The Surprising Connection Between the MC2 and Doctor Who

 

Another relatively short and sweet post today, but one that I stumbled upon, delighted at having uncovered a sneaky link between another of my favourite fandoms, Doctor Who.

 

In a long-ago History of the MC2 post, I pointed out that the established history of the MC2 includes the events of Onslaught, Heroes Reborn and Heroes Return as is confirmed via a reference to Franklin Richards creating a pocket universe in Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #4.  While it’s not exactly clear precisely when the published history of the Main Marvel Universe (aka Universe-616) branches off into what we know as the MC2 (aka Universe-982), it’s evident they share a great deal in common from the 1960’s up to and including the real-world published comics of the mid-to-late-1990’s.

 

This brings me to today’s tiny tidbit of confirmed comic commonality: Pier Four. This was an apparently unassuming building located on the docks which the Fantastic Four used as their temporary home and headquarters following their return from Franklin’s Counter-Earth pocket universe, having discovered the Thunderbolts had been given their former home, Four Freedoms Plaza, in their absence.

 

Pier Four first appeared in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #2 and we learn from Johnny Storm that stored on the premises is a second hand ‘antique London Police Call Box’ obtained by Reed Richards from a ‘weird “Doctor” friend of his’,  one which from the outside appears barely able to fit a single person but once inside, the interior is near infinite, allowing Reed to use it as a kind of warehouse (Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #9) . While the exterior 'Police Box' is red in colour, this is no doubt a reference to the iconic blue time and spaceship known as The TARDIS owned by the time-travelling Doctor from the world’s longest-running science fiction show Doctor Who.

 

Now, Pier Four is also canon to the history of the MC2’s own Fantastic Five, being utilized once more in the pages of Last Planet Standing #4 as the team’s temporary base of operations during Galactus’ final plan following the destruction of the Fantastic Five Headquarters.

 

Here is where I get to really geek out, because The Doctor is not just a throwaway reference, he is an established colleague to Mister Fantastic himself Reed Richards. Marvel held the comic publishing rights to Doctor Who during the 1980’s in much the same way they published other licenced works such as The Transformers. In fact, it’s through the Transformers by way of Doctor Who that the Freelance Peacekeeping Agent known as Death’s Head would first arrive in the Main Marvel Universe proper, having once been shrunk down to human size (Doctor Who Magazine #135) and later being deposited atop the Four Freedoms Plaza, headquarters of the Fantastic Four, by The Doctor (Death’s Head #8-#9).  

 

Bringing this all back to the MC2, the established existence of Pier Four in Earth-982 implies events following the Fantastic Four’s return from Franklin Richards pocket reality transpired in a similar manner to those on Earth-616. This means some version of events depicted in those early issues of Fantastic Four (vol. 3) played out in the MC2 also. On Earth-616 Pier Four was destroyed by Diablo in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #36, though it appears this was not the case in the MC2. While I admit it’s speculation, we can also assume that the MC2 Fantastic Four (later Five) at some point returned to the former site of their most iconic headquarters and rebuilt it into the Fantastic Five Building (first seen in What If #105 and more fully in Spider-Girl #3). This presumes in the MC2 the  Four Freedoms Plaza was likewise damaged significantly in Thunderbolts #10 and the remains teleported to the Moon in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #13) as it was on Earth-616.

 

That is all for today, everyone. I truly live for these little pieces of continuity that the MC2 incorporates into its

own unique history. The implications of Doctor Who and Transformers being connected to the wider shared Marvel Multiverse (or Megaverse if you prefer) are exciting to consider.

 

Until I stop delighting at these unexpected connections, I remain

 

frogoat