I’ve never gotten into the Fantastic Four.
The only comics I own came from someone else or were part of a comic multipack, or part of a crossover I was following. I couldn’t even tell you why I never really got into the Fantastic Four. I watched the shows as a kid, but I was fascinated by all these superheroes, and I probably watched superhero shows I never really enjoy now, or just watched them because they were on. As for the movies, it’s hard to work around them because they’re universally recognized as not very good. Even the current release at time of writing, Fantastic Four: First Steps, is just getting a resounding “meh” from most of the critics I follow, and the most negative of them is a filmmaker herself as well as a Marvel comic fan, so she has a unique bias.
Still, I can see something popular enough that if I have an article I idea I’m willing to go with it, whether I’m into it or not. Also, I have a series of videos about TV show intros, sometimes part of sub-series, so this is a bit more in my wheelhouse. I do love a good intro, and Marvel’s First Family has made four trips outside of the comics, not counting cameos in team shows or the Fox Kids Spider-Man series that used voice actors from other Marvel shows at the time, confusing people into thinking there was a Marvel version of the DC Animated Universe. Sorry, but it takes more than than and Tony Stark having a mullet in both his show and a Hulk show that uses the same animation studio.
How do we get six intros out of four series? Well, let’s start at the beginning and judge these cartoons on their intros. Would they get you excited to watch them?
Fantastic Four 1967 (Hanna-Barbera)
It’s 1967 Hanna-Barbera. There is a curve. The music is dated and the movement, while better than the previous The Marvel Super Heroes cartoon, was limited thanks to the budget. On the other hand it gets the origin across in mere seconds (rocket hit by space radiation or something, astronauts get powers) before showcasing each of their powers in what is otherwise some pretty good action moments. Sure, more animation would have made them cooler, but again…1967. It wasn’t just Hanna-Barbera.
I first got to see this show as part of Hanna-Barbera’s World Of Super Adventure, which I’ve talked about in the past. Like the aforementioned cartoon, this show adapted stories from the comics, but with original animation instead of what we would call a “motion comic” today. They even adapted the same Galactus story that formed the basis for First Steps, except that without Alicia Masters from the comics, it’s Sue who has to convince Norrin Radd that Earth should be more than a meal, and there was no Franklin Richards at the time. I keep thinking that they also did Black Panther’s debut, but I can’t find evidence of it. Then again, the internet tried to convince me Hawkgirl never showed up on Super Friends but having the show on MeTV Toons proves otherwise. Something else I can’t find proof of? A Fandom wiki telling me this show aired in Japan as Space Ninja Gones. This is the only evidence I could find. No video, unfortunately. I wouldn’t be surprised. Filmation’s Superman was shown in Japan, and no idea why they called it that.
The New Fantastic Four (DePatie–Freleng Enterprises)
In 1978, before Marvel bought the company and renamed it Marvel Productions (which may be why it feels familiar, as they did two Spider-Man cartoons and the Hulk), DePatie-Freeling created the second cartoon. Simply called The Fantastic Four, the internet will call it The New Fantastic Four to set it apart. Not the first time I’ve seen “new” slapped onto something that didn’t use it in the title.
By now the internet, or anyone who would care, knows that the longstanding rumor that the absence of the Human Torch being parent groups worried about kids setting themselves on fire (though if we’re honest we wouldn’t be surprised at some parent group going crazy) was false. Instead he was destined for his own series like the Hulk got with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. They also tried Captain America and Doctor Strange but all we got are some TV movies as failed pilots. So we ended up with Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-Type, Integrated Electronics, or H.E.R.B.I.E. because someone really wanted that acronym badly. He shows up now and then as homages and even has been a recurring character a time or two, but to be honest, this is all I remember about the show. Was it that unmemorable or is it just me not really getting into the Fantastic Four? You decide.
Marvel Action Hour: Fantastic Four (1994)
Oh, I can’t prepare you for this one, folks. Though if you think that’s bad, wait for the bonus.
I am so very sorry to anyone I just gave PTSD to.
Yeah, the whole show is terrible. The Marvel Action Hour was a two-show syndicated programming block that aired this show and the 1990s version of Iron Man. It’s intro was actually worse and I just realized I never did one of these for old Shellhead, or at least it isn’t coming up in search. I need to fix that. Luckily, season two gave us a new showrunner, Larry Houston. Just as Tom Tataranowicz fixed Iron Man for season two, Houston took advantage of the new animation studio and fixed this intro.
Marvel Action Universe: Fantastic Four (1995)
The theme’s an improvement anyway. More heroic to go with the more action-oriented Fantastic Four intro. We still showcase their powers and their origin, but every intro on this list does that. It’s actually kind of bland the more you think about it, but it does match the tone change of the show. The programming block was rechristened Marvel Action Universe, not to be confused with the 1980s syndicated programing block of the same name. That one gave us Stan Lee-less Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends, Dino-Riders, RoboCop, and in the final day of the block’s main run replaced RoboCop with Pryde Of The X-Men for some reason. The 1990s one just had Iron Man and Fantastic Four. (Speaking of things the internet lies about, I don’t remember Biker Mice From Mars even mentioned in advertisements or the block’s intro, so I’m calling BS on that one.)
Okay, one last intro to go…for the team.
Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes (2006)
Actually, there’s two intros here.
I think this is the right order. I’m not sure because by then I had realized that I just never got into the Fantastic Four and thus didn’t watch it. Like I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full episode, so everything is coming from the same wiki that tries to convince me Biker Mice From Mars aired on the first Marvel Action Universe along with the 1980s Incredible Hulk. So take this info for whatever it’s worth. World’s Greatest Heroes was inspired more by the Fantastic Four movie that came out at the time, hence a fifth astronaut (which of course was Doctor Doom if you’ve blotted that movie from memory…and still not as bad as the so-called “Fan4stic”). It’s very stylized. Now you know all I know about this show. Some of you may know more. I’m not sure we needed the narration. The visuals already carry off the origin just fine, like the rest of the shows on this list. At least the second show had to introduce a new character to young comic readers.
BONUS INTRO: The Other Ben Grimm/Hanna-Barbera Connection
Oh yes, this happened, and there’s a reason I can’t find a good copy of this intro. Fred & Barney Meet The Thing was an odd duck, but it was an odd time for the Flintstones in the 1970s and 1980s. Another show would share time with the Shmoo, a rework of a character from the Lil’ Abner comic strip into something closer to the Scooby-Doo mold, or maybe Goober & The Ghost Chasers. Frankly it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, while the Thing’s stories got picked up as shorts on Cartoon Network for awhile. Somewhere in this period Fred and Barney also became bumbling cops and Wilma and Betty became newspaper reporters where Captain Caveman secretly worked Superman-style. As for the Thing? We got something less accurate than modern Marvel Studios.
Now you may be asking “why is Ben…sorry, ‘Benji’ (wait, wasn’t that the name of a dog that was popular around the same time?) Grimm now a skinny teenage who uses a pair of magic rings to transform into the Thing, seems to have a different accent and personality in both forms (the Thing form closer to our usual Thing), is dealing with teen angst and the occasional crook in a more comedic fashion on par with 1970s Flintstones?” Ask all you want. There are no answers here. And are they magic? We see him in some lab when he first turns back. As for the meeting of the title? Only in commercial bumpers and the intro. Next season, Benji was replaced with Shmoo. The 1980s were nuts, man.
Of course the Fantastic Four have made cameos in everything from the 1990s Spider-Man on Fox Kids (only Mister Fantastic kept his Marvel Action Hour Universe voice actor because John Semper hated that incarnation) plus a mention on Spider-Man Unlimited, to The Super Hero Squad Show and others, but these were the FF’s own shows. Which one was your favorite? There’s also a series of barely animated shorts on YouTube to push the First Steps movie, and I hope that doesn’t lead to a series unless they improve the animation. Otherwise, that’s it for Fantastic Four cartoons…for now. (No pun intended.)
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