In 2006, Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes began airing on television. The animated series, based on the Marvel superhero team of the same name, would run for one season comprising 26 episodes.
Hampered by an erratic broadcast schedule, the cartoon pretty much came and went. Some may not even be aware of its existence!
But hey, that’s what I’m here for. Over a series of posts, I am revisiting Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes, to remind ya’ll about it.
The aim is to reconnect with the show, talk a bit about the episodes, and discuss what I believe worked and what didn’t. In this post I’m looking back at the first seven episodes, watching and commenting along the way.
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Trail by Fire
First up is Trial by Fire – an episode which has Johnny Storm as the catalyst of the story, but features all four members of the Fantastic Four. It also dives right into the action from the get-go.
*Presses play*
30secs – The show opens with some simple yet effective credits highlighting all four members of the Fantastic Four. Granted, these are not the greatest Marvel cartoon credits of all time, and this is not the best Fantastic Four opening theme song (that goes to season one of the ‘90s FF ‘toon), but they are good nonetheless.
2 mins – The episode opens with the Human Torch tailed by a robot. Seems like a normal day in the lives of the FF.
3mins 30secs – The animation style is great. Very much of the time period, where animation was beginning to move towards an Anime aesthetic (see Teen Titans, Avatar, TMNT, etc).
4mins – The Thing looks huge in this show. He’s taller and wider, rather than just a rocky guy who is the same size as the rest of the team.
5mins – The plot is kicking in and Johnny Storm has been transported into an arena in space to face Ronan the Accuser. He is accused of committing crimes against the Kree empire, and as this is Johnny, he probably did whatever he is accused of.
5mins 30secs – Of all the characters in this show, Johnny looks the most like an anime hero. His hair is wild.
6mins – With Johnny in space, and Reed and Sue occupied trying to find him. The Thing is left to put in a guest appearance at an event for a children’s hospital. Of course, disaster follows, but little moments like this, which show the ‘celebrity’ side of the group are fun. The FF are superheroes, and there’s a certain level of fame which comes with that.
11mind 30secs – Johnny’s trial continues, with Reed Richards acting as counsel. His supposed crime is that he destroyed some Kree sentry bots. Attacking the bots is seen as an attack on the Kree empire.
13mins 45secs – Johnny is found guilty and is to be ‘terminated’.
14mins 30secs – The Thing has just mentioned his catchphrase: “clobberin’ time”. Not quite saying the full “It’s clobberin’ time”, but believe me, it’ll come over the next few episodes.
16mins 30secs – The FF vs. Ronan. I know who my money is on.
17mins 30secs – And now Johnny has said his catchphrase: “Flame on!” He’ll say this many, many times before the show ends.
18mins 30secs – And as the episode draws to a conclusion, despite being guilty (at least according to Ronan), Johnny and the rest of the FF are free to go! Basically, Johnny saved the life of a young Kree, so is being let off the hook for now… much to Ronan’s displeasure.
*Presses stop*
A decent opening episode. Nothing amazing, but the FF get to showcase their powers, as well as their partnership, plus the story includes robots, aliens, and space, which all make for a good FF tale.
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Doomed
Onto the next episode now, which if you hadn’t guessed from the title, features the villainous Doctor Doom.
*Presses play*
2mins 30secs – Reed is working on calculations for a Micro-verse. This won’t end well.
4mins – In an unexpected twist, Reed has suddenly switched bodies with Doctor Doom.
5mins – While Reed is facing an identity crisis, a camera crew is at the Baxter Building. They are following Johnny around, to see what a day in the life of the FF is really like.
6mins 30secs – Doom has revealed his body swap plan. His aim is to turn Reed’s teammates against him.
9mins – With Doom doing his best to cause disharmony amongst the FF (while in the body of Reed), Reed is busy trying to figure out a way to switch back.
14mins 30secs – Sue is suspicious of Reed. He cancelled a lecture series, which is out of character. What with him being a nerd and all.
18mins – The FF are aware of the body swap resulting in a battle with Doom-Reed.
18mins 20secs – “It’s clobberin’ time!”
20mins – The body swap shenanigans are over. Reed is back in his own body.
*Presses stop*
Perfectly watchable episode, but the body swap plot line feels like it was lifted from an ‘80s cartoon. This is basic cartoon storytelling, which is raised up a notch thanks to the characters.
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Doomsday
Onto the next episode which is Doomsday! And yes, this means Doctor Doom is back… already!
*Presses play*
3mins – The FF are tackling a creature which is loose in New York City. It has escaped from the Negative Zone.
4mins – With the creature dealt with, the nearby press approach the FF with a shocking revelation. They are claiming that Reed purposefully exposed his team to the cosmic rays which gave the FF their powers. Allegedly he wrote about it in a journal.
6mins – “Flame on!”
7mins – The Thing and Johnny are doubting Reed, questioning whether he did cause their transformation on purpose. Sue is sure he didn’t.
10mins 30secs – But of course… Reed has been framed. Doom forged Reed’s journal. Meanwhile, Doom’s Doombots have captured the rest of the team.
13mins – Doom’s plan is once again designed to discredit Reed and the FF. Why? Because that’s what he likes to do.
You know, I’m starting to wonder if he has a jar filled with suggestions on how to discredit Reed, and every few days he pulls one of these suggestions out of the jar and runs with it.
17mins – The FF vs. Doom… while the Negative Zone is bleeding into reality and the world is on the brink of disaster.
20mins – Doom’s plan failed (again), Reed is exonerated (as always), and the world is safe (of course).
*Presses stop*
It’s worth noting, I’ve just had two Doom episodes back-to-back because the viewing order is all over the place. The broadcast order and the production order is jumbled.
Doomsday was initially designed to air as the first episode, which is why it makes reference to the accident that gave birth to the FF. However, the episode was moved to later in the season for reasons that only ever make sense to TV networks, and now appears third.
Does it matter? No, not really, but it would have been fine as episode one. Presumably it was shifted around because Trail by Fire is a bit more action-packed.
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Hard Knocks
*Presses play*
1min 45secs – According to Johnny, a jittery guy has turned up at the Baxter Building and has been whisked away to Reed’s lab.
2mins 30secs – The jittery guy is Bruce Banner… who has transformed into the Hulk.
2mins 45secs – Hulk vs. The Thing. “It’s clobberin’ time!”
3mins 50secs – Johnny joins the fight. “Flame on!”
7mins 30secs – After a lengthy battle, the Hulk has been subdued and has transformed back into Bruce Banner.
12mins – Where the Hulk goes, so goes trouble. A special black ops team has been sent to retrieve the Jade Giant, so the FF have to step in to offer protection.
14mins 40secs – Johnny says “Flame on” for the second time in one episode! Utter madness. Although… my inner child is happy about this, as it’s such a cool catchphrase.
16mins 30secs – Banner has been captured by the black ops team, so the FF come to the rescue.
*Presses play*
Nice to see the Hulk drop by, even if the story feels like fairly standard stuff (Banner appears looking for a cure, things go bad, Hulk shows up and smashes stuff etc). Doesn’t really feel like an FF tale though.
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My Neighbour was a Skrull
*Presses play*
2mins 45secs – As the title of this episode suggests, this story focuses on the Fantastic Four’s neighbours… who are revealed to be a Skulls. And yes, it’s neighbours plural, as it’s actually more than one.
4mins – Just taking a moment to say I really like the design of the Thing in this show. Very big, very cartoony, with a purple ‘4’ painted onto his chest. This would have made for a great Thing action figure, had one been produced. I believe some prototypes were produced for a range of World’s Greatest Heroes toys, but the figures didn’t go into production. Unless someone knows something I don’t. I vaguely recall seeing them mentioned in an old copy of Toyfare magazine (damn I miss Toyfare).
5mins – The FF’s postman, Willie Lumpkin has just put in an appearance (although this is actually a Skrull posing as Willie). For those who can’t quite recall, Stan Lee played the role of Willie in the 2005 Fantastic Four movie.
8mins – The thrust of this episode is the Skrulls have infiltrated the Baxter Building, disguised as various friends and acquaintances. They are trying to get important intel on the team, to find out their weaknesses.
15mins – Big reveal: The Skrulls haven’t actually taken over the Baxter Building, they have kidnapped the FF and put them in a simulation of the building!
16mins – Thanks to the shapeshifting abilities of the Skrulls there are now multiple Reeds, Sues, Things, and Johnnys. But which are the real members of the Fantastic Four and which are Skrull imposters?
17mins – The Skrulls have taken genetic samples of the FF, setting up a future plot line (Spoiler: Super Skrull).
20mins 30secs – As the episode concludes, there’s another revelation: The Skrulls are working with Ronan the Accuser.
*Presses stop*
Ronan is back! The episodes haven’t really had any connective tissue until now. Bringing Ronan back starts to create a much-needed plot thread.
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World’s Tiniest Heroes
*Presses play*
1 min – As this episode opens, Reed is preparing to send a miniature Fantasticar into the Microverse.
6mins – Obviously things go wrong and everyone shrinks in size. Reed is absolutely fine with this, the others not so much.
8mins – Reed is now less fine with things as the shrinking continues.
8mins 30secs – The plot here is another generic story taken from the ‘80s cartoon playbook, but the interactions between the FF are fun.
9mins – The shrinking problem is getting worse, as Reed’s computer, H.E.R.B.I.E. believes the tiny FF are rats and is ready to eliminate them.
9mins 10secs – Incidentally, H.E.R.B.I.E. is a character originally created for the 1978 cartoon, The New Fantastic Four. Initially he was a robot and has popped up in the comics as a robot, but appears in this series (sporadically) as the computer system.
12mins 30secs – “Flame on!”
15mins – Ant-Man arrives!
19mins 30secs – The FF are back to normal. As if there was any doubt.
*Presses stop*
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Zoned Out
OK, one last episode for now.
*Presses start*
2mins 30secs – Johnny is causing problems again. And he’s got a new girlfriend in tow: Frankie Raye. In the comics, Frankie becomes Nova, one of the heralds of Galactus.
6mins 30secs – The main plot of this episode is Johnny and Frankie being pulled into the Negative Zone.
10mins – While Johnny and Frankie are dealing with bugs in another dimension, the rest of the FF are dealing with bugs that have crossed over to the Baxter Building.
13mins 30secs – I’d like to tell you lots of exciting things are happening, but it’s mostly just scenes of Reed and the Thing dealing with the bugs.
19mins 30secs – The bugs are dealt with, but one remains in the building.
*Presses stop*
Yeah, nothing amazing going on in this story, and a bit too much Baxter Building action. The lack of a big villain in this episode also doesn’t help.
But once again, when the stories don’t quite hit the high notes, the characters do. The strength of Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes lies in the character work, as well as the bloomin’ gorgeous animation, and it is a fun little show.
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Right, that’s it for this batch of episodes. I’ll pick things up shortly with the next six episodes in a separate post, and there are some good episodes coming up.
In the meantime, if you’re a fan of Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes, feel free to make some comments and get chattering. Sharing is caring.
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