Marvel’s First Family, The Fantastic Four, are not only some of the most important Marvel characters of all time, but they also have some of the most important and powerful villains. After the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduced the mighty Galactus, and with the family’s archenemesis, Doctor Doom, as the main villain of Avengers: Doomsday, people find themselves speculating who could even be the villain of a potential sequel to this year’s most successful MCU release.
In the comic books, there are some really great villains that aren’t Doctor Doom or Galactus—two characters who have been pretty much the only Fantastic Four villains in cinema so far. This list isn’t about who could be the villain of a future sequel, but rather a celebration of the best villains for the Fantastic Four throughout their long history. Indeed, it can be easy to narrow down the team’s foes to just Doom and the devourer of worlds, but the truth is their rogues’ gallery is far more expansive.
7
Molecule Man (Owen Reece)
The Fantastic Four not only have some really cool villains, but some of the most powerful in comic books overall. Molecule Man, aka Owen Reece, is a powerful villain who can literally reshape reality as he sees fit, thanks to the ability to control and manipulate the molecules in every form of matter and energy, only stopped by mental blocks he secretly placed against himself that stop him from using the full extent of his powers.
That doesn’t matter too much, though, especially after he absorbed the power of the Beyonders. Now, Molecule Man is not just a near omnipotent being, but is also connected to and borderline one with all of the multiversal versions of himself. He has fought the Fantastic Four on numerous occasions and has a deep connection with characters like Silver Surfer and Doctor Doom. There’s a chance he may make an appearance in the MCU in Avengers: Secret Wars, given that, alongside Doom, he was one of the main antagonists of the most recent “Secret Wars” comic story.
6
Namor
While Namor can team up with the Fantastic Four sometimes and prove to be an ally, he’s more often been a villain, especially to Reed Richards. Namor consistently pursues Sue Storm romantically, making him a direct rival to Reed, but also a foe that’s not as ruthless to the four as others. Sue is usually able to appeal to him, especially because she’s not exactly indifferent to him.
This undersea ruler has an intense hatred for humanity and those who live on land, so he consistently wages war on places like New York City, with the Fantastic Four traditionally there to stop him. He’s a great reflection of Reed in his massive ego, love for Sue, and protectiveness over his people (for Reed, it’s his family). Namor is a pretty complex antagonist for the heroes. Following his first appearance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in the MCU and confirmed to be in Avengers: Doomsday, the chances of Namor interacting with the Fantastic Four on the big screen are also higher than ever.
5
Mole Man (Harvey Elder)
Mole Man has been a prominent villain in Marvel Comics, and the Fantastic Four specifically, for quite some time. Now, portrayed by Paul Walter Hauser in the team’s latest movie, the character is receiving some much-deserved attention. The film perfectly adapted the goofy nature of Mole Man while making it clear that he actually is a very powerful enemy. Mole Man has radar sense, a genius-level intellect, knows the martial arts style called kendo, and can collapse buildings from underneath the ground.
Despite being a funny villain, Mole Man truly is a major threat to New York City and has given the Fantastic Four a lot of trouble in the past. He holds a lot of cultural significance for them, too, because he was the very first enemy the group ever fought (in Fantastic Four #1 (1961)). Thus, Marvel Comics has always treated him pretty well, even if his schtick might seem a tad silly in the modern day.
4
Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards)
Kang the Conqueror may mostly be a villain for the entire Marvel Comics universe a lot of the time, but he has a very close connection to the Fantastic Four, given the fact that his true identity is none other than Nathaniel Richards, Reed’s father. Unlike the Kang from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the one from the comics is super interesting and absurdly strong. Comic book Kang may be one of the greatest threats to the whole Marvel universe, but being Reed’s father, he is most definitely a Fantastic Four villain first and foremost.
Kang’s dominance over time makes him a gigantic menace to the Fantastic Four and an emotional conflict for their genius leader. Having an emotional connection to a character like this helps a villain become a genuinely greater character, which is exactly what happened with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in the Captain America franchise, going from Captain America: The First Avenger all the way to Captain America: Civil War. Sadly, the MCU fumbled their version of Kang, but the one from the comics still slaps.
3
The Maker (Reed Richards)
In recent years, an alternate reality version of Reed Richards from the “Ultimate” universe, known as The Maker, has been one of the biggest villains in Marvel Comics. After the first iteration of the Ultimate universe was destroyed by Galactus, Reed managed to survive and transcend through the multiverse, making his way over to the main Earth-616. Since then, The Maker has gone on to rewrite another world to reshape a new Ultimate universe in his image. He stole origins from so many Marvel heroes and pretty much shifted an entire universe to be in his image. If that’s not villainy, what else could be?
In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Reed Richards’ (Pedro Pascal) ethics are tested, and with The Maker being a representation of every negative aspect of Reed, he makes for a great parallel that is a great commentary on the leader as a person. He’s definitely risen to multiverse-level villainy, but when he first came to Earth-616, he was a huge villain of the Fantastic Four—how could he not be? This multiversal baddie challenges Reed in ways he cannot and has not been in other scenarios with other villains, making him very compelling in many diverse ways—a perfect villain for the Fantastic Four.
2
Super Skrull (Kl’rt)
While the “Secret Invasion” crossover in the comic books was a huge, Marvel universe-spanning story, the Skrull species has been a specific span in the side of Marvel’s most lovable quartet—in the form of what is known as the Super Skrull. The Skrull Empire crafted this being to specifically kill the Fantastic Four, as he holds the power of every single member of the family. This makes this faction of Skrull extremely powerful and forces the First Family to help each other take on the weakest parts of themselves.
The Super Skrull, also known as Kl’rt, is a perfect villain for these heroes, not just because of his power sets, but because of his dark reflection of the family. Not to mention, the Fantastic Four have always been the Earth-based team in Marvel that has really focused on taking on cosmic threats, so he is a pretty obvious villain for them to be fighting consistently. Unfortunately for fans of the MCU, potentially looking forward to seeing this character come to life, Secret Invasion kind of butched the whole Super Skrull concept. Maybe one day they’ll make up for it and find a way to bring a comic-accurate Super Skrull one day. One can dream.
1
Annihilus
While he has ventured to be a primary antagonist for the entire cosmic Marvel universe before, Annihilus is primarily a Fantastic Four villain, first appearing in Fantastic Four Annual #6 (1968). An insectoid whose sole goal (most of the time) is to take over the pocket dimension known as the Negative Zone, Annihilus inherently comes across these four, given their frequent use, travel, and study of the Zone. Because of their proximity to the Negative Zone, the Fantastic Four definitely don’t want a guy like Annihilus taking control.
Not only does Annihilus have super strength, agility, speed, and durability, but he also has wings. In his big story that affected the entire Marvel universe, “Annihilation,” Annihilus broke free of the Negative Zone to launch an attack and all-out war on the positive matter dimension. During this event, he was able to conquer a large array of planets in the universe and wreaked total, well, annihilation. In fact, it was this large-scale invasion that formed the modern era of the Guardians of the Galaxy that people know from the MCU today. When it comes to villains for the Fantastic Four, Annihilus may be one of the closest to rivaling the scale of Doom and Galactus on a story level.