It's not every day that the Marvel Universe is destroyed, but that's exactly what the comic book publisher is promising. And it all begins by revealing the truth behind one of Marvel's oldest superhero origin stories... starring the Fantastic Four.

Marvel has released what appears to be the tease for their next major event, and it's more cryptic - and more spectacular - than usual. With a tagline promising that the Marvel Universe and its established history are about to be utterly destroyed, the return of Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and The Thing is going to take a heavier cost than fans expected.

The teaser has been officially released by Marvel with the phrase "The Marvel Universe is Destroyed!" As hyperbolic a sentiment as that may be (common for the comics industry's never-ending parade of cataclysms), a single teaser image accompanies the message, taking the claim even further. Not to mention suggesting which Marvel superheroes may be at the center of the Marvel Universe's destruction. The added promise (warning?) that the arrival of this cryptic event will "destroy Marvel history" only heightens the stakes, so thankfully, the teaser image also seems to reveal the main mystery that sets it all in motion: "Who Really Gave The Fantastic Four Their Powers?"


That's a question that even casual Marvel fans are likely to know, due as much to its adaptation to the Fantastic Four movie as its sheer simplicity. A team of astronauts head into space, are struck by "cosmic rays," and are given superhuman abilities as a result. But like so many other simple superhero origin stories, it appears Marvel has cooked up a new explanation - one that, once revealed, will apparently begin to bring down all of the Marvel Comics Universe and its decades-long history.

It's more than a little ironic to see Marvel teasing Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and their teammates as the possible cause of the Marvel Universe, since it was only recently revealed that the Fantastic Four were rebuilding the Multiverse, and not simply "missing" as the heroes assumed. But at the same time, Marvel beginning to drop hints of a coming, Fantastic Four-focused calamity - likely to arrive in Summer 2019 - would make some sense. After all, Reed Richards finally explained that he and his wife left their former world behind because the Marvel Universe had become such a mess, with one disaster and global conflict after another. So if the comic publisher is looking to rewrite, reduce, or restrict their roadmap going forward, it would make sense to see Mister Fantastic and friends involved.

As for the larger mystery - who was REALLY behind the cosmic rays that created the Fantastic Four - the speculation is wide open for now. Hopefully Marvel is teasing that mystery in such a big way because the payoff will be just as epic a twist (the same goes for the explanation of why they have waited this long to reveal their true role). Until the next tease arrives... consider the Marvel Universe scheduled for demolition in March of 2019.