By Chris Arrant with Jim Beard

After months of world-building with the Fantastic Four and their extended family, the story-arc beginning with issue #583 on September 22 promises to be the last for one of the four.

Yesterday, Marvel confirmed this via a press conference about the upcoming FANTASTIC FOUR story-arc "3" with series writer Jonathan Hickman and Vice-President Executive Editor Tom Brevoort.

Fantastic Four #583 cover by Alan Davis

"'3' is definitely where it all hits the fan," said Brevoort. "It's the worst week in the lives of the Fantastic Four, where all these houses of cards that have been stacked up begin to fall on the individual characters. At the end of the day where there was four, there will now only be three."

Who will live, and who will die?

"Without saying too much or getting ahead of the next month or the month after, it'll be very difficult to publish FANTASTIC FOUR with only three characters," said Brevoort. "You can interpret that a bunch of ways, but every single way you interpret it will be correct. Over the next year, the transmogrification these characters will go through will shock, surprise, startle and probably outrage--and invite a certain amount of shirt-tearing."

In an email interview earlier this week, Hickman talked about how the loss of a team member is even more important in the Fantastic Four given they're a real family. When asked how a family can deal with it, Hickman was very poignant.

"The same way any family handles the death of a loved one. Some get angry, some need solace...some get busy doing other things," the writer explained. "We'll see who does what and why."

Fantastic Four #583 preview art by Steve Epting

Comics readers are well versed on the heightened expectations of big surprises such as this one only to be let down, but according to Hickman he's out to prove them wrong.

"I think any cynicism is perfectly acceptable," said the writer. "Comics have done a lot of things for shock value, but I would have never made a proposal to do this if I didn't have a story to tell that was meaningful, important and possible to still be escapism. So it certainly is going to happen, and it's certainly going to have ramifications and changes things for the betterment of the book. I think what we're doing with the book is relevant to the kind of stories people are telling today."

Hickman came on to write FANTASTIC FOUR last year just following the 16-issue arc of two of the industry's top creators, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch. When Brevoort initially asked Hickman to prepare a pitch for the book, the writer came back with an elaborate story spanning several years and different universes; for example, the first story arc had not one but several Infinity Gauntlets.

"When I first came onto the book, I laid out an extensive plan for the series and this coming arc was the midpoint of that," said writer Jonathan Hickman, who is known for intricate and deliberate storytelling. "Everything is building to what's coming next. We're not doing this for no rhyme or reason and we're not doing it for shock value. This larger story has a beginning, middle and an end and everything going on works to that purpose."

Fantastic Four #583 preview art by Steve Epting

Over the course of his first twelve issues, Hickman has gone on to cover virtually all corners of the globe while also instigating the creation of the Future Foundation, a group of the brightest young minds in the Marvel Universe. While the book has been literally all over the place, "3" promises to start bringing those elements together. Brevoort points to an early moment in the series that acts as a key to the big picture.

"The key to it all, while it has been focused on or discovered by readers, is that speech Reed made in FANTASTIC FOUR #579," explained Brevoort, referring to Reed's talk with a collection of academics and scientists that led to the creation of the Future Foundation. "That's the statement of purpose as to where the book is going over the good portion of the next two years. This is the road map to everywhere we're going if you look at it in the right light."

That road map includes a new passenger getting onboard with the beginning of "3" in next month's FANTASTIC FOUR #583, artist Steve Epting. Epting comes to this book after a career-defining stint on CAPTAIN AMERICA and THE MARVELS PROJECT with writer Ed Brubaker, and while some typecast the artist into that noirish war role he took on for those two books, long-time readers know a different story.

"Steve is very excited to be working on the book," Hickman said. "The thing about Steve is--well, we use the term 'world class'. Steve is world class, and can draw virtually anything I throw at him. He happened to be drawing CAPTAIN AMERICA for the past couple years and has become identified with those set of toys, but in FANTASTIC FOUR he brings a sense of scope and scale which the book needs. I think his work is incredible."

Editor Tom Brevoort, who has worked with Epting on numerous occasions, also threw his support behind the artist.

Fantastic Four #583 preview art by Steve Epting

"People forget that fifteen years ago, Steve Epting was the artist on AVENGERS. They forget that seven years ago he was the artist on El Cazador; if you have a pirate book, Steve is your man. What I'm getting at is that Steve has drawn a variety of books--in the '90s he was the X-FACTOR guy--and can handle it all. Steve is completely at home with FANTASTIC FOUR; it allows him to exercise different muscles. Not so much Nazis, tanks or German battlefields as in CAPTAIN AMERICA, but the same strength of storytelling--from composition, power, energy and realism--and Steve brings that to every series he works on.

"When I look at the pages myself, what I see since I'm old," Brevoort chuckles," is that it has a real John Buscema flavor to it. It harkens back to the way John drew FANTASTIC FOUR, which seemed like a decade-long run becoming in many ways the quintessential looking FANTASTIC FOUR. Steve has that too, and I think it's absolutely absurd to think what Hickman is asking for is beyond Steve's ability to interpret."

As FANTASTIC FOUR enters the next stage in Hickman's master plan, readers can expect to see Marvel's first family rejoin the extended family of the Marvel U. both inside the book and out.

"That's kind of where we're headed with FANTASTIC FOUR; to make it more relevant inside the Marvel Universe," said Hickman. "I certainly think that coming out of "3" the series will be much more integrated into the 616 [universe]. You're going to see the Fantastic Four have great universe-wide missions and those conflicts will have ramifications on that scale."

Fantastic Four #583 preview art by Steve Epting

According to promises and expectations set in the lead-up to the "3" story-arc, the absence of one of the four members can surely be felt not only inside the Baxter Building but across the landscape. While each member has starred in FANTASTIC FOUR from day one, they've also guest-starred in other books and even joined other teams--such as the Thing's involvement in the NEW AVENGERS series.

"It's difficult to get too far into this, but clearly every member of the Fantastic Four has connections and relationships that spread out to other titles and series in the Marvel U.," said Brevoort. "As we kick over the dominos at the end of '3,' whichever cast member is no longer there will definitely be felt in other titles. For instance, the Thing is also a member of New Avengers, so after '3' either the Thing won't be there, or the Thing will be in a different mindset--or perhaps not even a member of the FF at all.

"You are going to see great connectivity here and elsewhere. We've planted seeds in the so-called Hickman-verse," Brevoort said, referring to the other titles Hickman writes, SECRET WARRIORS and S.H.I.E.L.D. "It's going to get larger as the year goes on. Events in this series will have an impact on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, the Hulk books, the Avengers books and even the X-Men. In essence, while the FF have never been separate from the larger universe, the title and characters will be directly engaged now more than ever."

But there's nowhere that the events of "3" will be felt more than the series itself. At the end of the press conference, when asked if there will even be a book called FANTASTIC FOUR put out by Marvel in one year's time, editor Tom Brevoort put it bluntly.

"No, there will not."

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