Marvel Is Retconning One Of The Fantastic Four's Biggest Stories
Shaun Corley has been with ScreenRant for over 5 years, and is currently the Coordinator for PR and Outreach for the Comics Team.
Warning: contains possible spoilers for Doomquest #5!
Marvel is retconning one of The Fantastic Four’s biggest stories. The Fantastic Four are pillars of the Marvel Universe. As such, the team’s earliest adventures helped lay its foundation. The Fantastic Four’s first stories introduced characters and places to Marvel continuity that continue to appear, 60+ years after they debuted.
Released at the tail end of 1965, Fantastic Four #48 heralded the arrival of a new type of comic book character: one so powerful, so beyond human comprehension that they transcend standard notions of hero and villain. His name was Galactus. Immensely powerful, god-like characters were no strangers to the pages of The Fantastic Four. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had already introduced Uatu the Watcher, the Molecule Man and the shape-shifting Skrulls. Yet Galactus towered above them all, figuratively and literally. Even the Skrulls were afraid of Galactus.
Running through issue #50, the story of Galactus’ first appearance on Earth raised the bar for superhero comics. The three-issue story arc holds up well 60 years later. Lee and Kirby build the suspense throughout issue #48. By the time readers see Galactus in full, it is too late: he has already arrived on Earth. The team had to think on a bigger scale than ever before to stop him, and in the process, created a bona-fide Marvel legend. Now, in a preview for Doomquest #5, Marvel is poised to retcon it.
Doctor Doom Has Arrived At A Crucial Moment In Marvel History: The Arrival of Galactus
Will Doctor Doom Change The Course Of The Battle?
The preview for Doomquest #5, written by Ryan North and drawn by Francesco Mobili, opens with the time-hopping Doctor Doom leaping into the body of Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman. Doctor Doom quickly masters Sue’s powers, and he realizes he has jumped to a critical moment in the history of the Marvel Universe: the arrival of Galactus.
Doctor Doom thinks back to the day of Galactus’ attack. He notes he was in Latveria that day, and was unable to do anything about it. The preview does not state what exactly Doom was doing then, but he believes that if he had been there, matters would have gone much differently. Doctor Doom shortchanges the team’s victory, attributing it to “luck alone,” as well as the Watcher’s help. The preview ends with Doctor Doom flaunting his new abilities, and it teases that he will get involved in the fight against Galactus.
Doctor Doom Has A Serious Advantage Over The Fantastic Four
Doctor Doom was indeed not present for Galactus’ first appearance, but the two would encounter each other many times in the years ahead, and the potential showdown that is brewing in the preview for Doomquest #5 has the chance to rewrite history. The Doctor Doom who takes control of Sue’s body has one advantage in his favor: he has studied Galactus thoroughly, and has even bested the planet eater in combat. Doom will have knowledge of Galactus that Reed does not, and this can be used to their advantage.
Furthermore, if Doctor Doom is successful in defeating Galactus, it would satisfy his ego by giving him something to lord over the leader of The Fantastic Four for the rest of their lives.
However, it is likely that Doctor Doom is fighting Galactus for his own reasons. Doom has a massive ego, and he intensely hates Reed Richards. Doom could potentially use his knowledge of Galactus as leverage against Richards. Furthermore, if Doctor Doom is successful in defeating Galactus, it would satisfy his ego by giving him something to lord over the leader of The Fantastic Four for the rest of their lives. Finally, it gives Marvel a chance to retcon one of the team’s biggest stories by placing Doom in the thick of it.
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