic rays that gave him the ability to transform into a savage purple-skinned behemoth called the Brute. The Brute made his way to Earth, where he trapped Mister Fantastic in the Negative Zone and replaced him. He managed to trap the Human Torch and the Thing shortly thereafter, but was found out by the Invisible Woman, who rescued her teammates and left the Brute trapped in their place. The Brute was later a member of the Frightful Four.

[edit] Dark Raider

Another alternate Reed Richards was driven mad when he failed to save his reality's Earth from Galactus. Taking the identity of the Dark Raider, he traveled from reality to reality on a quest to destroy every possible version of himself. The Fantastic Four first encountered him when they traveled to an alternate past and saw younger versions of themselves die at his hands. When the Dark Raider came to the Fantastic Four's reality, he attempted to activate the Ultimate Nullifier, but was apparently destroyed by Uatu. This appearance of Uatu was later revealed to be Aron, the Rogue Watcher, who had simply teleported the Raider away. The Dark Raider returned, and was finally killed by the Invisible Woman in the Negative Zone.

[edit] Earth-A

In this reality, only Reed and Ben Grimm go up in the experimental spacecraft. Reed is transformed by cosmic radiation into The Thing.

[edit] Marvel Mangaverse

In the Marvel Mangaverse comics, Reed Richards leads the Megascale Metatalent Response Team Fantastic Four as a commander, not a field operative like Jonatha, Sioux, and Benjamin. In Mangaverse, Richards has been re-imagined as a long-haired intellectual with a laid-back attitude. The other members of the team often describe him as a "smartass". His team used power packs in order to manifest their talents on mecha-sized levels so that they may fight the Godzilla-sized monsters from alien cultures that attack Earth for performing experiments which endanger all of reality. Along with assigning battle tactics, Richards okayed the amount of power his team was allowed to use. He has stretching talents which he considered "near useless" except for stretching his neurons, allowing him to brainstorm new ideas. In New Mangaverse, Richards (along with the rest of the Fantastic Four with the exception of the Human Torch) was murdered by ninja assassins.

[edit] Marvel Zombies

This version of Reed Richards deliberately infected his team and thus himself with the zombie virus, following madness from the murder of his children at the hands of a zombified She-Hulk. Reed subsequently made contact with his Ultimate counterpart, the Zombie FF attempting to escape into the Ultimate Marvel universe, but he was neutralized when the Ultimate Invisible Girl practically destroyed a chunk of his brain. After a brief period of imprisonment, the zombie FF were defeated and killed by Ultimate Reed Richards (in Doctor Doom's body) and their bodies returned to their universe.

[edit] MC2

In the MC2 continuity, Reed Richards was badly scarred and he designed a small robot into which he claims to have transferred his brain when his body was damaged; in reality, Richards' injuries are minor, and he controls the robot remotely from an outpost in the Negative Zone. This robot, called Big Brain, is a member of the Fantastic Five, and is capable of projecting force fields and can hover or fly. When Reed solves the problem keeping Susan in stasis in the Negative Zone, the mental block preventing his scars from healing dissolves, and his appearance returns to normal.

[edit] Mutant X

In the alternate universe visited by Alex Summers, a.k.a. Havok, the Fantastic Four seemingly had no powers, though Reed still had his genius level intelligence. Reed generally wore a battle suit with two extra arms. In his first appearance, he was attempting to build a machine that would allow the Goblin Queen to summon demons from another dimension. When the Goblin Queen made her play to conquer the world, Reed was right at her side. In the final issue of the series, Reed joined a makeshift team of villains and heroes in order to stop the Goblin Queen's threat against the entire multiverse. He was interrupted in his work by Dracula, who sliced open his throat, killing him.

[edit] Ultimate Mr. Fantastic

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Reed Richards is brought closer to the stereotypical scientist; he is as brilliant as his original counterpart (with an IQ of 267)^{[citation needed]}, but he is somewhat awkward, younger, and wears glasses. He becomes part of a "think tank" with other advanced youths, their headquarters being the Baxter Building. This is where he is mentored by Professor Storm and he meets Johnny, and Sue Storm. As in the normal universe, Ultimate Reed Richards is romantically involved with Sue Storm. Ben Grimm was his only friend and protector, but there was one bully not even Ben could help him with, Reed's own father. Reed's father hated the fact he had a weakling for a son - if he wasn't the first to put Reed's head in the toilet, he'd have done something worse. In his way, he hated his father.

In issues 21 through 23 of Ultimate Fantastic Four, Reed Richards was able to establish a link to what readers believed was the normal Marvel Universe, communicating with a projection of the original Reed Richards via a special device. When he attempted to travel to the alternate universe, however, he arrived in a world infested by zombies, including a zombified Fantastic Four. Ultimate Reed Richard's conversations with the false projection of his regular counterpart suggest that in the Ultimate universe, Mr. Fantastic is less skilled and has much less experience than the Zombie Mr. Fantastic, if the false projection is to be believed.

While it is still questionable as to whether or not the intelligence of the Mister Fantastic of the Mainstream Marvel Universe (Earth-616) was affected by the Cosmic Rays, this version of Mister Fantastic definitely experienced an increase in his intellect from the accident that empowered him, making his "mind as flexible as his body," and "getting smarter every day", and has shown a reduced need for sleep due to the hyper-efficient workings of his brain (as revealed in UFF #25).

According to Ultimate FF #7, Ultimate Reed's body has been radically transformed, and his only internal organ is a "bacterial stack" that generates energy (presumably from air) to fuel his body. This would obviate the need to explain, for example, how his circulatory system could pump his blood when his body is stretched the length of a football field; he simply has none. Lacking a digestive system, he has no need to eat or drink. Similarly, because he has no lungs, Ultimate Reed doesn't need to breathe in any conventional human sense and can survive in environments lacking oxygen; however, during his time in the N-Zone, where the atmosphere was essentially acid, he was unable to breath the air there, suggesting that he still requires air to a certain degree.

It does appear that Ultimate Mr. Fantastic does have a limit to the length he can stretch to. In Ultimate FF #44 he is able to catch a falling Carol Danvers after she is dropped by the Silver Surfer, and upon setting her down, he admits that it hurt him to stretch that far. After a short rest he appears fully recovered implying that, though he didn't reach his limit, he has one.

[edit] In other media

[edit] Television

• Mr. Fantastic appeared the 1967 Fantastic Four TV series, voiced by Gerald Mohr.

• Mr. Fantastic also led the team in the 1978 Fantastic Four TV series, voiced by Mike Road.

• Mr. Fantastic appeared in the 1994 animated series, voiced by Beau Weaver.

• Beau Weaver reprises his role of Mr. Fantastic in the The Incredible Hulk episode "Fantastic Fortitude." He and the other Fantastic Four take their vacation prior to Hulk, She-Hulk, and Thing fighting Leader's Gamma Soldiers.

• Mr. Fantastic appears toward the end of the 1994 Spider-Man TV series voiced by Cam Clarke. He and the Fantastic Four are among the heroes Spider-Man summons to a planet to help him against the villains the Beyonder brought there. He helps to awaken the dormant part of Curt Conners' mind in The Lizard.

• In a Saturday Night Live segment called "Superman's Funeral," Mister Fantastic was one of the attendees.

• Reed Richard's name is also briefly mentioned twice in the first episode of Spider-Man Unlimited. First mentioned in an interview, he is later seen again when Spider-Man gets some equipment from Reed which aids him in building his new stealth-uniform.

• Mr. Fantastic is included most recently in the 2006 Fantastic Four TV series voiced by Hiro Kanagawa.

• A parody of Mr. Fantastic is shown on the Adult Swim cartoon, The Venture Brothers. The show features a character named Professor Richard Impossible (voiced by comedian Stephen Colbert), who despite attaining the same powers as Mr. Fantastic, his team the Impossibles all suffer ridiculous and disfiguring versions; his wife Sally has to concentrate to turn her skin visible (leaving her flesh/muscle visible), her cousin Ned is covered in a pink, fleshy exoskeleton and her brother Cody will burst into flame when exposed to oxygen, at the cost of it almost burning him to death. Richard himself is a neglectful father to his son (whom he suspects isn't his) and an abusive and controlling husband to Sally, who eventually leaves him when he decides that science is more important than his family.

• In the Philippines, there is a comic book character named Lastikman that only has the ability to stretch his arms. He goes through the Philippines in a similar way to Spider-Man, replacing his webs with his arms.

• In a season 4 episode of Stargate Atlantis, "Travelers" Lt Col John Sheppard uses the alias Reed Richards when kidnapped.

• In the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode titled "Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off!", There is a moment where the family is transformed to resemble members of the Fantastic Four. Bart is Mr. Fantastic.

[edit] Film

Most recently, Mr. Fantastic has been played by actor Ioan Gruffudd in the 2005 film Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, alongside Jessica Alba as Invisible Woman, Michael Chiklis as the Thing, and Chris Evans as the Human Torch, and Julian McMahon as Doctor Doom. Both movies were directed by Tim Story. In the film continuity, Reed Richards is, initially, a brilliant but timid and pedantic scientist who, despite his genius-level understanding of the sciences and being (as he is described in the second film) "one of the 21st century's finest minds", is fiscally incompetent and nearing bankruptcy, forcing him to seek investment from Victor von Doom (in the film continuity a rival scientist and successful businessman) to further his projects. While the film continuity roughly follows the original comic storyline as to how Richards and the other members of the team received their superpowers, certain changes were made: in particular, Von Doom was a member of the expedition and received his powers at the same time as the Four, and Reed and Susan Storm were ex-lovers with, initially, an acrimonious relationship with one another. Richards works diligently on a cure, feeling responsible for Grimm's deformity, and gradually takes to his role as leader of the Four, while proposing to Susan in the end. In this film, his body is shown to obey the physical laws of rubber.

By the events of Rise of the Silver Surfer, Richards is, along with his teammates, an internationally recognized superhero and celebrity. Reed and Sue are now engaged, although Reed has trouble keeping himself from being distracted from his imminent wedding (which is established as the fifth attempt they have made). Both Reed and Sue contemplate abandoning their chaotic and heavily scrutinized lives as superheroes in order to provide a normal life to raise a family. However, the military enlist his help in order to track down the Silver Surfer, who creates craters around the world for his master, Galactus, to absorb all sentient life and annihilate Earth as with previous planets. Reed is forced to cooperate with a revived Victor Von Doom to accomplish this, and eventually battles Doom along with the rest of the Fantastic Four and the Surfer when Doom seizes the Surfer's board for his own purposes. Deciding to remain superheroes, Reed and Sue are eventually married in a small ceremony in Japan at the end of the film, moments before jetting off with Ben and Johnny to again save the world.

[edit] Video games

• Mr. Fantastic is a playable character, along with his other three comrades and The She-Hulk, in the Fantastic Four game for the Playstation.

• Mr. Fantastic has a cameo appearance in the Spider-Man game based on his 1990s animated series for Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo. By reaching certain levels of the game, Mr. Fantastic can be called a limited number of times for assistance.

• Reed is mentioned in Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.

• He is a playable character in the Fantastic Four (2005 video game) based on the 2005 film.

• Mr. Fantastic is a playable character in the game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance voiced by David Naughton. His costumes include his Classic costume, Ultimate costume, Original costume, and New Marvel costume. Mr. Fantastic has special dialogue with Arcade, Black Bolt, Bruce Banner, and Nick Fury. A simulation disk has Mr. Fantastic fighting Bulldozer in Murderworld.

• Mr. Fantastic is a playable character in the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer video game based on the movie Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

[edit] References

• MDP: Mister Fantastic - Marvel Database Project
• Official Marvel Picture site
• Official Fantastic Four movie webpage
• Official Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie webpage

[edit] External links

• Mister Fantastic Bio at Marvel.com
• Ultimate Mister Fantastic on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
• PrettyFakes considers the genius of Reed Richards.
• Marc Singer on Reed Richards and the Galactus Saga.

v • d • e Fantastic Four Main characters Mister Fantastic · The Invisible Woman · The Human Torch · The Thing Villains Annihilus · Aron · Blaastar · Devos · Diablo · Doctor Doom · Ego the Living Planet · Frightful Four · Galactus · Immortus · Impossible Man · Kree · Hyperstorm · Klaw · Mad Thinker · Mole Man · Occulus · Overmind · Paibok · Psycho-Man · Puppet Master · Rama-Tut · Red Ghost · Salem's Seven · Skrulls · Super-Skrull · Terminus · Terrax · Trapster · Kristoff Vernard · Wizard Supporting characters Agatha Harkness · Alyssa Moy · H.E.R.B.I.E. · Willie Lumpkin · Lyja · Alicia Masters · Franklin Richards · Valeria Richards · Nathaniel Richards · Dr. Franklin Storm · Wyatt Wingfoot · She Hulk · She-Thing Titles Main continuity: Fantastic Four · Four · The Thing Other continuities: Ultimate Fantastic Four · Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four · Marvel 1602: Fantastick Four · Fantastic Five Television Fantastic Four (1967) · Fantastic Four (1978) · Fantastic Four (1994) · Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes (2006) · Other appearances Films The Fantastic Four (1994) · Fantastic Four (2005) · Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) Related Baxter Building · Four Freedoms Plaza · Negative Zone · Unstable molecules · Video games