Marvel Explores The Fantastic Four Of The Future In 100th Anniversary Special

Leaping forward in time is all the rage in super hero comics these days, and the Big Two don’t need much of an excuse to send characters into the future. Marvel has come up with a pretty cool reason for doing it with its very first super hero team though: it wants to explore what the 100th anniversary of the Fantastic Four might look like.

Since the FF got its start back in 1961, that means zooming ahead to the year 2061, which is exactly what writer Jen Van Meter and artist Joanna Estep are doing in 100th Anniversary Special – Fantastic Four #1. But this definitely isn’t Marvel’s first family as you know it today. With Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch and Doctor Doom all missing and believed to be dead, a new lineup will have to come together — and the characters in it just might prove to be a shock. There’s also the stunning return of a key figure from the FF’s past that has to be dealt with in order to ensure the legacy carries on.

“We’ve had a bunch of anniversaries lately at Marvel,” Senior Editor Nick Lowe said in an interview with Marvel.com. “Most of our character have had their 50^th anniversary in the pasts couple years, We’re right in the middle of Marvel’s 75^th anniversary as well. It was [former Senior Editor] Steve Wacker’s idea originally that it would be fun to tackle a 100^th anniversary, to imagine our characters as they might be in 40 or 50 years.”

More 100th anniversary issues are on the way, including one-shots for the Avengers, X-Men and Spider-Man. But the 100th Anniversary Special – Fantastic Four #1 leads the way on July 2. Take a gander at the preview pages below for an idea of what this particular future looks like.