Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm Prove Iconic Fantastic Four Heroes Are Brothers, Marvel Confirms

A bond survives lost memories

The Fantastic Four have lost their memories, including knowledge of their identities, powers and one another. In preview pages for issue #18, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm nevertheless sense that they are friends. Ben says their rapport makes them brothers, and Johnny agrees without joking. Ben describes them as having grown up together and being friends for life; Johnny answers, “Ride or die, Brother.”

What issue eighteen brings

Fantastic Four #18 concludes the team’s two-part DNX crossover tie-in. Its solicitation says the heroes must quickly learn who they are and why they are there, because Magneto’s life is at risk.

Without their identities or a clear grasp of their powers, the team may endanger themselves as well as their opponents. The issue also promises unfamiliar foes, Ben being dunked in acid, romance, kissing, the Beast and a conversation about Johnny and Ben’s relationship.

Different family dynamics elsewhere

The story contrasts Johnny and Ben’s expressed kinship with the strained family dynamic in the mainline Earth-616 universe, where the Fantastic Four’s relationships are being challenged. Sue and Johnny appear to be biological siblings, as is typical.

In Marvel’s new horror universe, Midnight Fantastic Four, Reed is being used by Storm Systems as a means to an end. Johnny and Ben have not yet been shown interacting in that series, so whether they consider themselves brothers there remains unknown.