It seems as if the sad rumors that have been circulating about Fantastic Four’s cancellation may actually be supported by a recent solicitation by Hachette Book Group, Marvel’s distributor to book stores. This news comes despite Marvel’s Executive Editor Tom Brevoort stating that “We are publishing FANTASTIC FOUR. Next month, we will be publishing FANTASTIC FOUR. A year from now, assuming that it’s still selling well, we will be publishing FANTASTIC FOUR.” just earlier this year.
The Hachette solicitation reads:
THE END IS FOUREVER! Witness the closing act on the First Family of the Marvel Universe! THE INVADERS meet the FANTASTIC FOUR as the hunt for REED RICHARDS and the missing kids of the FUTURE FOUNDATION continues. Meanwhile the mastermind behind everything unveils his ultimate plan. But how does FRANKLIN RICHARDS factor in? And how does this all lead to…The END?! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #642-644 and the Triple Sized Final Issue 645!
An interesting thing about the solicitation is it seems to be ending with the original numbering, which was stopped after Hickman’s run in 2013 at #611, before the renumbered sixteen issue run done by Fraction, bringing it to #627 and then the current renumbered run by Robinson, which is currently ten issues in bringing our grand total to 637. This gives us roughly six more months before the cancellation.
Does this mean that they are gone and done with? Of course not, this is comic books were talking about here. Even in Hickman’s run, the Fantastic Four was disbanded in issue #588 and replaced with The Future Foundation. What does this mean for the Fantastic Four film being directed by Josh Trank to be released just a few months after the cancellation? I’d say not a whole lot, but this could be telling of Disney’s stance on Marvel properties owned by other production studios. Either way, when more of this story develops, you can be sure we will keep you posted on more news regarding Fantastic Four: The End Is Fourever!
