The Fantastic Four are a fictional team of superheroes in the Marvel Universe and stars of an eponymous comic book published by Marvel Comics. They were created in 1961 by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. The team consist of the Invisible Woman, The Human Torch, The Thing, and Mr. Fantastic.

Dr. Reed Richards a brilliant scientist, was studying cosmic energy found in outer space. In order to collect more data, he went into space with pilot Ben Grimm, his fiance Sue Storm and her brother Johnny Storm. While in space the four were bombarded by cosmic energy, giving them amazing new abilities. Richards found he was able to stretch and contort his body as if it were made of extremely pliant rubber. Sue could become invisible and project invisible barriers. Johnny gained the ability to fly, project fire from his hands, and cover his body in fire without any harm to himself. Grimm was the most changed: he gained immense physical strength and durability, but his body grew larger and appeared to be made out of rocks. With their new powers, they were quickly called upon to thwart the plans of the Mole Man, the evil ruler of an underground race of people. After they triumphed over Mole Man, the group went on to become the Fantastic Four.