Warning: Contains spoilers for Fantastic Four #38!
The Wizard has just unleashed one of the most devastating attacks ever perpetrated against the Fantastic Four and he didn’t have to throw a punch, blast them with a laser, or hatch an elaborate plot to do so. In a truly diabolical ploy to hit them right where it hurts most, he called them an unfit family and has brought them to court to back up his claim. Given that the Fantastic Four have been defined by their family dynamic since their inception, this attack by The Wizard is a particularly painful one, especially given that he just may have a solid case against Marvel’s First Family.
This Ben and Alicia Grimm adopting two alien children.
The heart of the Wizard’s argument is that the Future Foundation is not a safe harbor for these children after all, as the Richards and Grimms continually expose their children to danger. This defense is revealed in Fantastic Four #38 by Dan Slott, sco Manna, and Jesus Aburtov, as The Wizard piles on with questionable parenting decisions that are taken out of context. Among some of the lowlights are his claims that the Richards abandoned the Future Foundation in space, while arranging for their biological children’s safe age to Earth. He also argues that the Grimms are doing nothing to temper the murderous ways of the child soldiers they adopted, like Kree solider Jo-Venn and Skrull soldier N’Kalla, with the Thing setting a bad example through his violence. In doing so, the fitness of the entire Fantastic Four family is called into question, with the judge leaning towards stripping them of custody, which was undoubtedly The Wizard’s plan all along.
Attempting to break up the Fantastic Four’s growing family is an attack on everything they stand for. Moreso than any other heroic families, they have always embraced that they are a family first—a family who just happens to have superpowers and enjoys saving the world together. When their children ed the fray, it just seemed like a natural extension of a formula that has been in place for 60 years. Yet, times have changed. So, putting children in harm’s way is scrutinized more than ever before and The Wizard expertly uses this zeitgeist to his advantage. Reed Richards may have had the best of intentions in founding the Future Foundation and filling it with bright minds, but he is flawed by a lack of foresight. His comfort in exposing these young heroes to danger means it is no super-stretch to question his parenting.
This is an attack that is not unfounded, yet it must be noted that the Fantastic Four have not yet advocated in their own defense. Heroes like Spider-Man and Robin started as teens, putting themselves in harm’s way on their own volition, so it could be that the youngsters take the stand to save the day by reinforcing their parents’ choices. Either way, The Wizard's notion to question the Fantastic Four’s fitness as a family is psychological warfare at its nastiest.
