The Many Powers Of The Fantastic Four Explained

Frantic anticipation surrounds the recently-announced "Fantastic Four" Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot — which has been in the works for a while and a long time coming — that is set to be released in theaters on July 25, 2025. While that is a pretty long wait time, good things should be allowed to gestate at their own pace, especially when a potential 1960s setting could veer the project in interesting directions. The Fantastic Four were one of the first Marvel Comics superhero groups to introduce a sense of realism into the genre's hyperreal narratives, with creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby focusing on the personal motivations of the team's individual members on a deep, nuanced level. As the reboot has the chance to reinforce what makes these comic book characters so special and refreshing, the hype surrounding the film is more than warranted.

To understand the range of powers that the "Four" themselves wield, we need to dive into their comic book origins, as explained in 1961's "The Fantastic Four" #1. Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Susan Storm, and her brother Johnny Storm underwent a life-altering event together during an experimental space flight, which granted them various abilities. The aftermath of this incident propelled them into popularity, turning them into media sensations after they decided to stick together as a team and use their powers for good. The Fantastic Four share a unique dynamic amongst themselves; they are not merely a group working together to fight for what's right but a family committed to supporting one another (amidst dysfunctional shenanigans).

Let's dissect their originating incident and how it impacted every member of the group, along with how their powers work, according to Marvel Comics history.

Reed and Ben had been friends since their college days and the two often talked about space exploration and travel, while Susan (Sue) and her brother Johnny met them through acquaintances and soon became fast friends. As Reed was always passionate about space travel, he was able to secure government financing for a spaceship that could have allowed humanity to travel freely through space. After things did not work out and the project was abruptly shut down, Reed and the gang broke into the official facility and took the new spacecraft out for a spin. While the mission was technically a success, the group was subsequently exposed to cosmic radiation of an alarming concentration, causing their ship to crashland back to Earth.

Miraculously, all four of them survived. However, the exposure to the radiation altered their DNAs on a fundamental level, leading to different kinds of powers. Reed had greater elasticity and could bend his body in any direction, Sue gained powers of invisibility, and Johnny attained fire powers. Only Ben was altered beyond recognition, as his enhanced strength caused his body to turn orange and rock-like, making a reversal to his human form impossible.

Reed convinced his friends to embrace these newfound abilities to help change the world for good and dubbed himself Mister Fantastic. Agreeing with his noble vision, Sue took on the name Invisible Girl (later changed to Woman as she aged) while Johnny called himself the Human Torch. As Ben was hit the hardest by his transformation and was somewhat repulsed by his loss of humanity, he named himself The Thing. Thus, The Fantastic Four were born.

Being the most academically inclined among the four, Reed grew up to be a polymath with an incredible understanding of all kinds of sciences. Using this vast knowledge to his benefit, he used his primary ability, plasticity, to convert his body mass into any kind of malleable state within seconds. As body distention is integral to wide-ranged fights, he can move around freely, although the distance of body expansion greatly reduces his overall strength. Reed can absorb bullets or any grave impact, and he once used his incredible ability to save other superheroes from being crushed by a mountain. Along with shape-changing due to his malleability, he can even contain the density of explosions (to a limit) and direct the trajectory of projectiles with the help of his superhuman reflexes.

It is also known that Reed can imitate others by taking on their features, although there has to be some latent similarity in base features for this to seem believable. A good example of this is when Reed buffed his body up to mimic the proportions of his friend, Ben (The Thing), and struck the psionic entity Onslaught, managing to stagger him. This is an impressive feat — Onslaught is the manifestation of the merging of the consciousness of two powerful mutants, Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto.

In terms of offense-based abilities, Reed can form his fists into any type of bludgeoning weapon, and his innate super strength and agility grant him an edge in combat. He's also an excellent lockpicker, as he can will his fingers into keys that fit into any lock slot.

Ever since Sue got her powers of invisibility, she has been reluctant to push them to their limits, believing that they should be used only when absolutely necessary. This aspect grants us a limited understanding of her power ceiling, as Sue has never delved into her true potential out of her own volition. Apart from rendering herself invisible, Sue can project her powers onto her surroundings to make objects or people invisible — the largest surface area she has succeeded in manipulating so far is an entire planet. Sue can only use her powers for offensive purposes, as her ability to make optic nerves invisible can turn people blind for a short time.

Another ability Sue has is the use of Psionic Hyperspace Force Fields, where her mutated cells can produce concentrated energy that can be molded into shields of any size and shape. This Psionic force also allows her to fly and levitate, and she can also construct force-field pathways to bypass obstructions. Her force fields can only block out telekinesis, though, and she once used this ability to protect herself and others when Jean Grey fought against her. Although there are limits to her force fields, as the durability depends directly on her ability to maintain these structures, they have been proven stable enough to briefly endure blasts from the likes of Galactus.

As the force fields can be shaped into lethal objects, Sue has often used them to induce shock waves or shut out the primary systems in one's body. Moreover, her invisible force also allows her to emit a low-frequency radar, allowing her to detect objects or people within a limited radius.

Johnny primarily wields Pyrogenesis, where he can control heat while safely setting parts of his body on fire. He can also shift into a pure plasma form, which also generates additional energy to fuel his altered body functions, allowing him to shift into a semi-solid state that allows projectiles to pass through him without causing harm. As fire manipulation is his forte, he can mold fire into any shape, including knives and lassos, which he uses extensively during combat.

The density and heat of these various states tend to fluctuate, and the hottest levels of plasma that Johnny can create are known as Nova Flames. When all of his energy is expended into this creation, Johnny can create powerful Nova bursts that potentially have the same effect as a nuclear detonation with a smaller area of impact. Moreover, his powers also allow him to fly (thanks to the excess hydrogen in plasma that creates natural buoyancy), and he can use this to his advantage to travel at superhuman speed within a short amount of time.

Naturally, Johnny is resistant to cold temperatures, as his internal body heat can be manipulated as per will, which also makes him immune to fire that has a lower intensity than his maximum heat output. Given his inherent durability and resistance to the elements, he is incredibly flexible during hand-to-hand combat, as he was able to take multiple hits from Namor, the hybrid mutant.

Finally, Ben's abilities easily make him one of the strongest superheroes on Earth, as his orange, rocky exterior and toughened internal organs shield him from inordinate amounts of damage. These drastic cell-level mutations also prevent him from aging, but he can revert to his human form once a year later in the comics with the help of a special serum, which is the only time he ages naturally. Moreover, his mutation accelerates over time, lending to enhanced super strength and durability, which he honed further with rigorous training. In various instances, Ben has stopped huge structures from falling over and has even prevented a massive alien spaceship from plummeting on Earth. He is also known to have broken out of Adamantium chains, which are traditionally described as virtually indestructible.

Comparisons between him and The Hulk are inevitable, and the two have often fought against one another in the comics, where they are typically portrayed as rivals. Although The Thing is considerably weaker than Hulk in his Savage or Immortal forms, he was able to hold off the attacks pretty well and even gain an upper hand in some situations. As Ben also possesses superhuman stamina, he can exert himself to extreme levels without issues and even breathe underwater due to the inhuman nature of his altered organs.

In terms of more traditional human skills, Ben can handle any craft exceptionally well and even has experience as an astronaut, which helped him fly the craft that he and his friends stole from the base before they were all transformed. Acutely aware of his strength post-transformation, Ben deliberately limits his abilities like Sue, as he is aware that unchecked usage can potentially cause irreparable harm to innocents. And, oh, he can also play the saxophone.