3 hours Ago By David Harth
One World Under Doom has shook up the Fantastic Four, and Fantastic Four #31 finds the team dealing with Doom’s latest act against the Fantastic Four. In One World Under Doom #2, Doom was able to cure the Thing of his powers, a move that took the Fantastic Four out of the fight completely. This has left the Fantastic Four the Terrific Three (not really, but can you imagine), and that’s a bigger problem than anyone realized at the moment of Ben Grimm’s power loss.
Ben says as much to his wife Alicia in the beginning of Fantastic Four #31 and reminds readers of a plot point from one of the better Thing comics out there — 2017’s Marvel Two-In-One. This series was part of the failed Marvel Legacy publishing initiative, and took place while Reed, Sue, and the Richards kids were out re-creating the multiverse, starring the Thing and the Human Torch as they dealt with the loss of their friends.However, there was another major plot point to the series.
Back then, the Thing and the Human Torch realized that there was something about their cosmic rays that worked best together, and when the team was too far apart, their powers would fade. With the Thing’s body cured of the cosmic rays, the team is in danger of losing their powers completely, making an act that seemed altruistic art on Doom’s part and shows it for yet another attempt to destroy the Fantastic Four.The End of the Fantastic Four?One World Under Doom has presented Doom’s action so far as somewhat altruistic.
The book has said multiple times that he’s taken over the world because he’s the only one who could fix the problems of the Earth. His curing of the Thing seems like yet another one of these altruistic acts. Now, obviously, there was a heaping helping of trying to one-up Reed Richards in there, but making the Thing Ben Grimm again can seem like an act that shows that Doom has changed his spots.
However, Fantastic Four #31 shows otherwise. See, the Thing and Human Torch weren’t the only people in Marvel Two-In-One, the Infamous Iron Man was a member of the book’s cast for a time. Doom teamed up with his two long time enemies, and knew about what was happening with their powers.
The team-up between the three of them made a pretty good team back then, but it’s plain to see that Doom filed away the factoid about their fading powers, all so he could later take advantage of it at some point.RELATED: One of Marvel’s Strangest Fantastic Four Villains ReturnsSo, Doom’s action curing the Thing was definitely a shot at the team, one that he hoped no one would see until it was too late. Fantastic Four #31 sees the team decide to take a combination temporal/multiversal jaunt, all in an effort to expose the Thing to cosmic rays again, and get his powers back.
It’s a good plan, but it doesn’t work, ending with the team accidentally erasing themselves from existence when the Thing secretly sets the multiversal coordinates back to the 616 universe. So, what happens next? Well, obviously, the Thing gets his powers back somehow. The seeds to this are planted in Fantastic Four #31 — Valeria Richards.
Valeria narrates the issue’s story, which means that Valeria somehow still exists in a universe where her parents never gained their powers and remembers the old universe. Valeria has long been something of a deus ex machina as a character — she’s smart on a level that make most other characters look very dumb, and seems to have a preternatural understanding of basically any situation. Valeria will be the key to undoing this entire situation.
Valeria Richards Is the Team’s Only HopeThe loss of the Thing’s powers seemed like it was just yet another way for Doom to prove that he was better than Reed, all while robbing the Fantastic Four of their muscle. However, it’s much more of a devious plan than anyone figured, leading the Fantastic Four to a mistake that cost them their entire existence. The team’s only hope seems to be Valeria, because somehow she remembers everything from the old universe.
However, I don’t think Valeria is going to be able to do it all herself. She’s going to need help. I think Valeria is going to go to the Doom of this new version of the universe.
It will be hard for her to convince Doom to help, but there’s an easy way for her to convince Doom to help — by telling him about the world that would be if the Fantastic Four existed. Doom is in the Emperor of the world in the present where the Fantastic Four exists, so I think Valeria will use that as a way to convince him to help. Remember — Doom has always had a time machine, something Valeria wouldn’t have access to in a world where the Fantastic Four doesn’t exist.
Valeria is going to have her work cut out for her, but she always finds a way to win.Fantastic Four #31 is on sale now.The post This May Be the End of the Fantastic Four (And It’s All Doom’s Fault) appeared first on ComicBook.
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