Dr.Strangefate said:
Hey man, She-Hulk is Green.
But is she green enough?
She's a watermelon: green on the outside and caucasian pink (Jennifer Walters) on the inside. For adding needed diversity to the Fantastic Four, she doesn't cut it.
In any case, I think the Fantastic Four need a solid couple.
The 616 Reed Richards and Sue Storm aren't it. If they were going to bond solidly, they would have done so decades ago. But that didn't happen, as the Civil War demonstrates.
The best idea would be to toss them, bring in a real married couple and stick to it, turning the 616 Fantastic Four into a solid family book.
I don't thing Fantastic Four stands for much if it doesn't stand for family. So by mild means if possible or radical ones if necessary, you have to get back to a family concept.
I think this would be the best line-up.
Storm - leader - a superior replacement for Sue Storm
Black Panther - a superior replacement for Reed Richards
Human Torch
Thing
That's healthier team, with more potential to play nicely together. It's also a juicer, funkier, more interesting team, with a more nature-oriented feel, as opposed to the ethnocentric, trite and sterile idea of the "four elements".
Go for it - and
stick to it. Don't muck up the married love relationship with the gimmick of the month. Let it consolidate. And let the team settle down permanently around that couple.
Reed Richards would make a great technical support for Tony Stark. He can easily find a team spot somewhere in the Marvel universe. I don't see him as a solo character.
Sue Storm and Franklin aren't really needed in the Marvel universe and would make good dramatic casualties. Sue Storm would make an excellent Gwen Stacy.
The revised and diverse Fantastic Four would be a more stable proposition without her alive and potentially able to return.
This avoids the divorce taboo in the cleanest way. And it fits with comic convention as to what happens to a hero's girlfriend or unneeded wife.
There will always be people who see the movie or the DVD and want to read Fantastic Four comics about Reed and Sue and Ben and Johnny; but that's what
Ultimate Fantastic Four is for.
As my poll vote for Luke Cage and Jessica Jones indicates, I don't think this will happen.
Instead, I see Jessica Jones advancing her career through an established team, and Luke Cage returning to the Fantastic Four gig he's done before.
This is a less stable setup, as Luke Cage has been in
and out of the Fantastic Four before, and I don't see Jessica Jones' career stopping permanently with the Fantastic Four (or with Luke Cage).
So that would pave the way for the eventual return of Reed Richards and Sue Storm in some sort of low trust relationship, which is pretty much what they have now. It's the long way round to get where we started - which after all is typical of comic book soap opera.
