Summary
Warning: Contains spoilers forFantastic Four #22!!Just as Joseph Quinn gears up to play theFantastic Four’sresident hot-head in the MCU’s upcomingFantastic Fourfilm, Marvel has introduced an impressive new side of theHuman Torch’sabilities.Now, he’s able to control the light he generates to match the sun itself. “Flame On!” means more than fire, and Johnny turns the full force of his power against the vampires surrounding the team in Blood Hunt.
InFantastic Four#22 by Ryan North, Ivan Fiorelli, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Caramagna, Johnny Storm joins the Invisible Woman and Ben Grimm in protecting the family fromBlood Hunt’s vampire invasion. Sue has held the bloodsuckers at bay with her force fields, but she can’t keep going forever. The Human Torch seems likethe obvious choicefor back-up, but he doesn’t intend to burn all the vampires alive.
As he points out, he does “make light” and there’s nothing stopping him from matching the light that vampires fear most: the sun.After a few failed starts, he successfully exercises an unheard-of level of control to drive the undead back.
The Fantastic Four #22by Ryan North, Ivan Fiorelli, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Caramagna
On a surface level, the Human Torch is able to engulf himself in flame and ultra-hot plasma. Typically, he focuses on generating heat and can reach temperatures of up to a million degrees with his mind-bogglingly hot Nova Flame. However, he has spent far less time tinkering with his ability to produce light. Prior toBlood Hunt, Johnny has never outright demonstrated the kind of control necessary to cycle through the light spectrum. Without a full scientific understanding of what he’s trying to achieve,he’s still able to make tweaks and adjustments until he matches the sun’s “full-spectrum solar radiation.”
The Fantastic Four have all started to expand their powers recently and begin developing new tactics, and this is not Johnny’s first timetesting new possibilities. The Human Torch and Invisible Woman recently combined their abilities to create lasers that destroyed a shower of asteroids bound for Earth, and the whole team still has plenty of potential to unlock. InFantastic Four#18, a SHIELD document revealed severalpossible power advancementsand combinations for the F4, including “ultraviolet incendiaries” for Johnny. Matching the sun’s exact spectrum is certainly in line with that prediction and proves that the Human Torch is growing stronger.
The Human Torch’s New Ability Demonstrates a New Side to His Powers
Now is the perfect time for the Fantastic Four to demonstrate their range, as the upcoming film presents the ideal opportunity to show off on the big screen.Moreover, their recent abilities link together like never before. Light is often more in theInvisible Woman’s domain, but the F4 is beginning to find more bridges between their unique power sets. It creates a renewed sense of connection alongside the admittedly impressive displays of power.The Human Torch’s control over light isn’t just vampiric Kryptonite, it’s a piece of a whole new chapter for theFantastic Fourahead of their MCU debut.
Fantastic Four (2022)
“WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE FANTASTIC FOUR?” It’s the start of a new era for the Fantastic Four…and they’re already in a ton of trouble. Something has gone terribly wrong in New York, and the Thing and Alicia are traveling across America to escape it! But when they stop in a small town for the night and wake up the morning before they arrived, they find themselves caught in a time loop that’s been going on since before they were born… That’s been going on since before they were born…
