Fantastic Four #40 indicates that Reed Richards is not only a genius and the leader of Marvel’s First Family, but also an excellent strategist.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fantastic Four #40, now on sale from Marvel Comics.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, is one of the smartest beings in the Marvel Universe. With multiple degrees to his name, Richards operates on a level of cognition that borders on superhuman, mastering multiple scientific disciplines in the time it takes most people to gain a basic understanding of one. With this knowledge, Mister Fantastic has revolutionized the world in ways that real-life innovators can only dream of, creating inventions that could alter the course of human civilization while also saving the world time and time again as the leader of the Fantastic Four.
While most storylines focus on Mister Fantastic scientific genius, he’s also proven himself to be as brilliant of a tactician as he is a scientist, outsmarting foes that are his intellectual equals on multiple occasions. In Fantastic Four #40 (by Dan Slott, Rachael Stott, Jesus Aburtov, and VC’s Joe Caramagna), Mister Fantastic uses the increased intelligence he’s gained from Uatu the Watcher to plan and execute a perfect counter-attack of the Badoon’s invasion of Earth, using both science and psychology to turn the tables on the alien invaders.
While investigating the motive behind the Badoon’s sudden invasion in Fantastic Four: Reckoning War #1 (by Slott, Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Fonteriz, Carlos Magno, Guru-eFX, and Caramagna), Mister Fantastic directly interfaced with Uatu’s intergalactic database, gaining a form of omniscience. This allowed him to discover that the Badoon and other warmongering alien races have been given access to the Watchers technology by the Reckoning, a race of destructive beings who were sealed within an isolated pocket dimension by the Watchers millennia ago. Upon returning to the Baxter Building, Reed modified the device that allows Alicia Masters to communicate with the Silver Surfer and used his newfound knowledge to re-organize the scattered heroes and coordinate a counter-attack.
The strategies that Reed created to battle the Badoon are as brilliant as they are ruthless, combining his complete understanding of the Badoon’s technology and culture that he’d gained from the Watcher to wage war on the alien invaders from all fronts. While Reed does utilize traditional military strategies such as exploiting structural weaknesses within the alien warships, he also wages psychological warfare against the enemy, using their fear of Captain America’s shield in the hands of Vance Astro to demoralize and terrorize the Badoon’s ground troops. Unfortunately, Reed’s newfound knowledge comes at a great cost, as the end of the issue reveals that the immeasurable mental data his brain now contains is literally dissolving it from the inside and that he only has three days left to live.
Although Mister Fantastic rarely applies his intelligence to creating and coordinating battle strategies, preferring to use non-violent methods to defeat his opponents, this is not the first time that Reed has shown himself to be a brilliant tactician. Although his methods are very different than Captain America’s or Cyclops’, many of the Fantastic Four’s villains are some of the most dangerous in the entire Marvel Universe, and Reed often manages to defeat them by exploiting their psychological weaknesses. Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four’s archenemy, is perhaps Reed’s only intellectual equal, but Reed has still defeated the Latverian ruler on multiple occasions by preying on his former friend’s ego and insecurities, causing the normally stoic tyrant to let his guard down and allow the Fantastic Four to defeat him.
However, Mister Fantastic’s true strength as a tactician comes from the bond of trust he has with his team. Unlike the Avengers, the Fantastic Four is a true family, tied together by marriage, blood relation, and life-long friendship, and Reed’s attachment to his teammates allows him to bring out the best in them in ways that most team leaders can’t. Not only is he able to put his teammates’ powers to good use from a logistical standpoint, but his affection for them allows him to encourage them during a crisis in a way that only a loved one can.
Mister Fantastic’s deep understanding of both his enemies and his allies makes him an unconventionally effective tactician. No matter how dire the situation may appear, the head of Marvel’s First Family has always found a way to overcome the odds and save the world.
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