Marvel Studios has officially unveiled the first look at the Fantastic Four as they take on one of their greatest foes from the comics. Marvel's First Family made their official MCU debut in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, where they defeated the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus. Before that triumph, though, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, the Human Torch, and the Thing took on several deadly foes who never appeared on screen, and Marvel is finally chronicling those battles through a different medium.
Marvel Comics' upcoming one-shot from the film's tie-in series, Fantastic Four: First Foes – The Wizard #1, just gave fans a sneak peek at the Wizard and the Frightful Four, some of the Fantastic Four's most notorious adversaries on the page. The issue, which arrives in December, closes out the First Foes line of quarterly one-shots, which launched in March with an adventure pitting the team against the Mad Thinker, followed by Shalla-Bal in July and Dragon Man in September.
The Wizard #1, by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Mark Buckingham, spotlights Bentley Wittman, a villain who was only referenced in the movie, placing him in this retro-futuristic world for the first time. In First Steps, the Wizard is mentioned by Reed Richards as one of the criminals he had the police take down while baby-proofing New York before Franklin's birth.
His exploits in the tie-in comic explain why he was on that list. In the issue, the Wizard sets out to steal the Baxter Building, the home of the Fantastic Four. It's an ambition fueled by jealousy, since Wittman believes he is just as deserving of the praise and adoration New Yorkers shower on the team.
The Wizard isn't alone on this quest, though. The issue also introduces the Frightful Four, the villain team Wittman assembles for his crusade. The group is one of the Fantastic Four's most popular enemy teams, made up of the Wizard, Sandman, Medusa, and Paste-Pot Pete.
The issue's cover, illustrated by Phil Noto, teases just how much trouble Wittman and his crew cause the Fantastic Four. The artwork places the Wizard in the middle, wearing his trademark purple helmet, while the Fantastic Four occupy the four corners of the image. Sue fends off an attack, while Reed Richards uses his stretching powers as he falls from a great height. Johnny Storm is also flamed on aboard the Fantasticar; at the same time, Ben Grimm appears trapped inside a building, covered in a gooey gray substance. The Wizard wears a menacing grin as the chaos unfolds.
Who Are the Wizard and the Frightful Four in Marvel Comics?
Despite what his name suggests, the Wizard isn't a sorcerer in the source material. He's a genius inventor whose advanced use of science merely looks like magic, which earned him the nickname. The Wizard first appeared in Strange Tales #102 by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby. He was initially introduced as Johnny Storm's rival but eventually became an enemy of the entire team.
As a scientific genius, Wittman relies on his inventions in combat, particularly his anti-gravity discs. Even with his advanced technology, he was no match for the Fantastic Four, which prompted him to form a foursome of his own: the Frightful Four.
The group debuted in Fantastic Four #36, consisting of the Wizard, Sandman, Paste-Pot Pete, and an amnesiac Medusa. Their first battle with the heroes came at the Baxter Building right after Reed and Sue's engagement party. Although they put up a good fight, they still lost in the end, regrouping and becoming a consistent thorn in the family's flesh.
The lineup of this dark answer to the Fantastic Four has changed many times over the years, with Medusa, Sandman, and the Trapster, Paste-Pot Pete's later alias, moving in and out of the group. Other iterations have included characters like Thundra, Electro, Hydro-Man, Titania, and Klaw. Their history with the Fantastic Four makes them the perfect villains for the First Steps tie-in comics. They're among the classic foes woven into the fabric of the film's world, even if they never appear in live action.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
