Fantastic Four: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

This is the first animated adaptation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby creators' known by The Fantastic Four, as well as one of the first times a comic book collection was adapted for television. It was produced by Hanna Barbera Enterprises at the request of talent agent Sy Fischer, and was the only time Hanna - Barbera worked on it. A planned sequel was attempted a decade later, but was traded with D.F.E. Films. The rights for Johnny Storm negatively impacted the second adaptation. Jack Kirby at the last minute made Herbie as a substitute member of the superhero team. It was not until 1994 when it brought back a third adaptation in an attempt to create faithful and possibly uncensored animated version of it starring the original four, and again in 2004 to finally include all five members together.

Here in the Hanna - Barbera adaptation, the television viewing audience ( many the first time ) is introduced to the team. Controversial scientists fly their spaceship towards cosmic rays, which mutated them with new unique abilities. Reed Richards, the oldest, wisest, genius of the group, designed and constructed their ship, and can temporarily stretch his body. Susan Storm, the financier of their research, can turn completely invisible as well as create shielding, and telekinesis. Johnny Storm is her baby brother, and has the ability to be immune to flame, can use flame as a weapon, and can fly because of the way heat rises. Ben Grimm is the fourth scientist of the team, and the most severe victim of mutation. Unlike his teammates' temporary use of abilities, he has limited ability to revert to his natural shape. Instead, he must learn how to cope as he is allergic to every cure available.

Series details

• Title: Fantastic Four
• Format: Animation
• Language: English
• Genres: Science-Fiction
• Premiere date: 1967-09-09
• Final broadcast date listed: 1968-09-21
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ABC
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 6.3/10
• TVMaze ID: 19297
• IMDb ID: tt0061250
• TVDB ID: 72216

Cast and credited roles

• Gerald Mohr — Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic
• Paul Frees — Benjamin Grimm / The Thing
• Jack De Leon — Johnny Storm / The Human Torch
• Jo Ann Pflug — Susan Storm Richards / Invisible Girl

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1967-09-09; final listed air date 1968-09-21; episode order: 20.

Source and licence

Adapted from Fantastic Four on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.