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148-533: Maybelle " May " Parker-Jameson ( née Reilly ), commonly known as Aunt May , is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics , commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man . Making her first full appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), the character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko , playing an influential role in

296-760: A 1990 series of short stories about the Vietnam War . Fictional works that explicitly involve supernatural, magical, or scientifically impossible elements are often classified under the genre of fantasy , including Lewis Carroll 's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings , and J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter series. Creators of fantasy sometimes introduce imaginary creatures and beings such as dragons and fairies. Types of written fiction in prose are distinguished by relative length and include: Fiction writing

444-571: A baby, Franklin ; the team battled Annihilus right before Franklin's birth. Franklin was a mutant with incredible powers, but, due to the cosmic ray alteration to his parents' DNA, they manifested while he was still very young (in the Marvel world, most mutants like the X-Men get their powers while teenagers). Franklin appears to have power that can rival a member of the Celestials ; the power of

592-475: A boy, Reed loved spending time with Ted. Unfortunately, Ted was also "an eccentric" and "stubborn". Because he had a career in the arts and because he stood out, Ted was called before HUAC , imprisoned on contempt of Congress charges for six months, and was unable to find work after he'd served his sentence. He was even shunned by Reed's father. Ted lost everything, which Reed says finally "killed him" without going into greater detail. Richards opines that his uncle

740-404: A certain point of view. The distinction between the two may be best defined from the viewpoint of the audience, according to whom a work is non-fiction if its people, settings, and plot are perceived entirely as historically or factually real, while a work is regarded as fiction if it deviates from reality in any of those areas. The distinction is further obscured by a philosophical understanding, on

888-447: A completely imaginary way or been followed by major new events that are completely imaginary (the genre of alternative history ). Or, it depicts impossible technology or technology that defies current scientific understandings or capabilities (the genre of science fiction ). Contrarily, realistic fiction involves a story whose basic setting (time and location in the world) is, in fact, real and whose events could believably happen in

1036-491: A coward for taking control of what was left of existence rather than trying to reshape it. Inspired by Reed's words, Reece transfers Doom's power to him, with Reed recreating the former Earth-616 before he, Susan, their children, and the rest of the Future Foundation move to use Franklin and Reed's powers to rebuild the multiverse. Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, and the Future Foundation were later confronted by

1184-645: A falling teammate, or inflating himself into a life raft to aid in a water rescue. He can willfully reduce his body's cohesion until he reaches a fluid state, which can flow through minute openings or into tiny pipes. Reed is also able to shape his hands into hammer and mace style weapons, and concentrate his mass into his fists to increase their density and effectiveness as weapons. Having an elastic-like texture allows Reed protection from damage. He can be punched with incredible force, flattened, squished, and still re-form or survive without any form of sufficient injury. Reed's control over his shape has been developed to such

1332-475: A figure from history, Bonnie Prince Charlie , and takes part in the Battle of Prestonpans . Some works of fiction are slightly or greatly re-imagined based on some originally true story, or a reconstructed biography. Often, even when the fictional story is based on fact, there may be additions and subtractions from the true story to make it more interesting. An example is Tim O'Brien 's The Things They Carried ,

1480-464: A god in the body of a small child. The couple briefly separated, and Reed further alienated Sue by shutting down Franklin's mind to prevent his power from causing global catastrophe; Sue Storm initiated divorce proceedings but the two were reconciled soon after. Reed also saved Galactus's life during the course of his adventures. He then bought the Baxter Building . Later, he was tried by

1628-453: A human trampoline, or inflating his hands into pool toys to entertain his children. The most extreme demonstration of Reed's powers is when at one point he was able to increase his size and mass to Thing-like proportions which also increased his physical strength. Assuming and maintaining these shapes used to require extreme effort. Due to years of mental and physical training, Reed can now perform these feats at will. His powers (and those of

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1776-649: A local ethnic restaurant to learn more about her birth culture as well as her adopted family. After Peter and Wanda become Spider-Man and the Scarlet Witch, May reveals that she realised their secrets some while before the death of Gwen Stacy, which caused a temporary rift between the siblings as Peter lashed out at Wanda for not saving Gwen herself. The siblings and May later attempt to bond with Pietro, Wanda's biological brother, who assumes that Richard and Mary outright stole Wanda and left him behind; May explains that Richard and Mary did see evidence of another baby in

1924-677: A long talk between Peter and his "father", Nick Fury and a team of Spider Slayers surround the Parker home, which triggers a transformation in Gwen, turning her into Carnage . May then suffers a heart attack. She is rescued from dying by Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four , reconciles with Peter and accepts his life as Spider-Man, though she is not at all fond of his costume. Peter later explains to May why he became Spider-Man, and May tells him that Ben would be proud of him for doing so. Aunt May

2072-700: A major impact on the creation and distribution of fiction, calling into question the feasibility of copyright as a means to ensure royalties are paid to copyright holders. Also, digital libraries such as Project Gutenberg make public domain texts more readily available. The combination of inexpensive home computers, the Internet, and the creativity of its users has also led to new forms of fiction, such as interactive computer games or computer-generated comics. Countless forums for fan fiction can be found online, where loyal followers of specific fictional realms create and distribute derivative stories. The Internet

2220-726: A monstrous freak, attacking Reed's children and attempting to seduce Sue. After many adventures as the Fantastic Four, Reed married Sue. Not long after that, the team encountered the Inhumans for the first time. They next encountered Galactus and the Silver Surfer . Reed then opened a portal to the Negative Zone for the first time. Soon, the team first battled the Psycho-Man . Before long Reed and Sue had

2368-529: A new team, the Future Foundation , to help create a better future for mankind. However, the team's initial tasks are complicated when they are forced to deal with the ' Council of Reeds ', a group of alternate versions of Reed Richards who lack his morality or family that became trapped in the FF's reality after an accident with Reed's dimensional portal. After Johnny is returned and the team resume using

2516-405: A period of convalescence at a nursing home, May met wheelchair user Nathan Lubensky. Gradually, May and Nathan fell in love with each other. She invited Nathan into her Forest Hills home after converting it into a boarding house, and the couple were briefly engaged. However, May's heart was broken when Nathan suffered a fatal heart attack while protecting her from being taken hostage by Adrian Toomes,

2664-459: A physically and mentally exhausting battle against the Lizard , tries talking to Aunt May, looking for someone to help give him hope after seeing the death of Curt Connors' humanity. She still continues to act like a bad-tempered teenager and at first, rebuffs him. However, after seeing Peter clearly suffering mentally, she feels guilty and undergoes an intense mind battle, breaking the corruption, and

2812-412: A point that he has been able to radically alter his facial features and his entire physical form to pass among human and non-humans unnoticed and unrecognized. He has even molded himself into the shapes of inanimate objects, such as a mailbox. He rarely uses his powers in such an undignified fashion. However, he appears to have no qualms about stretching out his ears, taking the shape of a dinosaur, becoming

2960-473: A radioactive blood transfusion from Peter, which he hoped would save her life due to his mutated healing factor. The demon Mephisto offers to restore May's health in exchange for erasing Peter's marriage from history, and Peter and Mary Jane agree. May lives, and Spider-Man's identity is once again a secret. At the beginning of Brand New Day , May is doing volunteer work for a homeless shelter, run by Martin Li,

3108-699: A ruler known as the Unspoken , one more powerful than any other in the universe, to the point he had to be erased from history, and how his return will impact the planet and the cosmos beyond, in the War of Kings . After the Secret Invasion and some time into the Dark Reign , in the War of Kings , when Blastaar is about to open the portal to Earth, on the other side in Camp Hammond, Star-Lord and

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3256-455: A senior's home while Mary Jane is sick of being the sole caretaker of May and their children. Mary Jane later leaves Peter and takes the twins with her as Peter looks after May. May later dies sometime before 1995. When Otto attempts to destroy Peter's mind in 2019, Peter uses a memory of May to convince Otto to stop fighting Spider-Man and accept his life's limitations. The conjured memory version of May has one final talk with Peter before he saves

3404-580: A serious beating from the villain Morlun , the two later talking about May's discovery as May came to accept her nephew's real life. When Spider-Man joins the Avengers , Peter, Aunt May, and Mary Jane Watson move into Stark Tower after May loses her house to a fire. During the Superhero Civil War , she and Mary Jane convince Peter to unmask himself in front of a press conference. Later, she

3552-875: A sister named Jan. May's first cousins Sam and Julia are the children of her uncle Bill and his wife Claudia. Peter was attracted to Julia's daughter Alexa. The Reilly family is currently staying in May's house. Upon her return from her honeymoon, she stops by the FEAST offices, only to accidentally walk in on Martin Li, along with Hammerhead torturing one of Mr. Negative's Inner Demons. Trying to escape, Li touches her with his corrupting touch. She then returns to meet her husband and Peter. When Jay suggests going somewhere nice for dinner, Aunt May sarcastically proceeds to insult Peter over his fluctuating jobs and his dependence on them, culminating with calling her nephew "One damn big disappointment". A heartbroken Peter runs off. Peter returns, after

3700-570: A subset (written fiction that aligns to a particular genre ), or its opposite: an evaluative label for written fiction that comprises popular culture , as artistically or intellectually inferior to high culture . Regardless, fiction is commonly broken down into a variety of genres: categories of fiction, each differentiated by a particular unifying tone or style ; set of narrative techniques , archetypes , or other tropes; media content ; or other popularly defined criterion. Science fiction predicts or supposes technologies that are not realities at

3848-409: A successful test pilot and astronaut, was indeed slated to pilot the craft. All seemed well; however, when the government threatened to cut funding and cancel the project, Reed, Ben, Sue, and Sue's younger brother Johnny , agreed to sneak aboard the starship and take it up immediately. They knew they had not completed all the testing that had been planned, but Reed was confident they would be safe. Ben

3996-829: A supporting role. May was portrayed by Rosemary Harris in Sam Raimi 's Spider-Man trilogy , Sally Field in Marc Webb 's The Amazing Spider-Man duology and Marisa Tomei in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films. In the Spider-Verse franchise , the character was voiced by Lily Tomlin in Into the Spider-Verse and Elizabeth Perkins in Across the Spider-Verse . May Parker (née Reilly)

4144-463: A team, but as a family. Shortly after their return, the FF were confronted by a being called Onslaught . Onslaught took control of an army of Sentinels and invaded New York City , hunting down every mutant being he could find. Onslaught wished to add the abilities of the godlike Franklin Richards to his own. Only through the apparent sacrifice of the Fantastic Four's own lives and that of many of

4292-530: A thug who holds nothing but contempt for the people. Jay walked with May in Central Park and asked her to marry him, and May accepted. Despite Doctor Octopus' subconscious efforts to halt his former fiancé's wedding plans, May and Jay were reluctantly wedded by New York Mayor J. Jonah Jameson, who expressed displeasure at Peter calling them stepbrothers (due to May being his adoptive mother). Aunt May has several blood relatives that are still alive, including

4440-430: A traditional narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose – often referring specifically to novels , novellas , and short stories . More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium , including not just writings but also live theatrical performances , films , television programs , radio dramas , comics , role-playing games , and video games . Typically,

4588-501: A university or a similar institution, and with the continuation of such positions determined not by book sales but by critical acclaim by other established literary authors and critics. On the other hand, he suggests, genre fiction writers tend to support themselves by book sales. However, in an interview, John Updike lamented that "the category of 'literary fiction' has sprung up recently to torment people like me who just set out to write books, and if anybody wanted to read them, terrific,

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4736-434: A written work of fiction that: Literary fiction is often used as a synonym for literature , in the narrow sense of writings specifically considered to be an art form. While literary fiction is sometimes regarded as superior to genre fiction, the two are not mutually exclusive, and major literary figures have employed the genres of science fiction, crime fiction , romance , etc., to create works of literature. Furthermore,

4884-508: Is a part of media studies. Examples of prominent fictionalization in the creative arts include those in the general context of World War II in popular culture and specifically Nazi German leaders such as Adolf Hitler in popular culture and Reinhard Heydrich in popular culture . For instance, American actor and comedian Charlie Chaplin portrayed the eccentric despot Adenoid Hynkel in the 1940 satirical film The Great Dictator . The unhinged, unintelligent figure fictionalized real events from

5032-526: Is able to bankroll the Fantastic Four, Inc., without any undue financial stress. Mind control is rarely effective on him and when it does work, it wears off sooner than it would on a normal person, due to what he describes as an "elastic consciousness". However, this intelligence can be a handicap in his dealings with magic, as it required an intense lesson from Doctor Strange and facing the threat of his son being trapped in Hell for Reed to fully acknowledge that

5180-446: Is also used for the development of blog fiction , where a story is delivered through a blog either as flash fiction or serial blog, and collaborative fiction , where a story is written sequentially by different authors, or the entire text can be revised by anyone using a wiki . The definition of literary fiction is controversial. It may refer to any work of fiction in a written form. However, various other definitions exist, including

5328-459: Is aware that he is her nephew or at least suspecting his identity as Peter. Later in life, she marries J. Jonah "Jay" Jameson Sr. , the estranged father of Peter's boss and Spider-Man's harshest critic J. Jonah Jameson , making him her step-son and by extension Peter's step-cousin (and self-declared step-brother); much to Jameson's discomfort. Since May's conception, the character has appeared in several media adaptations of Spider-Man, often playing

5476-576: Is believed by most to be the Earth's foremost intelligence. There is little he cannot create, fix, or understand given time. The patents and royalties on his inventions alone have funded the group over the years. However, there are drawbacks to his association with the team. Chief among them is the team's violent encounters with Doctor Doom, who believes that Reed was responsible for the accident that scarred him. Doom has never forgiven Reed and has sworn revenge. Doom has even gone as far as transforming Reed into

5624-527: Is by Peter's side when he dies following a battle with the Green Goblin. Although angry at the Ultimates for belittling Peter's accomplishments in life when attending her nephew's funeral, May is nevertheless comforted when she met some of the people that Peter had saved during his career as Spider-Man, one little girl even offering her a comforting hug as thanks for raising the man who saved her. After

5772-550: Is captured by Regent and his life is flashing before his eyes, one of his memories was him standing in front of Aunt May's open casket at her funeral, confirming that she died sometime before the events of the comic. In the Ultimate Marvel universe Aunt May is based on writer Brian Michael Bendis' mother. This version of the character is a strong and independent woman in her late forties or early fifties, significantly younger than her original Marvel Universe counterpart. She

5920-439: Is characterized by a lesser degree of adherence to realistic or plausible individuals, events, or places, while the umbrella genre of realistic fiction is characterized by a greater degree. For instance, speculative fiction may depict an entirely imaginary universe or one in which the laws of nature do not strictly apply (often, the sub-genre of fantasy ). Or, it depicts true historical moments, except that they have concluded in

6068-496: Is known as fictionalization . The opposite circumstance, in which the physical world or a real turn of events seem influenced by past fiction, is commonly described by the phrase " life imitating art ". The latter phrase is popularity associated with the Anglo-Irish fiction writer Oscar Wilde . The alteration of actual happenings into a fictional format, with this involving a dramatic representation of real events or people,

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6216-446: Is known as both fictionalization , or, more narrowly for visual performance works like in theatre and film, dramatization . According to the academic publication Oxford Reference , a work set up this way will have a "narrative based partly or wholly on fact but written as if it were fiction" such that "[f]ilms and broadcast dramas of this kind often bear the label 'based on a true story'." In intellectual research, evaluating this process

6364-554: Is later seen among the various heroes that the Hulk defeated so far, within the depths of the Hulk's Gladiator arena located within Madison Square Garden . He and all of the heroes are implanted with "obedience disks" that are used to suppress their powers. These disks are the same that were used upon the Hulk during his time on Sakaar. The Hulk orders Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic to face off in battle. Richards, after having

6512-492: Is most long-established in the realm of literature (written narrative fiction), the broad study of the nature, function, and meaning of fiction is called literary theory , and the narrower interpretation of specific fictional texts is called literary criticism (with subsets like film criticism and theatre criticism also now long-established). Aside from real-world connections, some fictional works may depict characters and events within their own context, entirely separate from

6660-529: Is never afraid to admit when others have greater expertise in certain fields than him, such as recognizing that Doctor Octopus possesses greater knowledge of radiation, that Hank Pym is a superior biochemist , or that Spider-Man can think of a problem from a biology perspective where he would be unable to do so, since his expertise is in physics. Richards has earned Ph.D.s in Mathematics , Physics , and Engineering . His patents are so valuable that he

6808-413: Is not the real Sentry and destroys the machine. In a last line of defense, Sue Storm tries to protect her husband by encapsulating the Hulk in an energy field while pleading with him to spare Reed. The Hulk does not listen and is able to easily exert enough strength against her force field to cause Susan to collapse and experience a nosebleed from the stress, before she dooms Reed to the Hulk's wrath. Reed

6956-427: Is often described as "elegantly written, lyrical, and ... layered". The tone of literary fiction can be darker than genre fiction, while the pacing of literary fiction may be slower than popular fiction. As Terrence Rafferty notes, "literary fiction, by its nature, allows itself to dawdle, to linger on stray beauties even at the risk of losing its way". Based on how literary fiction is defined, genre fiction may be

7104-420: Is shown simply sitting next to Peter. Prior to the events of Spider-Island , after Martin Li's secret identity is exposed to the public, May and Jay formally announce their intention to leave New York for good, for their own safety, and move to Boston. Jay explains this was the result of all the recent major incidents towards them and their friends and family. They put May's old house up for sale and leave once

7252-436: Is shown that a Skrull assumed Reed's form to successfully ambush and capture Sue Richards, to facilitate an attack on the Fantastic Four's headquarters. A conscious but still mostly shapeless Reed Richards is seen being forcibly stretched in all directions to cover the floor of a medium-sized arena aboard a Skrull ship, with all of the seats filled by Skrull onlookers. He is freed by Abigail Brand , and then travels with her to

7400-607: Is targeted by the Chameleon , but outwits the villain by feeding him Ambien -filled oatmeal-raisin cookies. When Peter changes his mind about the Superhuman Registration Act , he moves his family from Stark Tower to a motel. An assassin hired by the Kingpin tries to kill Peter, but hits May instead. Peter takes May to a hospital where she lapses into a coma and is likely to die. However, Aunt May receives

7548-476: Is the biological sister of Mary Parker, and wife to Ben Parker. Peter reveals his secret identity to May after he finds Gwen Stacy's clone at her old house, resulting in May evicting Peter from her home, as she despises Spider-Man. This coincides with the appearance of a man who appears to be Richard Parker, Peter's father. Peter learns that May had known this man, actually an artificially-aged clone of Peter, and she kept this secret from Peter to "protect him". After

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7696-407: Is the process by which an author or creator produces a fictional work. Some elements of the writing process may be planned in advance, while others may come about spontaneously. Fiction writers use different writing styles and have distinct writers' voices when writing fictional stories. The use of real events or real individuals as direct inspiration for imaginary events or imaginary individuals

7844-567: The Masters of Evil , posing as heroes, The Thunderbolts . One year later, Franklin returned with his family along with the other heroes from the parallel reality. Reed was overjoyed to see his son again, but he and the rest of the FF found themselves without a home, moving into Reed's storage warehouse on Pier 4, overlooking the East River. Making this their home, the Fantastic Four continued with their lives, eventually managing to move back into

7992-535: The Parker Industries 's foundation, a charity focused on providing help for the less fortunate and raise the quality of life wherever it could be possible. However, her husband Jay had coughed up blood and collapsed. Aunt May is heartbroken after her husband Jay had later died in the hospital. Aunt May, Peter and J. Jonah Jameson held a moment of silence. After Peter Parker had his doctorate revoked for "copying" Doctor Octopus' thesis and getting fired from

8140-523: The Red Ghost ) were also increased when they were exposed to a second dose of cosmic rays. Maintaining his body's normal human shape requires a certain degree of ongoing concentration. When Reed is relaxed and distracted, his body appears to "melt in slow motion" according to Susan Storm. Being forcefully stretched to extremes during a short span of time (by a taffy-puller-type machine or a strong character, for example) causes Reed to suffer intense pain and

8288-709: The Savage Land and uses a device to reveal all the Skrull invaders present. After helping the Avengers to defeat the imposters and return to New York, Reed aids the heroes and villains of Earth in their battle against the Skrulls. Mister Fantastic aids the New Avengers in the search for the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. He and the rest of the Fantastic Four are magically reduced to television signals by

8436-510: The Shi'ar for saving Galactus's life, but the charges were dropped when Eternity briefly granted all those attending the trial a moment of 'cosmic awareness' that allowed them to understand that Galactus was necessary for the continued well-being of the universe. Reed's battle with Gormuu prior to getting his powers was recounted. Just after that, Reed was reunited with his father in an alternate timeline. Some time later, Reed and Sue retired from

8584-661: The Skrulls . Soon after that, the team encountered the Sub-Mariner . They then had the first of many battles with Doctor Doom. They later journeyed to a subatomic world. Soon after that, they encountered Rama-Tut . They then battled the Molecule Man . As the team leader, Mr. Fantastic created numerous exotic devices and vehicles for the team to use such as clothing made of ' unstable molecules ' so that it can be used with their powers safely. Furthermore, he often leads

8732-422: The human condition . In general, it focuses on "introspective, in-depth character studies" of "interesting, complex and developed" characters. This contrasts with genre fiction where plot is the central concern. Usually in literary fiction the focus is on the "inner story" of the characters who drive the plot, with detailed motivations to elicit "emotional involvement" in the reader. The style of literary fiction

8880-521: The 18th and 19th centuries. They were often associated with Enlightenment ideas such as empiricism and agnosticism . Realism developed as a literary style at this time. New forms of mass media developed in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, including popular-fiction magazines and early film. Interactive fiction was developed in the late-20th century through video games. Certain basic elements define all works of narrative , including all works of narrative fiction. Namely, all narratives include

9028-502: The 2025 film The Fantastic Four: First Steps , the 2026 film Avengers: Doomsday , and the 2027 film Avengers: Secret Wars . During an interview, Lee stated the inspiration behind the character's powers: "I liked Plastic Man . That's a great power, and nobody is using it so I gave Reed Richards Plastic Man's power" Born in Central City, California , Reed Richards is the son of Evelyn and Nathaniel Richards . Nathaniel

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9176-597: The Baxter Building (due to Loki's manipulations, likely) sows further displeasure and leads to a direct conflict between the Fantastic Four and Loki's Mighty Avengers, stretching across to The Mighty Avengers #26 . This conflict eventually ends in a new base for the Mighty Avengers and a shockingly disturbing alliance of the Dark Reign ; the next issue of the Mighty Avengers will show a new character,

9324-540: The Baxter Building. It has emerged that Reed is one of the members of the " Illuminati ", unknown to his wife. He is also in possession of the "Power" gem of the Infinity Gauntlet . In Marvel's Civil War miniseries and crossover event, Reed Richards is one of the leading figures, along with Iron Man, on the side which is in favor of the Superhuman Registration Act . He speculates that this will lead to conflict with his wife, which came true in issue #4 of

9472-582: The Daily Bugle, May confronted her nephew about his actions. While stating that he should take responsibility for his actions, May leaves stating that Uncle Ben should have raised him better. Shortly afterwards, she was diagnosed with cancer and does not tell Peter to avoid overwhelming him. Lee and Ditko introduced a character named "Aunt May" alongside "Uncle Ben" in the June 1962 issue of Strange Tales #97, four months before her Amazing Fantasy debut. In

9620-578: The Dark Raider who was traveling from reality to reality, destroying all the various versions of himself after his own failure to save his world from Galactus in their original confrontation. A while later, the remaining members of the FF along with the Sub-Mariner, Lyja and Kristoff Vernard found themselves trapped in the same era as their Reed and Doom. They found Reed but faced a new problem: during his time alone, Reed had resigned himself to

9768-454: The Fantastic Four name, they are systematically attacked by the mysterious Quiet Man, a figure who reveals that he has been behind many of the villain attacks the FF have faced over the years, now stepping forward to take a more active role as he shuts down Johnny's powers, frames the Thing for murder, has Reed and Sue Richards declared unfit guardians for their children, and then abducts Reed with

9916-472: The Fantastic Four, and then joined the Avengers , although Reed's past experience as leader of the Fantastic Four meant that he had trouble adjusting to following Captain America 's lead regardless of his respect for the other man. Eventually, Reed and Sue did rejoin the Fantastic Four. In the course of fighting an alien called Hunger, Doctor Doom was seriously injured. The Fantastic Four were also part of

10064-543: The Fantastic Four, but ask Storm and the Black Panther to take their places in the meantime. Within the midst of Civil War, Reed Richards learned from a brief conversation with Mastermind Excello that the Hulk is not on the planet where the Illuminati attempted to exile him. After a conversation over the good the Hulk has done for humanity, Reed tells Iron Man of what happened to the Hulk and also states that

10212-441: The Fantastic Four. Reed was chosen to lead the group, under the name "Mr. Fantastic". He later told his daughter , by way of a bedtime story , that the reason he suggested they become adventurers and gave them such outlandish costumes and names as "Mister Fantastic" and " The Thing " was that he knew they would likely be hated and feared for their powers without such an over-the-top public image. This history has been changed over

10360-564: The Griever at the End of All Things after Reed had expended most of his Beyonder-based energies while Franklin was left with only limited reality-warping abilities. Due to the Griever causing the collapse of 100 worlds, the Future Foundation had to make a stand even after Molecule Man was killed. When Mister Fantastic tricked the Griever into bringing their Fantastic Four teammates to them, Thing and Human Torch were reunited as every other superhero that

10508-700: The Guardians tell Reed Richards and others to never open the portal, or they will face the wrath of Blastaar. Mister Fantastic agrees and says they will not open the portal and then asks who they are. Star-Lord replies, "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy" before leaving. Tragedy strikes the team when Johnny is apparently killed in the Negative Zone. As the Fantastic Four recover from Johnny's apparent death, Mister Fantastic grows disillusioned at how scientists see science and its applications. Therefore, he creates

10656-507: The Hulk has friends, and "may God help us if they find him before we do". Within the aftermath of Civil War, Reed Richards had been keeping tabs on Mastermind Excello and when the She-Hulk learned about the Hulk's exile, Reed Richards sends out Doc Samson to confront her when he sees her meeting with Mastermind Excello. In World War Hulk #1, Reed is shown with Tony Stark as Iron Man. Both men were trying to convince Sentry to fight

10804-525: The Hulk, thinking that the calm aura that the Sentry produces may be able to stop the Hulk's rampage. In World War Hulk #2, with the aid of the rest of the Fantastic Four, Storm, and the Black Panther, Reed is able to create a machine that projects an image of the Sentry and recreates the hero's aura of calm. He uses the machine on the Hulk just as he is about to defeat the Thing, but the Hulk knows it

10952-531: The Psycho-Man's equipment. During the Secret Wars storyline, Reed is one of the few survivors of Earth-616 to come through with his memories intact, hiding in a 'life raft' with various other heroes and eventually released by Doctor Strange. Learning that the new 'Battleworld' is now ruled by Doctor Doom, who has absorbed the power of various Beyonders and Molecule Men to become a virtual god, Reed and

11100-587: The Red King forces breach the ship's warp core. Miek kept quiet to initiate what he felt was Hulk's destiny as the "Worldbreaker". Mister Fantastic is at the Illuminati 's meeting discussing the threat of the Skrulls when the Black Bolt with them is revealed to be a Skrull in disguise. Mister Fantastic and Hank Pym autopsy the body of the Skrull who impersonated Elektra (with Reed pretending to be seeing

11248-481: The Spider-Man comic books. May is the widow of Ben Parker and the paternal aunt by marriage of Peter Parker, who leads a secret life as Spider-Man. She is nurturing and supportive of Peter as a mother figure , although throughout most of Spider-Man's history, she has not known of his secret life and considered Spider-Man frightening. In modern renditions, May has been known to support the hero and in rare cases

11396-407: The ability to convert his entire body into a highly malleable state at will, allowing him to stretch, deform, and reform himself into virtually any shape. Richards has been observed as being able to utilize his stretching form in a variety of offensive and defensive manners, such as compressing himself into a ball and ricocheting into enemies, flattening himself into a trampoline or a parachute to catch

11544-415: The abnormal radiation levels in the belt's atmosphere. The cosmic rays wreaked havoc on the starship's insufficient shielding and they were forced to return to Earth immediately. When they crash-landed they found that their bodies were changed dramatically. Reed's body was elastic and he could reshape any portion of his body at will. At his suggestion, they decided to use their new abilities to serve mankind as

11692-455: The age of 22. He also worked in communications for the Army. Three years later, in his mid-20s, Reed used his inheritance, along with government funding, to finance his research. Determined to go to Mars and beyond, Richards based the fateful project in Central City. Susan Storm moved into the area, and within a short time, found herself engaged to Reed. Reed's old college roommate, Ben Grimm, now

11840-492: The alternate timeline known as MC2 , May Parker's death in The Amazing Spider-Man #400 was valid. It was May who died in this continuum, rather than an actress. Peter's daughter, May "Mayday" Parker, was named for her. Mayday became the super-heroine Spider-Girl and met the original May when she found herself displaced in time, although Mayday makes no attempt to explain who she really was. When Spider-Girl

11988-604: The audience's willing suspension of disbelief . The effects of experiencing fiction, and the way the audience is changed by the new information they discover, has been studied for centuries. Also, infinite fictional possibilities themselves signal the impossibility of fully knowing reality, provocatively demonstrating philosophical notions, such as there potentially being no criterion to measure constructs of reality. In contrast to fiction, creators of non-fiction assume responsibility for presenting information (and sometimes opinion) based only in historical and factual reality. Despite

12136-415: The audience, including elements such as romance , piracy , and religious ceremonies . Heroic romance was developed in medieval Europe , incorporating elements associated with fantasy , including supernatural elements and chivalry . The structure of the modern novel was developed by Miguel de Cervantes with Don Quixote in the early-17th century. The novel became a primary medium of fiction in

12284-457: The battle against Hunger and Doom asked for his old enemy to take his hand. At that point they both disappeared in a flash, leaving nothing but ashes. It would appear as if the two sworn enemies had fittingly died in each other's hands. However, unknown to anyone else at the time, Reed and Doom had actually been thrown back into the time of barbarians and onto an alien world by a being called Hyperstorm , Reed's grandchild from an alternate future,

12432-424: The chance for closure that she had missed when her Peter died, and concludes that she had made the right choices concerning her nephew, before the adult Peter is returned to his universe. When Green Goblin escapes custody after S.H.I.E.L.D. was shut down, he arrives at the front yard of Aunt May's house and confronts Miles. Aunt May and Gwen are inside watching the television where the battle of Miles and Green Goblin

12580-561: The chaotic activities of the Elder God Chthon, to prevent them from intervening, though after Chthon is defeated, he and the other three are turned back. Norman Osborn has sent H.A.M.M.E.R. agents to shut down the Fantastic Four and capture them, expelling them from the Initiative and stripping them all their rights. Taking place a week from the Secret Invasion, which has caused Richards to seriously reevaluate his own life and

12728-473: The characters age naturally after Peter Parker became Spider-Man in 1962. Sometime before 1977, May married Otto Octavius, but she later divorced him due to his anger management problems. In the 1980s, Mary Jane struggles to take care of May as she shows early signs of dementia around the time Mary Jane and Peter's twins are born. It puts a further rift in Peter and Mary Jane's marriage as Peter refuses to put her in

12876-454: The child of Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers , daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey . They were so far into the past, and with no technology, that even their brilliant minds couldn't find a way back home. Doom was captured and held prisoner by Hyperstorm. Reed wandered aimlessly for about a year. Meanwhile, the rest of the FF recruited Scott Lang as scientific advisor. They even confronted an insane alternative version of Reed called

13024-581: The context of the real world. One realistic fiction sub-genre is historical fiction , centered around true major events and time periods in the past. The attempt to make stories feel faithful to reality or to more objectively describe details, and the 19th-century artistic movement that began to vigorously promote this approach, is called literary realism , which incorporates some works of both fiction and non-fiction. Storytelling has existed in all human cultures, and each culture incorporates different elements of truth and fiction into storytelling. Early fiction

13172-516: The corpse for the first time, thus keeping the secret of the Illuminati). After completing the dissection, Reed claims to have discovered the secret of how the Skrulls have been able to conceal their identities. Before he can elaborate, " Hank Pym " reveals himself to be a Skrull and shoots Richards with a weapon that violently leaves his elastic body in a state of chaotic disarray similar to Silly String . In Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1, it

13320-582: The cosmically powered being Golden Oldie to serve as his herald . Rather than lead him to populated worlds, Oldie discovered an extraterrestrial baker who bakes planet-sized snack cakes that sate Galactus's hunger. May's transformation is ultimately revealed as a dream. The issue, a parody of an old Hostess snack cake advertising campaign, was part of Marvel's "Assistant Editors Month" series of humorous issues. May also appeared as "Golden Oldie" (this time an Iron Man parody) as well as "The Astonishing Aunt Ant" and "Auntie Freeze" in an issue of What If? . In

13468-538: The costumed villain known as the Vulture . Some time thereafter, a guilt-stricken Toomes confronted May, begging her to forgive him for his role in Nathan's death. (Ironically, Nathan had befriended Toomes when the two briefly resided at the same nursing home). May refused to do so, stating that only God could provide the villain with the redemption he was seeking. As part of a plan by Peter's arch-foe Norman Osborn , May

13616-523: The early years of his superhero career, Peter feared for May's well-being and the fatal shock that he believed would end her life if she ever learned about his dual identity as Spider-Man. Consequently, Peter often felt anguish over dealing with major crises while his aunt needed nearly constant care. This conflict took on an unusual turn when May became sweethearts with his enemy, Otto Octavius (also known as Doctor Octopus ), and Peter struggled to deal with his enemy's schemes while not hurting his aunt. During

13764-442: The elements of character , conflict , narrative mode , plot , setting , and theme . Characters are individuals inside a work of story, conflicts are the tension or problem that drives characters' thoughts and actions, narrative modes are the ways in which a story is communicated, plots are the sequence of events in a story, settings are the story's locations in time and space, and themes are deeper messages or interpretations about

13912-607: The events of Civil War #5, Peter Parker demands to see the conditions inside the detention facility designed by Reed to hold unregistered superhumans. After being escorted to and from the prison by Iron Man , Parker returns with more doubts than ever about whether he is on the right side and asks Reed why he supports the Superhuman Registration Act, a question Reed answers by telling the story of his paternal uncle , Ted. A professional writer, Reed remembers his uncle as "funny", "colorful", and "accepting". As

14060-585: The facility where they found Wanda, but assumed the baby had died or already been taken by someone and so didn't mention it to her earlier. Wanda is framed for Captain America's murder as part of Pietro's plan to force her to go back with him, but Peter and Doctor Strange realise the truth in time. Stan lee Fiction Fiction is any creative work , chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals , events, or places that are imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history , fact , or plausibility. In

14208-452: The fictional Empire State University. By the age of 20, he had several degrees in the sciences under his belt. It was at Empire State University that he met Benjamin J. Grimm . Reed had already begun designing a starship capable of traveling in hyperspace. Sharing his plans with his new roommate, Grimm jokingly volunteered to pilot the craft. Also while at State U he met a brilliant fellow student, Victor Von Doom . In Richards, Doom met

14356-474: The fictionality of a work is publicly expressed, so the audience expects the work to deviate to a greater or lesser degree from the real world rather than presenting, for instance, only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood as not adhering to the real world, the themes and context of a work, such as if and how it relates to real-world issues or events, are open to interpretation . Since fiction

14504-498: The final confrontation, Reed and the Maker discover that the source of Doom's power is the Molecule Man (Owen Reece), but although the Maker attempts to betray Reed by forcibly devolving him into an ape, Reece reverses the Maker's attack and turns him into pepperoni pizza. When Doom comes down to confront Reed, Reed challenges Doom as Reece temporarily deprives Doom of his new god-level powers, Reed proclaiming Doom to be nothing more than

14652-414: The first person who could match him intellectually; regarding Richards as his ultimate rival, Doom became increasingly jealous of Richards. Determined to prove he was better, Doom conducted reckless experiments which eventually scarred his face and would lead him to become Doctor Doom. During the summer months, Reed rented a room in a boarding house owned by the aunt of a young woman named Susan Storm , who

14800-615: The formula for the web-fluid, encouraging him to carry on Peter's legacy. During the Spider-Men miniseries, May and Gwen are back in the United States, presumably to oversee the selling of the Parker Residence and to finish Gwen's term at Midtown High. They encounter someone wearing a red-and-blue Spider-Man costume and believe he is a lunatic who is disrespecting Peter's memory. They become angry and threaten to call

14948-482: The funeral, May and Gwen decide to take up Tony Stark's offer to set themselves up for a new life in France. However, following the emergence of a new Spider-Man , May and Gwen return to New York. Though Captain America threatens to arrest Miles' parents and expose his secret to them unless he retires the Spider-Man identity, May and Gwen are more supportive of Miles, and May gives him Peter's old web-shooters, along with

15096-409: The heroes in the Marvel universe was Onslaught finally vanquished. The heroes would have died then and there if not for Franklin, who created an alternate reality for them to reside in. Completely oblivious to what had taken place, Reed and his compatriots relived most of their lives. In their absence the Fantastic Four's headquarters, Four Freedoms Plaza , was annihilated by a super villain group called

15244-453: The hospital to see that his Aunt May and Jay are okay, although she has sustained minor nerve damage to her leg that will require the use of a cane for the rest of her life. In The Superior Spider-Man storyline, Aunt May's leg is fully healed from operation and completion surgery with gratitude of Doctor Wirtham . As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel , May and Jay became part of

15392-574: The imperial period. Plasmatic narrative, following entirely invented characters and events, was developed through ancient drama and New Comedy . One common structure among early fiction is a series of strange and fantastic adventures as early writers test the limits of fiction writing. Milesian tales were an early example of fiction writing in Ancient Greece and Italy. As fiction writing developed in Ancient Greece, relatable characters and plausible scenarios were emphasized to better connect with

15540-512: The intention of framing him for a series of attacks committed by the heroes created in Franklin's pocket universe. However, Reed is able to defeat the Quiet Man's plan to proclaim himself the hero who defeated Reed's 'attack' on the world when he realizes that the Psycho-Man - one of the Quiet Man's allies - intended to betray him, forcing Reed and the Quiet Man to work together to deactivate

15688-441: The known physical universe: an independent fictional universe . The creative art of constructing such an imaginary world is known as worldbuilding . Literary critic James Wood argues that "fiction is both artifice and verisimilitude ", meaning that it requires both creative inventions as well as some acceptable degree of believability among its audience, a notion often encapsulated in the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's idea of

15836-455: The life he has built for his family, resulting in turbulent internal conflicts. Richards, as he takes a long, hard look at the life, is prompted to construct a machine that is capable of bending reality itself, to do so. Agents from H.A.M.M.E.R. (sent by Norman Osborn, a man well aware Reed is one of the few that have intellect exceeding even his own and thus pose a great threat to his carefully constructed shadow world) arrive just as Reed activates

15984-477: The machine, interfacing with the Baxter Building's power supply, resulting in an energy fluctuation that sends Sue, Ben and Johnny back to the prehistoric era, fraught with dangers, which manifest in the form of the First Celestial Host. Reed searches for answers which can only be found in alternate timelines as the three find themselves in a super hero Hyborian-age civil war; Franklin and Valeria are

16132-483: The miniseries when a clone of Thor , created by him and Tony Stark, went out of control and killed Goliath and nearly killed all the rest of the Secret Avengers until Sue Storm stepped in and saved them. Soon after, Sue left Reed, along with Johnny, to join the Secret Avengers in hopes that it would drive Reed to end the conflict quickly. In The Amazing Spider-Man #535, which takes place shortly before

16280-508: The more the merrier. ... I'm a genre writer of a sort. I write literary fiction, which is like spy fiction or chick lit". Likewise, on The Charlie Rose Show , he argued that this term, when applied to his work, greatly limited him and his expectations of what might come of his writing, so he does not really like it. He suggested that all his works are literary, simply because "they are written in words". Literary fiction often involves social commentary , political criticism , or reflection on

16428-794: The moving van is packed. After spending their last night in New York at Jay's apartment, the following day she and Jay head to an airport in New Jersey with Peter and Carlie and they say their goodbyes before flying off. Following the Ends of the Earth storyline, when May and Jay are returning home to New York on their private jet, but the irresponsible superhero Alpha uses his powers without care in his battle with Terminus causes many aircraft to shut down. The Avengers rescue everybody and Spider-Man saves his May and Jay from Jameson's malfunctioning private jet just before it crashes. Later Peter arrives at

16576-493: The one hand, that the truth can be presented through imaginary channels and constructions, while, on the other hand, works of the imagination can just as well bring about significant new perspectives on, or conclusions about, truth and reality. All types of fiction invite their audience to explore real ideas, issues, or possibilities using an otherwise imaginary setting or using something similar to reality, though still distinct from it. The umbrella genre of speculative fiction

16724-549: The only ones available to confront the agents Osborn sent. Richards studies other parallel Earths to see if any found a peaceful solution to the Civil War, which resulted from the Superhuman Registration Act. Reed peers into different worlds, some more bizarre than our own, to see what they did differently. This is an insightful look into where the Marvel Universe has gone in the past "year" (in Marvel time) and to see who

16872-540: The other heroes disperse across Battleworld to come up with a plan. Reed eventually starts working with his counterpart from the Ultimate Marvel universe who calls himself Maker . The two find themselves disagreeing on their methods, with Reed preferring to find a way to save the world while Maker is more focused on killing their enemy, Reed countering his other self's accusations that he is weak by musing that he simply has things to care for outside of himself. In

17020-406: The police. When the person unmasks himself, they are stunned beyond belief to see the older, more mature Peter Parker, from the Marvel 616 universe. She initially is unconvinced that this Peter is who he says he is, but both she and Gwen later realize he is being truthful when he knows Uncle Ben's admonishment about power and responsibility. May is greatly moved at realizing that she has now been given

17168-642: The power output of Tony's Repulsor-battery heart implant. For virtually his entire publication history, Mister Fantastic has been depicted as one of the most intelligent characters in the Marvel Universe . A visionary theoretician and an inspired machine smith , he has made breakthroughs in such varied fields as space travel , time travel , extra-dimensional travel , biochemistry , robotics , computers , synthetic polymers , communications , mutations , transportation , holography , energy generation , and spectral analysis , among others. However, he

17316-417: The presence of the act. In the final battle of the war, he is shot by Taskmaster , saving Sue Storm's life. With Reed on the brink of death, a furious Sue crushes Taskmaster with a telekinetic field. Reed survives, however, and Sue returns to him in the aftermath of the battle, having been granted amnesty. Seeking to repair the damage done to their marriage as a result of the war, Sue and Reed take time off from

17464-463: The reality that it was impossible for his old friends to stage a rescue and attacked them but soon realized that these truly were his friends. After returning to their own time period, he sought Galactus, as he was the only being in the Universe who could defeat Hyperstorm. Upon Hyperstorm's defeat at the hands of Galactus, the FF returned to the present day where they continued their lives, not only as

17612-553: The same machines he is using; the machine locates them and the people he finds tell him that they can help him. Reed Richards reappeared in The Mighty Avengers #24 refusing to give Hank Pym an invention previously left in the care of the Fantastic Four, following Bill Foster 's untimely death, causing the Wasp to lead the team of Mighty Avengers to retrieve the device. In the next issue, Pym's attempting to knock down

17760-497: The story "Goodbye to Linda Brown", the characters are given no surname. They care for a young woman named Linda Brown who develops a sleepwalking habit, just like May and Ben used to have. When Linda sleepwalks to the sea in her wheelchair, she becomes a mermaid. These characters have never been established in-universe to be the same May and Ben that appear in Spider-Man May Parker was transformed by Galactus into

17908-541: The story that its audience is left to discuss and reflect upon. Traditionally, fiction includes novels, short stories, fables , legends , myths , fairy tales , epic and narrative poetry , plays (including operas , musicals , dramas, puppet plays , and various kinds of theatrical dances ). However, fiction may also encompass comic books , and many animated cartoons , stop motions , anime , manga , films , video games , radio programs , television programs ( comedies and dramas ), etc. The Internet has had

18056-448: The study of genre fiction has developed within academia in recent decades. The term is sometimes used such as to equate literary fiction to literature. The accuracy of this is debated. Neal Stephenson has suggested that, while any definition will be simplistic, there is today a general cultural difference between literary and genre fiction. On the one hand literary authors nowadays are frequently supported by patronage, with employment at

18204-459: The supervillain crime boss Mister Negative . At this point, her knowledge of Peter being Spider-Man was erased. During her work at the shelter, she met John Jonah "Jay" Jameson (the father of J. Jonah Jameson ) and started a relationship with him. The following issue, Peter caught the two of them in bed. However, he approved of this relationship, mainly because Jay supports Spider-Man, who had previously saved his life, and saw through Norman Osborn as

18352-410: The team into daring expeditions such as into the Negative Zone in addition to opposing evil. Also, he has felt personally responsible for Ben Grimm's grotesque change and has labored off and on to reverse it permanently. Under his guidance, the team went on to become Earth's most celebrated band of heroes. Together, they would save the world countless times. Ever driven by his quest for knowledge, Reed

18500-555: The team is defined by his scientific acumen, as he is officially acknowledged as the smartest man in the Marvel Universe. This is particularly a point of tragedy in regards to his best friend, Ben Grimm, who he has constantly tried to turn back into his human form but who typically remains in a large, rocky form and is called the Thing . Richards is the husband of Susan Storm , father of Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards , and mentor to his brother-in-law, Johnny Storm . The character

18648-719: The temporary loss of his natural elastic resiliency. He possesses other weaknesses too; a great shock to his body - for example, from the likes of Doctor Doom when he constructs around him - can make his body so rubbery he loses motor control. Enough energy can reduce him to a liquid state in which he is immobile. Mister Fantastic's strength comes more from the powers of his mind than the powers of his body; indeed, he once told Spider-Man that he considers his stretching powers to be expendable compared to his intellect. Some stories have implied that his intellect may have been boosted by his powers, as he once visited an alternate universe where his other self-had never been exposed to cosmic rays and

18796-449: The then ongoing Second World War in a way that presented fascist individuals as humorously irrational and pathetic. Many other villains take direct inspiration from real people while having fictional accents, appearances, backgrounds, names, and so on. Mister Fantastic Mister Fantastic acts as the leader and father figure of the Fantastic Four, and although his cosmic ray powers are primarily stretching abilities, his presence on

18944-457: The time of the work's creation: Jules Verne 's novel From the Earth to the Moon was published in 1865, but only in 1969 did astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to land on the Moon. Historical fiction places imaginary characters into real historical events. In the 1814 historical novel Waverley , Sir Walter Scott 's fictional character Edward Waverley meets

19092-535: The traditional view that fiction and non-fiction are opposites, some works (particularly in the modern era) blur this boundary, particularly works that fall under certain experimental storytelling genres—including some postmodern fiction , autofiction , or creative nonfiction like non-fiction novels and docudramas —as well as the deliberate literary fraud of falsely marketing fiction as nonfiction. Furthermore, even most works of fiction usually have elements of, or grounding in, truth of some kind, or truth from

19240-446: The two Spider-Men defeat Green Goblin, Peter tells Aunt May that he intends to go on a quest to find out the truth of his mystery resurrection. In the novel What if... Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker were siblings? , Ben and May are also responsible for raising Peter's adopted sister, Wanda Parker, who was discovered by Richard and Mary when they investigated a strange lab during a mission. As Wanda grows up, May suggests that she work at

19388-420: The upper hand on Stark, is then given the thumbs down by Hulk, instructing Richards to kill Stark. However the Hulk spares their lives, showing them that he proved his point to the world. They survived the encounter by Hulk's mercy and the timely intervention of the Sentry. The Illuminati are partially cleared from the responsibility of Sakaar's destruction when Miek , one of the Hulk's alien allies, admits he saw

19536-416: The world from Doctor Doom's reign at the cost of his life. During the " Spider-Verse " storyline, there are different versions of Aunt May that are featured: During the " Spider-Geddon " storyline, an unidentified Earth has a Hispanic version of May who is unaware that her husband and nephew have spider powers after a blood transfusion saved Uncle Ben's life. In this Secret Wars Warzone, when Peter

19684-602: The years to keep it current. In the original comics, Richards was a veteran of World War II who had served behind enemy lines in occupied France, and the goal of his space mission was a crewed space flight to the Moon before the Communists were able to . This was later changed to getting there before the Chinese Communists and to explore the interstellar areas of the red planet and beyond. Also, Reed originally states that he and Sue "were kids together" and that Sue

19832-489: Was a scientific genius, and Reed inherited a similar level of intellect and interests. A child prodigy with special aptitude in mathematics , physics , and mechanics , Reed Richards was taking college-level courses when he was 14. He attended such prestigious universities as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , California Institute of Technology , Harvard University , Columbia University , and

19980-466: Was an editorial decision made in 2013 as Reed developing, several years later, a romantic interest in a girl he first met when she was thirteen years old was deemed inappropriate. The early career of the Fantastic Four led Mister Fantastic to a number of discoveries, and had their first encounters with many unusual characters. In the team's first appearance, they battled the Mole Man . They then battled

20128-481: Was an undergraduate student at the time. Reed fell in love with Sue instantly and began courting her. Ultimately, Reed was too distracted from his work on his dissertation due to his romance with Sue and decided that the best thing for the both of them was to move out of Marygay's home. Moving on to Harvard, Reed earned Ph.D.s in Physics and Electrical Engineering while working as a military scientist, all this by

20276-404: Was at fault, if anyone. Reed meets with the other five Illuminati to handle the problem. Ultimately, after seeing about a million alternate Earths, he had concluded that there was no way for the Civil War to be resolved but that he, as the cleverest man in the Marvel Universe, had a responsibility to put things right. But before turning the machine off, he searches for other realities where they have

20424-476: Was being broadcast. Soon, a very much alive Peter emerges to aid Miles in the fight, to the surprise of Aunt May and Gwen. Green Goblin flees at his arrival and the two Spider-Men depart. Gwen is unsure of the identity of the original Spider-Man, but Aunt May assures her that his motives show that it is him. Later, Aunt May and Gwen walk over to Mary Jane's house and overhear Peter's unknown resurrection. Aunt May sprints over and joyfully reunites with her nephew. After

20572-538: Was born in Brooklyn , New York on May 5. After the death of her brother-in-law and his wife , May and her husband Ben Parker took in their only nephew, Peter, and raised him at their home at 20 Ingram Street, Forest Hills, Queens . She remained an important influence in Peter's life even during college as she was the only family he had left. Her continued belief that Peter was still the fragile boy he had been before he gained his powers could be frustrating at times. In

20720-472: Was closely associated with history and myth . Greek poets such as Homer , Hesiod , and Aesop developed fictional stories that were told first through oral storytelling and then in writing. Prose fiction was developed in Ancient Greece , influenced by the storytelling traditions of Asia and Egypt. Distinctly fictional work was not recognized as separate from historical or mythological stories until

20868-517: Was initially skeptical about the unknown effects of radiation, while Reed theorized that their ship's shielding would be adequate to protect them. It was on Reed's initiative that the fateful mission which had Susan Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm accompanying him into space took place. When their ship passed through the Van Allen belt they found their cockpit bombarded with nearly lethal doses of cosmic radiation . Reed had neglected to account for

21016-505: Was notably less intelligent than him, though purely human versions of Reed that are as or even more intelligent than himself have been shown, particularly among the Council of Reeds. Tony Stark has commented that Reed's ability to make his brain physically larger (via his elastic powers) gives him an advantage, though this seems to be meant more as a joke. That said, scenes from the same issue show Reed "inflating" his skull as he calculates

21164-419: Was part of the Fantastic Four showed up as well. Faced with these numbers, the Griever was eventually driven back when most of her equipment was destroyed, forcing her to return to her universe or be trapped in this one, while the heroes were able to repair the damaged equipment to create a new teleporter to send them all home. Reed Richards gained the power of elasticity from irradiation by cosmic rays. He has

21312-566: Was portrayed by actors Alex Hyde-White in the 1994 The Fantastic Four film, Ioan Gruffudd in the 2005 film Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer , and Miles Teller in the 2015 film Fantastic Four . In the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, John Krasinski portrayed Richards in the 2022 film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , and Pedro Pascal will portray him in

21460-528: Was replaced by a "genetically altered actress" who impersonated her while May was held captive by villains until the actress died, Osborn returning May to Peter with a device planted inside her that would detonate a series of gene bombs if removed, decimating Earth. Mister Fantastic was able to disable the device without removing it, saving the world and May, who apparently retained no memory of her time in captivity. May finally learned about her nephew's secret life when she walked into his room after he had sustained

21608-497: Was the "girl next door" who Reed left behind to go fight in the war. This origin story was, many years later, altered so that Sue was thirteen years old when she first met Reed, who was in his early twenties, at her Aunt Marygay's boardinghouse. Current official Marvel canon has since altered this origin story by combining elements of both—it eliminated the large age gap but maintained that Reed and Sue did not meet until their late teens at Aunt Marygay's boardinghouse. The change in age

21756-528: Was trapped in an illusion by her enemy, Misery, she was given encouragement from a familiar spirit. She recognised the spirit as being Aunt May. In the final arc of Amazing Spider-Girl , Aunt May acts a spiritual advisor to May to help her grandniece reclaim her identity and save Peter from Norman Osborn. In this form, she initially appears as a younger version of herself, which prevents May from recognizing her. However, May finally figures it out when she sees Aunt May through her father's eyes. In this continuity,

21904-400: Was wrong to take such a stand, to pick a fight he couldn't win, and to fail to respect the law. However Fantastic Four #542 reveals that the real reason for supporting the registration act is due to his development of a working version of Isaac Asimov 's fictional psychohistory concept. His application of this science indicates to him that billions will die in escalating conflicts without

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