Sue Richards's powers are on my top five list of power sets I would love to have. I don't know why Sue is so sidelined, she is sincerely OP. She's basically an Invisible Lantern, creating force fields and projections with her mind -- no ring needed. She has psionics, including telepathy, psychic shielding, and psychic sensitivity. She can also control light, see invisible things, and is immune to sunburns. And despite the fact that Reed Richards is supposed to be the smart one, Sue makes better decisions and doesn't destroy the Earth nearly as much. She seriously oughtta be running shit.

I’m a little disappointed Reed didn’t put his brain on top of a purple bear and use that as a body, I mean his brain is already kind of purple, they would totally match… but then again I’m a huge Evil Con Carne fan lol

5:04 I recall her using this to absolutely wreck a brainwashed Wolverine at one point, when he tries to kill her son. She blinds him by turning his eyeballs invisible (thus unable to process light) and suffocates him by placing tiny forcefields in his lungs. She also implies she could expand said forcefields to make his chest explode. It's freakin' terrifying. Don't threaten Sue's kids.

Reeds powers seem like most of a “stretch” lol I see what you did there

Reed’s original power reasoning and Sue’s new power reasoning seem like the biggest stretches, figuratively and literally.

What if Sasha could keep track of all of her books? Would she fight evil with her new found powers of bibliomancy?

If I had to give them new powers I would give them these Reed: technopathy Sue: visions of past and future Johnny: super speed Ben: healing factor

I'm mainly a DC guy, but I remember that great What If about the FF all getting the same power. Four stories in one issue, and the one where they all became Things was quite grim...

"'The Living Brain' kind of sounds like a villain name" well, we are talking about Reed Richards, so...

Elasticity I connected it to Reed's hustle: from being raised almost by himself, getting the rocket, working with nasa, his trumped college carreer, working to give Sue a good future married life and partially raising Johnny, His curiosity, how with his mind working in dlfferent things at the same time makes him distant. The poor man stretch to thin. That's why I love tge comics that put the light on Sue, Ben, Johnny and The FF inc Staff with their different jobs and responsabilities that keep the FF as heroes, researchers, Open Science Hub alive, how the family cooperates so is not a One Person Job anymore

I think the fly part of Ben's wings is referring the line details going across the pink parts similar to an actual fly's wings.

One thing that it took me forever to realize what a fantastic four is that the powers are the old concept of elements… Earth (Ben), Air (Sue), Fire (Johnny) and Water (Richard). There’s an interview with Kirby when he breaks down…

Their powers are also based on the 4 classic Elements: Ben: Earth Johnny: Fire Reed: Water Sue: Air

I really am having trouble wrapping my mind around the buff watcher. He is so buff but that doesn’t explain the head being so thermos like. I loved this recap. Seeing this version of the FF made my mind wander into a rabbit hole of swapping powers that I am having trouble clawing my way out of.

if I gave them new powers they would be: Reed: Telepathy/telekinesis Sue: Healing along with the ability to weld objects together Johnny: the ability to turn himself into fire along with creating fire constructs and duplicates. Ben: Give him a kind of hypbrid mandragon appearance with the powers you would expect from a dragon.

I think I already talked about this issue in the past, so I'll try not to repeat myself. But I still love this idea, maybe some slight changes, like making Johnny more like Upgrade from Ben 10. I also like how Big Brain actually came back in MC2, It three me off when I first saw the new version of the FF. Sue is just Elastigirl lol

From reading early Fantastic Four, Sue is certainly often responsible for de-escalating team squabbles, but she doesn't come off as a doormat at all. I think she actually had a pretty strong personality right off the bat. And I think it's obvious early on that her powers are extremely useful. Especially compared to early Jean Grey, she's often critical to solving the problem at hand.

Cross team power switch is still too small, we need cross company power switch. I wanna see Bruce Banner with Poison Ivy's pheromone powers and poison kiss.

It feels like a better explanation for the type of powers Sue manifests would've been her desire to protect others, seeing as she can create forcefields.

When Dr Doom spoke about putting Big Brain in an anthropomorphic suit, all I could imagine was Krang's android body from TMNT.

Wow, I haven't thought of that issue in literally 45 years. I had just turned 13 when this issue came out. Back then I had to go 20 miles to a city and go around to all the different drug stores to get various titles as their distribution route matched certain titles, I noticed. There were no comic-book stores. Thanks for the memory and the story of what became of those characters.

If Doom was upset about Reed taking his face before, how would he feel about him taking his body?

"It's a rarity for Reed..Cherish it." Ahh that salty shade on Reed is why I love when the FF are covered!

Mentioning how the F4's powers stem from their subconscious personality traits reminds me of Mythos by Paul Jenkins and Paolo Rivera, origin story re-tellings of various Marvel superheroes. The F4 chapter revealed exactly what the four's thoughts were at the moment of their changing and the chaos of the crashing rocket: Reed feared losing Sue wanted to *reach out* to her, Sue was scared and wanted to *disappear* , Ben was angry and didn't want to die *like this* , and Johnny kept thinking about how *hot* it was.

I've always appreciated reed and Susan's relationship. It's the only relationship in comics that hasn't been ruined/temporary Then any other relationship in comics. They were considered the 1st marriage in comics And they're really the only ones that have stayed together even after all these years. Where the separation and melodrama other romantic feelings is always played as a gimmick to return to the status quo not the other way around Is terrifyingly rare.

Johnny is probably also an android because the original Human Torch was an android.

"Although from those descriptions, Reed's seemed like the most of a stretch." I see what you did there.

5:35 I can't stop chuckling at that Watcher. He looks like someone took the limbs off of a He-Man toy and put them on a very serious looking baby

Reed's powers do indeed seem like a bit of a stretch.

Oh yes, this one was one of my FAVORITE issues from the first What If? series. Always wanted this version of the FF to make some sort of comeback.

"Think Tank" would have been a good alterative to Big Brain

Ah! I should have known this would be a What If adventure. The FF do lead some interesting lives even for comics.

"Reeds powers seemed the most of a stretch" I see what you did there 🙂

Reed's brain flushing around in tubes makes me think of New Vegas.

"Reed's seemed like more of a stretch" and it looks like you didn't notice your own pun.

Poor Sue,in that What If # 11.The one where they all become “Things” she irreversibly became a mindless Man-thing type creature.

It's fun to think of more advanced versions of these characters as their story unfolds; -Ben: some measure of enhanced strength and endurance, perhaps fire-breath, even a temporary transformation into a full dragon form? -Johnny; full control of metal, plastic and glass, allowing him to instantly create custom mechanical devices at his whim (battle armor, shields, shelters, transports, power cannons, etc) from nearby raw materials. The ability to create AI's to infect target systems to his advantage, from antagonist robots to security systems now at his command. -Sue: maybe turn into liquid (shape of...a bucket of water!) and gaseous forms, or even 'more' solid, super strong 'rock-like' form. She could attack like an enormous fog bank that can manifest powerful fists that vanish just as quick, then trap her opponent in a liquid sphere until they fall unconscious. Perhaps gain mimicry abilities like Mystique. -Reed; (in either form) increase his intellect and telepathic abilities, rivaling those of Prof. X. Even access the whole psionic cataloge of powers in time (telekinesis, clairsentience, teleportation, precognition, postcognition, empathy). Perhaps becoming so alien eventually that he can't relate to his mere human teammates anymore...so Doom will have to reemerge to save the world from the alien-god-being that Reed becomes!

If no one has said it already, I'd like to point out that the explanation of Reed's powers as related to his willingness to go any lengths in pursuit of truth seems a bit of a stretch.

This version of the FF reminds me of both the Doom Patrol and the X-Men. Reed=Xavier, Johnny=Robotman, Sue=Elastigirl, Ben=Angel.

•Reed: got telepathy if he had telekinesis it could’ve been an upgrade to Sue’s power •Ben: got Johnny’s flying ability but without the offensive or defensive power, and his wings could be damaged making him more vulnerable then Johnny. •Sue: got Reed’s powers direct conversion •Johnny: got Ben’s strength plus being a technopath so he’s the only one to get a power upgrade, although he’s seemingly less durable then Ben

Reed Richards - The Towering Intellect

I've actually thought about this a fair bit, and know exactly what powers I'd give them all. Reed, Mr Fantastic: Logic based reality warping. Think something along the lines of Dr Manhattan and you'd be on the right track. Reed's mind is on such a higher level that he can just intuit the secrets of the universe, yet he's so wrapped up in logic that he's emotionally repressed to an almost frightening degree. I'm just taking that to the logical extreme; this version of Reed can do pretty much anything he can imagine, so long as he's able to figure out the science behind it. The catch is he'd grow more and more emotionally dethatched and loose his "humanity." This Reed would rapidly loose interest in Sue, and see no point in curing Ben. Sue, She-Hulk: Predating the Jen Walters version of the character would free Sue to take the moniker in tribute to her old friend and colleague Bruce Banner. Sue has traditionally been something of a background character, and came about in the time when a "woman's place" was to be quiet and out of the way. In short; woman's carrying around a lot of repressed baggage. So this version of Sue would become more physically powerful based on her emotions. Not just rage, but all of them including joy or pleasure. Chief among them however would be confidence. Seeking out Banner to learn the ins and outs of the power set, Sue would quickly realize the more assertive and expressive she becomes, the more overtly powerful. And the more unstoppable she becomes, the more confident and fulfilled. This creates a self esteem feedback loop that led to her becoming among the world's most powerful heroes, and the unquestioned leader of the Fantastic Four. Invisible no longer, and never again. Of course with unlimited confidence and "unstoppable power" naturally comes reckless disregard. Dopamine is a hell of a drug, dopamine with a side of super strength even more so. Johnny Storm, Wiz Kid: Johnny has always been a bit reckless, and in some comics a bit of an adrenaline junkie. So we're ramping this up to extremes; Johnny has super speed, as well as speed relative healing. That is the faster he's going, the faster his body recovers from injuries. But there is a catch, as there always is. Johnny's healing powers counter the effects of aging, leaving him perpetually stunted into the body of a teenager. Even decades later he's still seen as the same dumb kid he always was, because he sort of still is. While this obviously complicates relationships, you could still argue its a small price to pay for biological immortality...until you realize it means he's been stuck going through puberty for the last sixty years. Ben Grimm, Hysterical: Ben's also been defined by, more than anything else, his emotional core. He's the man inside the monster, the soft heart encased in stone, a joyous soul trapped in a cold exterior. So we're ramping this up too; Grimm's new powers are emotion based psychokinesis. Functioning more as an empath than a telepath, he can intensify or repress the emotions of anyone he wishes, inspiring extreme confidence or reducing the toughest foe to a complete quivering mess. In addition to this he can project psychic force fields that's strength is directly proportional to his own willpower and self control; his "emotional walls." The catch is that being such a naturally empathic and emotional person means he can't easily suppress his powers, and is constantly being assaulted by the emotions of strangers and his own teammates. Being near Sue and Johnny can actually be painful, while sticking close to Reed is the closest thing he can manage to "peace and quiet." Bonus character Victor Von Doom, The Sorcerer King: Doom's backstory doesn't change...much. The big alteration comes after his first run in with the FF4. In Reed he sees what a "cold unfeeling engine of logic" actually looks like, and notice that while Reed is technically the most powerful being in the universe, his more impulsive and emotional teammates run circles around him. In response to this Doom ditches the armor that cuts him off from such things, and commits to his own intuition and creativity as to "out maneuver" his foe. Likewise due to a fluke of his powers Reed can't comprehend magic, and Doom is not only a scientific genius, but one of the world's most powerful sorcerers. Reed's mind being hard-locked into science and logic can't predict or even comprehend an emotional and spontaneous Doom, and his reality warping powers can't touch Doom or his arcane conjurations. A problem that gets even more exasperated when Doom eventually tracks down and allies with his long lost half-sister; Wanda Maximoff. (Both are Romani, and the comics go back and forth on Wanda's family tree constantly, so...the plot, as they say, thickens.)

“Although form those descriptions Reed’s seems most of a *stretch* ” YOU DID NOT 😆

“What If” was a very well written comic book. It was like a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode. Great ideas and stories which had us talking for hours about the issues (nerding out in the 80s.). A Fantastic Four variation issue was What if the Beatles had the FF powers. It was cute. You asked about new powers for the FF here you go: Johnny: Karma Lad-Who would pass along bad luck to anyone because he always had bad luck with the ladies. Ben: Because he was big and powerful the cosmic rays put him in the body of a 1 year old retaining his adult mind with super strength. Think Diaper Man of the Mighty Heroes but no diapers. He would become Onzees. Reed: can still be the Atomic Brain and has electro kinesis. Uses it to control his Fantasti-Bots which he uses from time to time. Sue won’t have body issues with him then. Sue: Ultra Woman-fight baddies with cosmic rays and can pass through objects. *How about a episode on when Sue Storm became Malice Queen of Hate*

"Johnny going full Colossus." Only if he did the yell. OOOOAAAAAAGGGHHH! ;)

Okay this is fun. Let me come up with some powers for them. Reed - Basically his physical body turns into digital information where he can only exist inside computers but can hop from machine to machine of his own power in a limited range. Part of his capabilities are limited by the machine he's in, but his intelligence is vastly enhanced and focused in this digital form while also granting him limited technopathy of machines hooked up to his host. Obviously this strains his relationship with the team and makes it hard to cling onto a sense of humanity. Ben - Gets a sweeter deal this time around where he can absorb matter by converting it into energy and it temporarily transforms him into a slightly larger, denser version of himself. He can continue absorbing matter and it will turn him stronger and heavier, but it will also eventually phase out and he'll return to his normal self. Sue - Intangibility which can lead to invisibility if she phases through light specifically. Johnny - Human.... flashlight.

I recall the first time I encountered the FF (not sure if it was the cartoon or a comic, because I only read DC in the 60's), they were recounting their origin for the umpteenth time, but the way I remember it, it had to do with the last thing they ate. Johhny had spicy food, Ben ate some rock candy, Reed had taffy (or maybe Spaghetti?), and Sue had... nothing. Hence, their powers. I wish I could recall where that was from. Also, its a good thing Sue didn't go with Elastigirl... otherwise she would have become the victim of countless butt fan-fics and pics.

You know what would be a great name for this Susan Storm? Elastigirl.

@9:45 man, that would've sucked if the cosmic rays had turned her into a literal, sentient doormat 😁

Tony and Doom as roommates, both are found dead would be what really happens. I would prefer that they become a boy band to make money, funding Doom's schooling.

It’s a fun way to easily switch things up, I guess you can say this fantastic trope. (I know this is repeat from last time fantastic four vid now. It just work so well…

"Sue doesn't want to be in a TLC special" I'M CRYIN'

"Reed's seemed like the most of a stretch." I see what you did there.

My favourite What If? involved Conan the Barbarian ending up in modern 616 and becoming a criminal kingpin. He ends up fighting -- and kicking the snot out of -- Captain America. At the end of the comic, Conan is so impressed with the honour of Captain America that he wonders whether he might be fighting for the wrong side, with the implication that he might one day become an Avenger. That was my favourite What If? of all time, and I've always thought that this should make mainstream continuity. Marvel lost the rights to Conan, but with Disney's infinitely deep pockets, it wouldn't be hard to get them back. Can you imagine Conan the Barbarian in the MCU?

7:12... I see what you did there, Sasha.

The FF are cool but I truly never got them, their powers are a physical manifestation of their personality. Reed, pursuit of science = stretching Sue, keeps the team together = Invisibility Ben, pilot = rock man Johnny, reckless young brother = a real life human torch🤔 it all doesn't make sense but maybe that's just how they were thinking back then so they found a way to eventually make it work 🤔👍🤔

It would be interesting if they got powers that weren't useful... Reed suddenly can't see other people (just everything else). Johnny can move super fast, but can't think fast enough to keep up with his body... There are lots of interesting things that can be done.

swapping the powers around is always fun Reed gaining Ben's power because of his rigid personality and it leading him to hide himself in his work more. Ben gaining johnny's power cause he's just as much a hot head show boat but I think adding the idea that his girlfriend still being alicia as she still the only one that loves him for his heart. Sue being pliable is so easy like that so yeah the emotional one bending over backwards to get the group together makes sense. Johnny getting his sister power well airhead jokes a plenty, mischief made invisible and him being an unconventional type who's efforts are unseen and gets ruled out as a layabout do nothing.

"Reed created a series of tubes--" Alternate Universe Reed Richards invented the internet!

Ok Reed took over Dr Doom’s brain. Is Reed forgetting Doom is the head of Latvaria? He needs to not only be part of FF but be a nation’s ruler.

Honestly the only one who’s power is change is Johnny. Make him a cloud. ‘Cause he’s an airhead.

I may be misremembering but I have a vague memory of the Reed Richards from MC2 ending up as Big Brain on the Fantastic Five. If that's the case, Tom Defalco must be a big What If? fan...

It would have been nice if they came back, love the idea of Doom/Reed being dual/triple personalities

My alternate FF powers would be as follows. Reed would have telekinesis, intangibly and microscopic vision. Susan would have invulnerability and control over electricity. Johnny would have control over inorganic matter. He could alter and control any non living matter around him and give himself a powerful exoskeleton. Lastly Ben would be able to turn into a large version of Iceman. He would have control over water and could make it rain. He wouldn't have freezing cold powers though, but he could cause normal humans to stop moving by controlling the water in their body.

I was lucky enough to read this via reprints, and this version of the FF always stuck with me. There were enough cool concepts at play here that I would have loved to see further adventures of this team. What If? always was one of the more interesting books Marvel published. New Powers for the Fantastic Four: Reed Richards regretted the idea that his life long search for knowledge might finally be coming to and end as everything went wrong aboard the experimental rocket. His subconscious mind shaped his cosmic radiation granted abilities accordingly. He was granted total recall of all knowledge acquired after the accident. If Reed can learn it, he can remember it down to the smallest detail. His other ability was adaptive auto recall. If Reed possesses the knowledge appropriate to the situation at hand, he is able to recover and apply the knowledge at an instinctual level. To keep Reed competitive on the battlefield, he studies a variety of martial arts. In addition, he learns to be prolific with a variety of weapons(melee and projectile). Thus, he becomes the super science soldier known as Memory Bank. Sue Storm had always desired to be more than just Reed's supportive fiance(in this version of the story, they are already engaged). She wanted to be seen as pillar of strength, someone whom others could rely upon in times of danger or need. Her subconscious mind granted her enhanced strength and durability. As Sue had never really felt seen, she also grew to stand at about 9ft tall. Sue would come to hone her combat abilities by competing in the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, where she adopted a grappling style that has served her well on various adventures. The press would come to dub her The Empowered Woman(a moniker she despises, but has resigned her self to being unable to shake). Ben Grimm's final thoughts as he struggled to keep the experimental rocket from a fatal crash was that there was no way he was going to let himself or his friends die due to his lack of skill. Due to this, the cosmic radiation enhanced his ability to pilot just about any vehicle he ever encountered. If it can roll, fly, or dive Ben can pilot it at expert levels just by seeing it. Ben's extraordinary piloting skills have allowed him(and anyone lucky enough to be in a vehicle he is operating) to walk away from crashes the would have killed a lesser pilot. Between adventures with the Fantastic Four, Ben would go on to find great fortune and success by introducing several innovations in the field of transportation science. It is this vast fortune that allows the Fantastic Four to continue on as the worlds foremost super heroic scientists. Ben's uncanny ability to survive an impossible accident eventually earned him the nickname The Unbreakable Man. Johnny Storm, being something of a hot head, secretly wished that he had more control over his emotions. As the experimental rocket started to shake apart, he felt a mix of emotions that made him all the more determined that he would not allow him self to be ruled by any of them. He took a deep breath, and did his best to remain calm. The cosmic radiation granted his subconscious desire to control his own emotions completely. Never again would anger, panic, or fear decide his course of action. Additionally, the cosmic rays granted him a limited ability to control the emotions of others around him within a certain radius. If someone is angry at Johnny, he only has to think peaceful thoughts and soon they too will be at peace. In order to more effectively employ this ability, Johnny began to study espionage, computer hacking, and stealth tactics. Soon there was not a place Johnny could not sneak into, no piece of information he could not obtain, or a situation he could not talk his way out of. Johnny has gone by many aliases in the ensuing years, but is known in international espionage circles as The Quiet Voice. There you have it, a new Fantastic Four that more or less plays by the rules of deciding the powers of that group as set forth by Stan Lee all those years ago. TL: DNR? 'Nuff Said True Believers! Excelsior!

I used to play Heroclix. I have a huge collection of old school figures including the Giant Galactus figure. As far as the What If Fantastic Four storylines go my favs were always What If the New Fantastic Four (Wolverine, Hulk, Spider-Man, and Ghost Rider) and What If Doom was the Sorcerer Supreme. As far as what you covered, this Power swap lineup was awesome. It's a shame they didn't do more with it.

The Fantastic Four has been my favorite superteam for a long time specifically because their powers were simple in principle, potent with skill and experience, but not so OP that one member made the rest of the team superflous (*cough* Phoenix, Scarlet Witch, *cough*), and not so powerful that nearly every member was a different take on "fly really fast and punch really hard" *cough Justice League*. They always felt to me like a "toolbox with a variety of toolkits" while most other teams were just "toolboxes with different-sized hammers".

Reed Richards of this univers could have said "Big Brain Time!" making that name worth it.

My favorite of the first What If? Lots of interesting questions concerning the Reed/Doom fusion. Does Reed retain Doom's mystical and scientific knowledge? Does Reed take over as the ruler of Doomstadt? Does Johnny ever get his lube job? All the questions.

Namor liked Sue's invisibility powers because he likes seeing himself in the mirror and not have someone blocking his view. 👀

“Although, from those descriptions, Reed’s seemed like the most of a stretch.” Niiice.

Love this! Thank you. This was one of my favorite What Ifs when I was a kid. 🙂

Oh please - do a video for Marvel Assistant Editors Month (the first)! I was reminded of this, as the "What-If" issue was one of my favorites. (A collection of quick fun stories including Mary Jo Duffy's “What if the watchers in all the realities got together and watched watchers watching watchers watching watchers watching…”. Art by Terry Austin.)(One familiar looking watcher says “Be vewy vewy quiet! I’m watching wabbits! Heh heh heh.”)(Whoops - I may be getting my timeline/stories confused. The Watchers story was What if #34 from 1977) As always thank you so very much for the video. (I also liked Marvel Team-Up #137 with Aunt May and Franklin Richards taking on Galactus. And The Thing #7 which has his battle with "Goody Two-shoes." Not so much for the main story, but the back-up story where Ben Grimm visits the Marvel Offices and talks to John Byrne about "making it interesting.")

"Jimmy Hammond shout out!" gets this video an instant "Like."

One of the best power-swap stories was the JLA one-shot Foreign Bodies, which involves minds changing body. The highlights were Steel ending up in Kyle Rayner's body and Kyle ending up in Martian Manhunter's body.

i feel like ben would’ve thrived with sue’s powers. if powers that alter his physical appearance and draw attention make him uncomfortable then invisibility would definitely be his comfort blanket in those situations. i see my boi🤝

There was a fanart of Rogue absorbing the Blob's powers and turning fat. I think there's room for zany concepts like that.

Also for What If power ideas: I'd want Reed to become a giant head to make it all about his smarts as he slowly transforms into a MODOK (mobile organism designed only for knowledge). Johnny's mastery of speedy machines would make him a speedster (easily can be overpowered as plot needs). Sue's wanting to be there for everyone would give her mutliwoman powers (can also be tweeked to OP as well). Benn being one of the voices of reason in the Superhero community would have him turn into a psychic-empath (still acts like a brawler but usually handles enemies by knowing what their plan is, and can talk-fu any of the really dangerous foes).

Doom Patrol seems to have been an inspiration for this What If

The Living Brain was the name of a robot/computer in Amazing Spider-Man #8 back in the 1960s. It was brought to Peter's school to show it off to the students, and two thieves tried to steal it and caused it to run amok, and Spidey had to fight it. It was just a one-off villain until Dan Slott brought it back during the Superior Spider-Man run where Doc Ock's consciousness was hiding in it.

"What if he really did miss being a building?" There's a question you don't hear every day....

I think Reeds head should just triple in size to house his brain. I’d imagine him with a power set like from the movie Lucy with Scarlet Johansson Johnny is a ladies man and always wants the attention and what better what to get attention then by being a tall guy. So Johnny would have the power to grow to extreme heights but would use it to be around 7 foot in his regular life. Ben played baseball so his powers would reflect that maybe he’d have super speed and super strength Sue had everyone swooning over her so I’d make that a controlled power. She makes a pheromone like Jessica drew and she can also mind control people

I'd give Sue Storm X-23-type powers + an adamantium unicorn horn. Reed Richards gets multi-verse self-channeling at will (like in "everything, everywhere, all at once"). Ben gets Phasing powers like ShadowCat. Johnny gets Water Bending, with a water-shield like Iceman's ice coating

I'm kinda sad they already used Idris Elba for Heimdall. He would have been a great Dr Doom. You need someone with a booming voice who not only looks like they could give a good punch but convincingly say something that sounds smart.

Reed seriously went "take all my love, my hatred all of my sorrow!"

AWESOME job on this video dear Sister!!!! The burns/puns/wit-isms,....SUPERB, the copper/rainbow wig, and ensemble,.....FANTASTIC!!! (is that wig a custom job or what?) O.K. the story, you seem to make anything a bit greater than its reality of "try-it-out" stories, it really seems like a throw away tale, a "What if" totally. (and you don't want to write comics, a shame.) It would so easy to flesh out this group's universe because of the F.F.'s looooonnnngggg history; like what would this group do with Galactus, or the microverse, or even the negative zone characters.....so much to tell/write. Oh well they killed 'em off real quick hunh? Thank you for sharing your hard work and tireless efforts, and Casual passion with us. PEACE and God bless.

I had this issue when I was a kid. I got a kick out of Ben Grimm with dragon wings and thought Reed as a disembodied brain was pretty cool. That last panel threw me because, after all, Dr. Doom was one of the principal Fantastic Four antagonists of the era. So, the whole idea of Reed in Doom's body was disorienting. The original 'What If?' series was one of the best ideas Marvel came up with in the Bronze Age, and the creators' collective willingness to experiment and come up with at-times jarring renditions of alternate tales struck me as risk-taking and forward-thinking - with that book, you literally had no idea what was going to happen next.

I'd love to see a 'what if' where the Fantastic Four were mutants. Susan Storm with Storms power set. Ben Grimm with Wolverine's power set Johnny Storm with Longshots power set Read Richards with Shadow cats power set Johnny Storm was always a risk taker and thrilled seeker so luck powers would just make him even more so. Ben Grimm would look totally human but still have to deal with that animal rage wolverine has. Susan storm would be incredible with weather powers, fantastic powerhouse. Read Richard's power is always that he's smart so getting a primarily defensive movement power is just fine. Maybe it makes people accept mutants faster? Maybe the Fantastic four just go underground.

Fitting powers I see. Reed: Same brain, technopath... he can mentally control technological items, the more advanced, the more he just makes them warp to his will. He doesn't even need tools for most advanced technology. He understands how things work just by being near them. Susan: Polymorphic and metamorphic. She can adapt to any situation physically, make her body do anything relative to its mass from altering its form to its very substance. Johnny: Pretty much like The Flash but he flies too. His hot-headed speed thing isn't really speeding but a form of travel through both time and space. His "flying" manifests by him just running and jumping, even if he has no ground under his feet. Ben: Something like a cross between Juggernaught and Cannonball looking like a normal-colored hulking version of his pre-altered version. His body is hardened as if he's animated granite, he's as strong as such a golem would be, but he also has the ability to just take off at his target to become an indestructible unstoppable missile for the straight-line charge until he either misses or impacts. Marvel made the Fantastic Four the way they did not because they could not see them more awesome but because they didn't want to overpower them... make them akin to a team of DC Kryptonians. The hardest part of making fictional superheroes is making them both powerful and not boring because of that.

While these early what ifs are among the best My favorite is the cap story that was later deemed canon. How patriot then spirit of 76 assumed the mantle going forward while cap was on ice

You forgot the drum roll that should follow "Although from those descriptions, Reed's seemed like the most of a stretch".

7:10 "Reed's seemed like a *stretch*". I see what you did t here.

I still have my old heroclix from before they had cards, back in the 90s and early 2000s, man that ad spot brought back memories

"Seems like a stretch" - I see what you did there!

"Reed seemed like the most of a stretch"? I can't believe you made me laugh at that.

Regarding Johnny turning into a robot, remember he had a fascination with the original WWII Human Torch who was, you guessed it, an android.

"She can't love a building! She doesn't want to be on a TLC special!" 😂🤣

'Reed's powers are kind of a stretch.' *hard smash cut* Niiiiicccceeee.

I'm torn on this issue. On the one hand, as a knowledge geek, Roy Thomas is as a god to me. Only Peter David and John Byrne come close to canon welding, or raising long-dead details to spice up the narrative (like when PaD had Rick Jones blurt out to Betty that Bruce once used a device to deliberately transform - she was just thrilled, assuredly). The joke goes that a Golden Age character ended it all after overhearing Roy Thomas ask who the hell he was. I really wish he had gotten to 'keep' Earth-2 after COIE. BUT - his dialogue is so laden with snappy dated banter it can be hard to take. Definite Kudos for placing the FF outside their comfort zones, even if they never knew their 616 powers in this reality. I'm also going to say for head-canon that the doomed FF of 'What If Watcher Saved The Universe?' was only a team like this one, and that other versions persist alive and well, kind of like when Spider-Verse killed off The Spider-Friends (I mean, really? That toony team versus a killer who ate 616-Peter's eye? Was that even a contest?). As to Uatu's final worry about Reed Doom's scars, there are probably a thousand ways to fix that which Doom himself refused out of pride or ego, so I think they'd be fine.

If we were going off of personality, I’d make Sue a healer (specifically give her Faiza Hussain’s powerset) and I’d make Reed a technopath. Ben and Johnny stay the same.