There has been a rumor for quite some time that the current story line that is tearing apart Marvel’s first family was going to bring an end to the ‘Fantastic Four‘ and now it is confirmed that the book will come to a close in 2015. Issue 645 next year will give us a final triple-sized issue and Marvel’s first published comic will be no more.

Further rumor is that this is directly from the ‘Fantastic Four’ movie being made by Fox Studios and is related to Marvel CEO Isaac Perlmutter being angry with the studio over failed negotiations. It’s hard to know if that is true or not but what we do know is that Hachette, Marvel’s bookstore distributor, just confirmed that we are seeing an end to the four together on page. It does seem kind of odd that they are giving us the Death of Wolverine after the success of the last movie and the rumored Death of Deadpool after a new ‘Deadpool’ movie has been announced.

So, how did they did we find out that the title is to be cancelled without an official statement from Marvel quite yet? Well, the June solicitation for James Robinson and Leonard Kirk‘s ‘Fantastic Four: The End Is Fourever’ doesn’t just have a title that hints at it but you really need to check out the following description:

THE END IS FOUREVER! Witness the closing act on the First Family of the Marvel Universe! THE INVADERS meet the FANTASTIC FOUR as the hunt for REED RICHARDS and the missing kids of the FUTURE FOUNDATION continues. Meanwhile the mastermind behind everything unveils his ultimate plan. But how does FRANKLIN RICHARDS factor in? And how does this all lead to…The END?! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #642-644 and the Triple Sized Final Issue 645!

Early hints that this was on the way came from outside of the studio in the forms of Diamond Select Toys had said that “Right now we are not able to make characters from the FF, but as soon as that changes we will consider them.” and when Mondo pushed for a new Galactus poster also chimed in that “Marvel straight up rejected it. No reason. They just said no to anything Fantastic Four in general.” This isn’t a recent thought process from the House of Ideas though as back in May we had learned that one of their sketch card artists said that “I do a number of sketch card projects for Upper Deck and Rittenhouse using Marvel characters. The most recent projects from both companies, one billed as Marvel 75th Anniversary, gave specific guidelines to NOT use any FF characters or supporting cast such as Dr Doom, Galactus, Surfer, Skrulls etc…”

What is interesting though is that this might not just be related to the ‘Fantastic Four’ being torn apart in the current story line. For anyone who has been reading the “Time Runs Out” story that is currently going on in ‘The Avengers,’ well, Susan Storm has joined the team and is helping hunt down the Illuminati, specifically Reed Richards who is helping them. Most likely we’ll just end up seeing the four (assuming Johnny gets his powers back) on different teams in the Marvel Universe for the time being.

Will this be the true end to the ‘Fantastic Four’ or will they return down the line after the DVD of the film is released? Are you glad to see the first family on page no more or is this a strike against Marvel for killing off a great property? Share your thoughts below true believers!

Source: Bleeding Cool