Warning: Contains spoilers for Sins of Sinister #1As the X-Men’s Sins of Sinister event continues to have horrifying ramifications across the Marvel Universe, the Quiet Council of Mr. Sinister clones use the Thing‘s longtime resentment and repressed rage towards Reed Richards to take down the Fantastic Four in Sins of Sinister #1.
The Fantastic Four, or “Marvel’s First Family,” have been around for decades, and their origin story saw Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, and pilot Ben Grimm flying a spaceship through a cloud of cosmic radiation that gave them all different superpowers. Ben Grimm, however, was impacted the most, cursed by transforming into the rocky being called the Thing. This has always led to festering resentment towards Mr. Fantastic since Grimm tried to talk him out of the space flight. Reed also promised to find a cure for Ben’s condition, but for decades he has been unsuccessful. Tragically, in Sins of Sinister #1 by Kieron Gillen and Paco Medina, the rage that Ben Grimm has been repressing for years is unleashed, as a version of the Thing with the DNA of Mr. Sinister horrifically murders Reed after subjecting Sue and Johnny to their own “Thing” transformations.
While Ben Grimm is one of Marvel’s most tortured heroes, who has fought to find a cure for his Thing condition for decades, it seemed like Grimm had finally embraced his fate in the recent Fantastic Four #46 by Dan Slott and C Cafu. This issue sees the Thing seemingly reaching acceptance with the encouragement of his adopted son Jo-Venn. However, the tragic events of Sins of Sinister #1 reveal that somewhere deep inside Ben there still festers deep anger and resentment towards Reed. This anger bubbles over thanks to the personality tampering of Mr. Sinister and his Quiet Council of Sinister clones. It’s been revealed that Sinister has bastardized the X-Men’s Resurrection Protocols so that everyone who’s reborn is corrupted with Sinister’s DNA. One of the most fascinating parts of Mr. Sinister’s plan to “Sinisterize” the Marvel Universe is that he chose to leave the core personality of each Sinister clone intact, with the Sinister gene implanting a Sinister personality that blends with the person’s original one and corrupts their impulses and darkest desires.
This is a major mistake by Sinister, who is now going to need to go up against his own creations. It is also a terrifying way to highlight the inner evils of heroes’ minds, since the Sinister personality nudges people into living out their base impulses and desires. Sins of Sinister #1 reveals that the Quiet Council of Sinisters know they won’t be able to trick Reed Richards into taking the “gift” of the immortality X-Gene, so to get to Reed and the Fantastic Four they go after the Thing instead. Ben is gifted a Mystique gene that allows him to finally safely revert to his human form at will. But like all the genes gifted to humans, this X-Gene comes with the Sinister virus, which then acts on his most horrific base desires: “For them to die as he had lived.” Krakoa arranges for the Fantastic Four to go on another space mission, one that leads them through cosmic rays they know will turn Reed, Susan, and Johnny into “Things.” It is “believed” that Ben chokes Reed to death as he is transforming into a Thing, before their entire ship was lost in the void of space. This is a truly horrifying fate for the Fantastic Four, to be “killed” by their best friend and teammate, leaving all their children without parents back on Earth. However, without official confirmation of their fate, there is a chance Sue and Johnny could still return to Sins of Sinister.
While the Fantastic Four hero the Thing would never torture his teammates and kill Reed Richards without the Sinister gene, it is terrifying to know that somewhere in his heart there exists a small nugget of intense hatred for Mr. Fantastic that could lead to this outcome with some Sinister personality tampering.
Sins of Sinister #1 from Marvel Comics is available in stores now.
