Marvel has dramatically reinvented Fantastic Four, as the next chapter in one of the Ultimate Universe’s biggest storylines: Ultimate Doom’s redemption arc. Now, the “Four” are officially not just one team, but multiple squads of heroes empowered by cosmic rays, in Doom’s bid to recreate the conditions that gave the original team their powers.
The Ultimates #17 is written by Deniz Camp, with art by Phil Noto. The preview for the issue gives readers their best look yet at “Project 4,” Doom’s plan to create the Fantastic Four in a world where they never existed.
However, now that Doom has seemingly succeeded, the end result looks very different than fans expected.
Ultimate Doom Reinvents The Meaning Of Fantastic “Four,” Giving The Team A Drastic New Look And Line-Up
The Ultimates #17, Written By Deniz Camp, Art By Phil Noto; Available October 22, 2025 From Marvel Comics
Ultimate Doom is in the running for the most tragic figure in Marvel history. Rather than Victor Von Doom, he is a version of Reed Richards who was captured, tortured, and disfigured by the Maker, who himself is another Reed Richards variant. Doom’s trauma is compounded by the fact that the Maker’s prevented the Fantastic Four’s origin in the Ultimate Universe.
Instead of giving his friends superpowers, Doom caused them to suffer horrible, ignoble deaths. Through The Ultimates, Doom’s passion project has been figuring out how to create the Fantastic Four. In The Ultimates #17, it appears he finally succeeds, by empowering a group of volunteers, then forming them into teams of four.
This is the series’ latest swerve, and readers are eager to discover how it plays out. Most fans expected Doom to try to faithfully recreate the Four, or even go back in time to save Ben Grimm, Sue Storm, and her brother Johnny. And he still might. However, now Ultimate Marvel has an army of new “Fantastic” heroes.
“Project 4” Changes Everything Fans Know About The Fantastic Four, But How Long Will The New Team Last?
The Ultimate Fantastic Four Could Be Doomed From The Start
Ultimate Doom’s borderline obsession with recreating the Fantastic Four has been The Ultimates’ most emotionally fraught plot threads throughout the title’s run. “You need to stop dwelling in the past,” Tony Stark tells him in the preview for The Ultimates #17, when Doom mentions the original Fantastic Four from the mainstream Marvel Universe.
Yet it seems clear that Doom sees the Fantastic Four as key to defeating the Maker. Based on the preview, there are at least sixteen new members of the Fantastic “Four” being introduced here. It remains to be determined how they will factor into the looming Ultimate Endgame, and how much readers will get to know Doom’s new heroes personally.
That is, they could just be canon fodder, or proof of concept for Doom. Or, by the end of The Ultimates #17, Doom’s apparent success could slip through his fingers and become failure. In any case, Marvel has inaugurated a bold new era for the Fantastic Four, however long it ultimately lasts.
- First Film
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The Fantastic Four
- First Episode Air Date
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September 9, 1967