Mister Fantastic's New Civil War Twist Proves He Was Its Secret Villain
Warning: contains preview images for Devil's Reign #4!
Marvel has just confirmed that Mister Fantastic, leader of the Fantastic Four, had some unrevealed fail-safes in place to help the team win out in Civil War. In a preview for Devil’s Reign #4, on sale in print and digital February 9, readers learn that Marvel’s resident super-genius included workarounds in his Civil War technology that he could use if he was ever captured - ironic in light of the fact he headed efforts to keep his former allies locked up.
In 2006, the first Civil War rocked the Marvel Universe to its core. When an accident caused by untrained superheroes led to over 600 deaths, the United States government passed the Superhero Registration Act, requiring all super-powered individuals register their identities, essentially giving the government total control of their activities. Captain America opposed the Act, whereas Iron Man championed it. This ideological split went straight through the Marvel Universe, with heroes choosing to ally themselves with Captain America or Iron Man. Among those who stood with Iron Man was Mister Fantastic, an act that temporarily shook up the Fantastic Four as his wife, Sue, opposed the Registration Act, the Human Torch was hospitalized, and the Thing left the country rather than fight for either side. Today, the heroes are facing Wilson Fisk, who is using his political clout to outlaw superheroes in New York City. He has imprisoned several heroes, including the Fantastic Four. The issue is written by Chip Zdarsky, drawn by Marco Checchetto, colored by Marcio Menyz and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
The preview opens with both Mister Fantastic and Susan Storm in jail, both wearing collars that inhibit their powers. However, both he and Sue have been able to free themselves from the collars, and readers learn Mister Fantastic actually designed them for use on heroes who did not comply with the Registration Act. Despite believing in the cause, he put a fail-safe in the collars; one he could use to disable them in case he was imprisoned himself. This reveal paints Mister Fantastic in a dark light, as he originally claimed to support the Registration Act because he believed citizens should comply with the law. It seems that even while Reed Richards was imprisoning others for the crime of unlicensed heroism, he was making sure he couldn't be held to the same standards.
The implication here is that he would have cheated during Civil War. Mister Fantastic was very much in favor of the Registration Act, and even built Prison 42 - a facility in the Negative Zone used to house heroes who refused to register, often verging on torture to keep them reliably secure. He became one of the public faces of the Registration Act, dismissing fears it would be misapplied, and yet even then he apparently saw the potential for the Act to come back and haunt him.
Reed designed the inhibitor collars to be used on others, yet he was fully aware one day the tables could be turned, and he would find himself on the wrong end of the Act. While it speaks volumes to his intelligence that he foresaw potential abuses of the Registration Act (and there were many), it also confirms his hypocrisy. By designing fail-safes to be used only if he was captured, it's proved Mister Fantastic thought himself above the very Act he was championing.
The Registration Act could have seriously compromized the secret identities of many heroes, something a public-facing figure like Mister Fantastic didn't fully appreciate. Yet the leader of the Fantastic Four saw that it could be turned back on him, prompting Mister Fantastic to stack Civil War's deck in his favor, even as he supported imprisoning other heroes with no chance at escape.