Four people, and another one with an "X" in his face. Yeah! The "4 X" title makes sense!
X-Men/Fantastic Four is a four-issue crossover mini-series by Chip Zdarsky and Terry Dodson, between Fantastic Four (2018) and X-Men (2019). Franklin Richards is gradually losing his powers, and both his parents and the X-Men want to prevent him from losing them completely. The X-Men insist that, as a mutant, Franklin belongs in Krakoa, but as he's still a minor his parents refuse to let him go to live elsewhere. Eventually, it turns out that a third party is also interested in helping Franklin.
Tropes
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Dr. Doom is asked by Xavier why he's helping them, even though he hasn't shown any goodwill towards Krakoa, Doom answers that it's mostly because he can, and he respects the exceptional nature of mutants, especially compared to the "underwhelming populace". However he has no intent on giving all mutants diplomatic immunity in Latveria, which would give them free rein to do whatever they want without consequence. He then calls out Xavier (and the other X-Men) for acting as if mutants are superior simply for being born with powers, especially in the face of a person who's just as capable, and earned it through personal effort. For his own, Xavier has no answer.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: You know, the Invisible Woman can turn people… invisible…
- Extradimensional Power Source: This mini follows up the concept of "Godpower" that author Zdarsky previously established in his Marvel Two-in-One run. It's the theoretical source of all superhuman power, channeled from another dimension.
- Floating in a Bubble: Sue attacks Magneto this way.
- Godzilla Threshold: At the mini-series' end, Xavier decides that Reed's mutant gene "masking" tech is too close to being an irreversible "mutant cure" to be allowed to exist. So he uses his powers to erase the tech from Reed's mind, and leaves in psychic blocks so that Reed will never be able to recreate it. For a twist of the knife, though, he leaves Reed with the memory of the blocking and why, as a warning for Reed not to interfere with mutant DNA again.
- Innocently Insensitive: When apologizing for his mutant gene device in the finale, Reed notes that he sometimes forgets that mutants are defined by their powers in a way that he isn't, as mutancy and powers go hand in hand and come from the same shared genetic sequence, whilst his own powers were acquired by accident.
- Irony:
- Quentin finds it ironic that Kate can walk through walls, but not through Krakoan portals. And then Franklin's masked x-gene lets him walk through one as though it was just a topiary loop, whereas the same portal was closed to Kate the way a solid wall is to most people.
- Ben finds it ironic that the only people in need of diplomatic immunity are the ones doing something wrong, but this is an inversion.
- Ironic Echo: Reed's insistence that Franklin's situation with Krakoa would have sorted itself out is quoted back at him by Xavier.
- Mama Bear: Sue gets protective about Franklin being her son before being a Krakoan citizen – and she gets equally mad upon hearing that Krakoan leadership isn't as interested in the safety of her human daughter.
- No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Subverted with Dr. Doom.
- Papa Wolf: Reed masks Franklin's mutant gene to Krakoa to prevent him from going to Krakoa.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Xavier and Magneto give Reed Richards a distinct chewing out over his willingness to experiment with cutting off mutants from their genetic powers in the finale of the mini-series.
- Villain Has a Point: Even Reed admits that he understands why Xavier and Magneto would be angry at his creating a mutant gene device, though that's before they perform telepathic surgery on him.
- Dr. Doom claims that mutants holding themselves as superior to normal humans simply for being born with powers is undue arrogance, pointing out that normal humans have shown time and again that they can equal mutants through enough work.
