The Fantastic Four are the first family of Marvel Comics in many ways. The team, created by comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961, sparked new life into the superhero genre and created the Marvel Universe. But for as many triumphs as the team has had over the years, there have been as many tragedies.
Death is no stranger in comic books, and it has visited the Fantastic Four numerous times. Thanks to the endless cycle of decades of escalating plots, every member on the team has died at some point, and so have some of their closest allies and enemies in the comics.
The Entire Team
The entire Fantastic Four team, including Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm, appeared to meet their end alongside the Avengers in the late '90s Marvel crossover event Onslaught.
Their apparent sacrifice was mitigated when it was revealed that they were actually transported at the last second to a bubble universe created by Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Sue. Franklin is a powerful mutant who can alter reality, a similar power in many respects to the Scarlet Witch's powers in WandaVision.
Doctor Doom
Recent comic book history saw Doctor Doom, one of the most heinous Marvel villains, die in battle alongside the Fantastic Four. He joined the Future Foundation in the aftermath of Johnny Storm's death, in exchange for Mr. Fantastic helping Doom regain his vaunted intelligence.
A lot had happened to get to that point, but Doom fought bravely beside the Fantastic Four against the Mad Celestials. Doom died defending the world against them. He was later shown to be alive through mysterious means.
An Entire Universe
One of the most staggering deaths in the entire Fantastic Four history occurs during the brief but legendary run by writer and artist Walt Simonson. In issues #337 through #342, Simonson takes the Fantastic Four, along with Iron Man and Thor, into the future to investigate a strange time bubble.
In the course of the adventure, Galactus activates the Ultimate Nullifier, which was originally conceived to defeat Galactus himself. This destroys an entire universe and everything in it.
Lyja
Lyja is a tragic character in the Fantastic Four comics. Lyja is a Skrull who impersonates Ben Grimm's longtime partner, Alicia Masters. Unfortunately, Lyja actually falls in love with Johnny Storm, complicating things considerably.
She eventually comes clean but dies saving Johnny from the Skrull Paibok who originally set the entire conspiracy in motion. Given her history in the comics, Lyja is potentially a new character fans could see in the Secret Invasion Disney+ series.
Reed Richards
The death of the entire Fantastic Four in the Onslaught epic was a ruse. The death of Reed Richards at the hands of Doctor Doom was not. In Fantastic Four #381, the team travels to Latveria to help defend it against an alien creature Doom summoned to harvest for its power.
The team dispatches the alien, but Doom is gravely injured in the process. Seeing the writing on the wall, he chooses to kill Reed and take him with him, a mind-blowing act on Doom's part.
Johnny Storm
Reed eventually returned, but some years later, tragedy struck the team again. The Fantastic Four faced one of their greatest threats when the Cult of the Negative Zone unleashed a swarm of Annihilus Insectoid Soldiers on the Earth.
Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, died when he closed the gate to the Negative Zone behind him, saving the world. Johnny's death would leave the team reeling, and their efforts would focus more on the Future Foundation in the years that followed.
Sue Storm
The Invisible Woman is one of the strongest Marvel female characters in the comics. Her power of invisibility expands and refines all the time, making her a major asset in any battle. But like many other superheroes before her, she's met her match on a few occasions. However, one of her deaths in the comics was just bizarre.
Johnny Storm didn't want to clean his room at the Baxter Building once, and so he activated an invention of Reed's to do it for them. This accidentally unleashed an alien monster Reed had been isolating which then went on a rampage and killed Sue.
Reed And Sue's Baby
One of the most heartbreaking deaths in any Marvel comic was the loss of Reed and Sue's unborn child. This tragic loss brought the team down to Earth and Sue's subsequent grief has overtones of the comics that have inspired WandaVision.
It came with an odd complication, though. Reed enlists the aid of Otto Octavius, better known as Spider-Man nemesis Doctor Octopus, to help with the delivery. Doc Ock doesn't comply and Reed has to chase him through the city as Sue suffers.
No member of the Fantastic Four has been spared the touch of death. Doctor Doom kills the Thing in a shocking moment that devastated the team. It led to one of the more unique and heartwarming episodes in the comics, though.
Reed Richards invents an afterlife machine that allows the surviving members to travel to Heaven and locate Ben Grimm. While there, they meet The Creator, who appears suspiciously like Jack Kirby. The team convinces Ben to come back and all is well, for a while.