Fantastic Four’s Franklin Storm, Explained

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Posted 3 hours ago by inuno.ai

The Fantastic Four may be Marvel’s First Family, but their family extends far beyond just themselves. Reed and Sue have their children, Franklin and Valeria; Ben is with Alicia Masters and Johnny…well, Johnny dates a lot. Of all the members of the Fantastic Four’s extended family, Reed’s father, Nathaniel Richards, usually gets the most attention. As a time-traveling scientist, why Nathaniel would get his fair share of time in the limelight makes sense.

But Nathaniel isn’t the only grandfather that Franklin and Valeria have. Sue and Johnny’s father, Franklin Storm, was a troubled man with a difficult life that had several negative impacts on his children. His adventures in the Marvel Universe are somewhat limited, his alternate Ultimate Universe version notwithstanding. Still, it makes him no less an important and integral part of Sue and Johnny’s lives. The recent debut of John Malkovich’s mystery role in Fantastic Four: First Steps led to some speculation that he might be playing Franklin Storm, so it’s a great time to dive into the character. He might not have superpowers or be a supervillain, and he certainly had a very hard time when he was alive, but Franklin Storm truly loved his children.

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Franklin Storm Debuted as a Loving But Deeply Flawed Man

He Did His Best and It Wasn’t Enough

Debuting in Fantastic Four #31 (by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby), Franklin Storm was regarded as the very best surgeon in the country, a profession that allowed him to support his family. He married a woman named Mary, and the two had Susan and Johnny.

Franklin and Mary’s relationship was far from perfect, and the two often argued and shouted at each other when Susan and Johnny were young. Their incessant fighting took a toll on Susan, who felt invisible as a young girl. Tragedy struck the Storm family when, as Franklin and Mary were out driving, one of their car tires blew out. Their car crashed, and despite Franklin’s best efforts to save her, Mary died as a result of the accident.

In his grief and guilt, Franklin quit his career as a surgeon and became addicted to gambling.

When money became scarce, he resorted to loan sharks for cash. And, inevitably, when he could not pay back his loans, Franklin was accosted by a criminal debt collector. The man threatened to kill Franklin and the rest of his family if he didn’t pay; Franklin and the man got into a fight, and through the struggle, the man’s gun discharged, shooting him dead.

Franklin refused to explain the situation to the police and took the full brunt of manslaughter charges. His last wish for Susan was to forget him and to tell her brother that he had died. However, this wouldn’t be the last Susan or Johnny would see of their father, as he would reappear many years later.

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The Ultimate Franklin Storm Was a Completely Different Man

And Even More Brilliant Than Before

Franklin Storm was a very different man in the former parallel reality known as the original Ultimate Universe. No longer the highly gifted surgeon, this version of Franklin Storm was every bit the brilliant scientist his son-in-law, Reed Richards, would become.

The Ultimate Universe version of Franklin Storm was a key factor in recreating the legendary Super Soldier serum that created Captain America. Not only that, but this alternate reality version of Franklin Storm was also a key factor in the construction of the Baxter Building.

Unfortunately, just like his Earth-616 counterpart, the Ultimate Universe Franklin Storm befell a terrible tragedy.

During the Ultimatum event, the chaotic and violent finale for the Ultimate Universe, Franklin Storm was killed. When Magneto decided to flood the entirety of Manhattan in a fit of vengeful rage, Franklin was one of the countless people who lost their lives in the deluge.

It was an unfair and terrible fate for the man to suffer, considering how much good he gave to the world and how much more he had to offer. Franklin Storm was one of many casualties of one of Marvel’s darkest stories ever told.

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Franklin Storm Also Appeared In a Live-Action Movie

Though It Was Still a Tragic Reinvention of the Character

There have also been two other versions of Franklin Storm across various Marvel media, both on the page and on the big screen. In 2015’s Fantastic Four movie, Franklin Storm is played by actor Reg E. Cathey. In a twist from the comics, it is explained that only Johnny is Franklin’s biological son, and Susan is adopted.

This makes sense in the context of the film, as Reg E. Cathey is African-American, as is Michael B. Jordan (who played Johnny). However, unlike the comics, the government employs this version of Franklin Storm to run the Baxter Building think tank, though they soon divert their resources to investigate transportation to a new realm.

Just like his other two incarnations in the Marvel Universe, Franklin suffers a terrible fate and dies at the hands of Doctor Doom.

In the comics, Franklin Storm was included in 2023’s Ultimate Invasion story (by Jonathan Hickman, Bryan Hitch, and Alex Sinclair.) This story is centered on The Maker, an evil version of Reed Richards from the original Ultimate Universe who is bent on eradicating an entire Earth’s worth of heroes.

Among the many origins that The Maker undoes is that of the Fantastic Four. On this alternate world of Earth-6160, The Maker sabotaged the famous rocket launch that would have given birth to the Fantastic Four, killing everyone but Reed Richards. Franklin Storm was one of the engineers assigned to the rocket launch program on this Earth, and he was inadvertently tied to the disaster and ruined.

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No Matter the Universe, Franklin Storm Always Had It Rough

The Man Deserved So Much Better

It seems that no matter where he is, when, or what universe he is in, poor Franklin Storm is always doomed to suffer the worst fate. On Earth-616, many years after being sent to jail, Franklin was able to redeem himself as a father when he performed a life-saving operation on his wounded daughter.

Rather than living a good life after that, Franklin was kidnapped by the Skrulls, sent back to the Skrull Throneworld, and impersonated on Earth. When the Fantastic Four came to rescue him, Franklin sacrificed himself by taking the full power of a concussive energy device strapped to his chest. Knowing how deeply he truly cared for his family, Sue honored her father by naming her son after him.

As horrible or sad as all the incarnations of Franklin Storm have been, there is one silver lining to it all.

When The Thing was killed, the Fantastic Four traveled into the afterlife and met with his spirit. While on this fantastic journey, Sue and Johnny met their parents and were happily reunited. While the Fantastic Four successfully returned The Thing to the land of the living, Franklin and Mary remained in the afterlife, happy and content with one another.

Despite dying twice in the comics, watching his family die in a rocket accident, and being killed in a movie, Franklin Storm ultimately received his happy ending by being able to spend eternity with his wife. It only took having lived a hard life to get there, but in the end, Franklin was given what he deserved: happiness. His grandson, Franklin, couldn’t have been named after a better man.