Marvel teases Fantastic Four and X-men comic series ending

With the power grab between Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox heating up, Marvel comics ends longest running comic series to thwart rival.

New York Comic Con’s underway with pictures and news from the event cropping up all over social media. And as always, Marvel‘s right in the middle of things.

#MarvelNYCC Marvel tease the end of the X-Men and Fantastic 4 franchise with No More Mutants and The End is Four Ever pic.twitter.com/yggE602Ggs— … (@PaseDeManteca_) October 10, 2014

Comic Book Resources reports when Comicbook.com attended the Marvel panel and noticed a very interesting hint on the seeming finality of The Fantastic Four, one of the Marvel’s stable mainstays. So what’s up with that?

The news comes at a particularly interesting time as the Fantastic Four cinema reboot’s receiving fan backlash. The Huffington Post recently spoke to Miles Teller, who’ll be playing Richard Reed, and openly discussed the down side of starring a popular reboot.

“I already know that people hate me for the fact that I’m playing Reed Richards and that we’re ruining their franchise. It’s tough because when you’re taking on a franchise that’s already been established, you do kind of owe something to the characters and to the creator. At the same time, you want to bring it to a fresh audience.”

So will the fresh audience be the restart of the comic series, like many of Marvel’s recent comic changes? 20th Century Fox owns the rights to Fantastic Four and X-Men‘s cinematic use.

No X-Men or Fantastic Four involved in the #SecretWars crossover? #MarvelNYCC What will they be up to? pic.twitter.com/m7QxPUGFOx— Ranker Comics (@Ranker_Comics) October 10, 2014

Back in May, Bleeding Cool posited the theory that FF and X-Men were being canceled/finished in order to drag Fox’s property value down. Marvel Studios want control of their characters back, to weave them into the wider cinematic universe, but are unable due to contractual obligations and screen ownership.

During an interview with HollywoodLife.com, Michael B. Jordan agreed that the new movie would focus on “an origin story,” much like what X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First Class have accomplished. A contained Marvel universe where Quicksilver’s existence is quite different than the MCU.

Jordan described the change beauty of a reboot. “You get a chance to experience what it’s like to grow up with these characters. As we go through the experience, you guys go through it as well.”

If the comic series is rebooted, like the movies, then “a fresh audience” /4/be needed in a world where Thor’s a woman and Captain America’s no longer a kid from the Second World War. The readership of comics has diversified. A push for Inhumans, instead of mutants and X-Men, is easily explainable in the context. A new series of characters for the current audience.

#NYCC14: #Marvel reveals ‘The End is FourEver’ & ‘No More Mutants’ for #FantasticFour & #XMen comics – http://t.co/hunrnZYtgB #NYCC— The Daily SuperHero (@DailySuperHero) October 10, 2014

There’s also speculation in the comic community over what “No More Mutants” means since storylines feature Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch—both upcoming superheroes in Joss Whedon’s Avengers 2: Age of Ultron due out next year. In Marvel movies, the word mutant isn’t allowed to be used or referenced. So no matter how prolific the X-Men are in the comic world—cinematically, they’re dead for Marvel Studios.

CBR wonders if the #1 is a way to incorporate “a multi-part story to send off Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s iconic creation.” As Marvel’s longest running comic, the sendoff would have to be epic.

A reinvention of the mutant would definitely signal a new beginning in January, alongside the new comic series. And a chance to work some of the missing elements into the Marvel cinematic universe without breaking any contracts.