Alex Ross’ New Fantastic Four Cover Might Be Marvel’s Most Horrifying Image Ever

Warning: Contains potential spoilers for Fantastic Four #22!

Alex Ross’ latest Fantastic Fourcover subjects Reed Richards to intense body horror, as part of the title’s tie-in to Marvel’s massive vampire crossover Blood Hunt. The creepy art could make the most hardened horror expert’s skin crawl, and is just a taste of what’s to come from summer 2024’s ultra-violent event series. Desperate and surrounded, Mr. Fantastic looks to find a cure before he gets literally eaten alive.

Setting a horrific tone, Ross’s petrifying cover art for Fantastic Four’s vampire crossover teases Reed Richards’ last efforts against a horde of the undead, who have fully closed in on him. However, it seems that the creatures have difficulty biting through the plasticity of Reed’s skin.

The scenario is frightening in its sinister intimacy, as the bloodsuckers pull on Mr. Fantastic’s skin, stretching it away from his face, stretched by their sharp teeth. If nothing else, Ross’ cover proves no Marvel hero is safe during Blood Hunt.

Alex Ross Delivers BLOOD HUNT’S Most Evocative Imagery Yet

Just A Taste

Though the Fantastic Four aren’t strangers to body horror, the grisly covers for their tie-ins to Blood Hunt hint that Marvel’s First Family could be facing their most horrific adventure yet. Leading into the event, the team is already fractured, with Reed Richards and Alicia Masters finding themselves in a New York museum before the vampire war begins, while the others defend their family in Arizona. Culminating in Fantastic Four #22, Reed will perilously try to cure the vampiric infection at the heart of the event, as he and his family are hunted by the menacing creatures.

While his cover for Fantastic Four #22 features strong and visceral horror visuals, Ross previously delivered another spine-chilling cover for the series with Fantastic Four #10. Taking a more sci-fi twist than Blood Hunt’s gothic creature horror, the team were envisioned as monstrously distorted variants of themselves. That depiction recalled the body horror concepts rooted in the characters’ lore, as their fantastical abilities can have shocking and grotesque effects on their bodies, as vessels of power. However, Blood Hunt position their power as a last-ditch effort against the bloodthirsty monsters they would otherwise fall prey to.

Marvel’s Red Band Horror Event Reaches Its Climax In July 2024

The disturbing depiction of vampiric violence against Mr. Fantastic merely scratching the surface of the horrors that Marvel has to offer in its Blood Hunt storyline. While the Fantastic Four cover will appear out in the open for anybody to see, Marvel has promised red band versions of Blood Hunt’s main issues, which will be polybagged to shield innocent eyes from the comics’ graphic content. It’s difficult to tell just how explicit the R-rated editions could get, as the cover for Fantastic Four #22 already pushes the boundaries of creepiness that will be on display.

Marvel’s foray into explicit content won’t stop with the vampire crossover, as they’ve announced Werewolf by Night will also receive a red band series. Given Alex Ross’ stunning Fantastic Four #22cover, a fully-R-rated version of the family team would be a fascinating addition to their lore. The Fantastic Four #22 solicitation promises a shocking twist, as Reed Richards searches for the vampire infection’s cure, leaving the fate of the team a mystery. Even if the Fantastic Four survive Blood Hunt physically unscathed, Reed’s predicament, illustrated in Ross’ cover art, is sure to haunt him indefinitely moving forward.