Marvel's Fantastic Four: First Foes Wraps Up With the Wizard's Baxter Building Heist

Marvel is closing out its Fantastic Four: First Foes anthology line with a villain-focused finale: Fantastic Four: First Foes – The Wizard #1, written by Fabian Nicieza with art by Mark Buckingham, arriving December 9. The one-shot caps a run of specials that's already spotlighted the Mole Man and the Mad Thinker courtesy of Matt Fraction, Charles Soule, Greg Pak, and Dan Slott, rounding the anthology out with one of the FF's oldest and pettiest rivals.

The plot puts genius inventor Bentley Wittman's ego front and center: convinced his intellect outmatches Reed Richards and company, the Wizard schemes to steal the Baxter Building outright and assembles a villainous mirror of the Fantastic Four — the Frightful Four — to help pull it off. Covers come from Phil Noto, Betsy Cola, and Buckingham himself.

The bigger hook for shops may be continuity placement rather than plot: Marvel is tying this one-shot into the world of Fantastic Four: First Steps, marking the Wizard and the Frightful Four's first appearance in that film continuity. With interest in FF-adjacent MCU material still running hot, a December release gives retailers a clean end-of-year tie-in to stock alongside other First Steps-branded product.

Original reporting: Bleeding Cool.