Although the main team of Fantastic Four has been around since its debut in 1961, Marvel's First Family has had to replace members occasionally over the decades. A forgotten member who briefly replaced the Thing was even stronger than Benjamin Jacob Grimm… before finally crossing over to the DC Universe.
The hero Maul took Thing's place in Fantastic Four Vol. 2#13by James Robinson and Mike Wieringo. This was the start of the 'World War III' storyline, which saw Marvel and WildStorm combine their comic universes, creating new teams where their heroes worked together.
Known primarily as the strongman of Jim Lee's WildCATs, Maul replaces the missing Ben Grimm in the alternate reality depicted in 'World War III'. The plot sees an alliance of Marvel's Skrulls and WildStorm's Daemonites waging war on Earth, with few heroes left behind to fight the good fight.
DC's Maul Replaces the Fantastic Four Thing in World War III
The new team is made up of Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, Burnout and Maul
Maul's Fantastic Four membership came from the moment in the 1990s when Marvel did the unthinkable, canceling Captain America, Iron Man, The Avengers and Fantastic Four. All four titles were re-released under the creative direction of Jim Lee's WildStorm Studios and Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios in a new publishing initiative known as 'Heroes Reborn'. Marvel explained the universe change by having heroes from all four titles fall in battle with Onslaught, but it was eventually revealed that Franklin Richards had created a pocket universe as an escape hatch, keeping the Avengers and Fantastic Four alive .
Although it provided an initial boost in sales, the 'Heroes Reborn' initiative was not well received by fans, leading Marvel to bring Cap, Iron Man, the FF and the Avengers return to the Marvel universe after a year. Before that happened, however, each title received an additional thirteenth issue, which resulted in a crossover with Jim Lee's WildStorm universe, at the time still under the auspices of Image Comics. The crossover was explained as the result of the 'Heroes Reborn' pocket universe being under attack by Galactus, which causes Doctor Doom to warp reality itself.
Meanwhile, the heroes of the WildStorm Universe were dealing with the superpowered man known as Damocles during the 'Fire From Heaven' crossover event. With both universes in such a vulnerable state, they were briefly combined into a merged reality, although this new universe was not a paradise by any means. Earth is under attack by the Skrull/Daemonite alliance, and a Doctor Doom's betrayal causes the alien horde to take control of much of Europe and Asia. The surviving heroes – none of whom know they actually belong to two separate universes – do everything they can to stem the tide in a losing battle.
Maul's powers are unique in that he can drastically increase his size and mass, meaning there is no limit to his super strength.
Is Maul from WildCATs stronger than Maul from the Fantastic Four?
The Fantastic Four's replacement muscle changed size, increasing their strength and mass
Within this fused universe, several heroes die or disappear in the war against the Skrull/Daemonite alliance. WildCATs' Spartan officially replaces the missing Steve Rogers as Captain America in the Avengers, and several heroes join new teams. This is how Maul joined the FF, as the Thing was lost in the Negative Zone. Although the two may have similar builds with huge muscular masses, Maul is very different from the Thing. Maul's powers are quite unique, as it can increase its size and mass, which means that There is no limit to your super strength.
However, Maul's change in size comes with the side effect of a loss of mental faculties. Meaning: the bigger he gets, the less intelligent he becomes. As such, although Maul can increase his size to become stronger than the Thing, his resulting decrease in intellect can pose a problem for his teammates during the heat of battle. The fact that he can also revert to normal human size makes him vulnerable in a way that Ben Grimm never is, as he loses his strength and increased durability at human size.
Maul proved himself a worthy member of the Fantastic Four by saving Reed Richards' life and defeating the Hulk.
Regardless of his differing strengths and weaknesses, Maul served admirably in the new Fantastic Four, even as things became more dire in the merged Marvel/WildStorm universe. How it happened in a unique universe that would never exist again,'World War III was able to undergo some pretty violent changes that would otherwise never have been possible. The plot racks up a large body count before it ends, as several heroes fall in sometimes shocking ways. In perhaps the most unexpected twist, Sue Storm was revealed to be an undercover Skrull agent.
The Thing approved Maul as a worthy successor
But thanks to rights issues, he's unlikely to return to FF
Ultimately, the real Captain America returns from exile to work with SHIELD and defeat the Skrull/Daemonite army for good. He leads a last-minute strike team into Europe, into the enemy's stronghold, with all the surviving heroes, and Maul shows how strong he can be by defeating a revived Hulk. Maul reaches his largest size ever seen, but is also fatal to the strong man. Unable to handle this enormous size, Maul's body gives out and he dies of an apparent heart attack. Things take a darker turn when the Skrull posing as Sue Storm shoots Cap in the chest, seemingly signing the heroes' death warrant.
With his dying breath, Steve Rogers convinces new recruit Rick Jones to throw a grenade into Doctor Doom's dimensional portal, thus dividing the Marvel and WildStorm universes into two distinct realities. THE FF and Avengers were finally brought back to the Marvel Universe in the subsequent miniseries Heroes Reborn: The Returnofficially ending the 'Heroes Reborn' experiment. Approximately a year later, Jim Lee would sell WildStorm to DC Comics, which saw heroes like Maul eventually join the DC Universe.
As such, Marvel is unlikely to officially acknowledge that Maul was once a member of the Fantastic Four. In fact, the recent Fantastic Four Vol. 6#2 saw Reed Richards call up every hero who has ever officially served on the team, with Maul noticeably absent.
It's a shame, but the hero ended up receiving praise from none other than the Thing himself. In the latter part of 'World War III' (appearing in Captain America Vol. 2#13), Ben Grimm gives Maul his due for taking his place in the FF, who points out that Maul has saved his FF teammates on numerous occasions. “You made me proud,” Thing says to Maul before the final attack.
Unlike the Avengers and X-Men, the Fantastic Four are not known for having a huge roster of members, making it a particular surprise that a hero from another continuity has had the honor. Despite this, Marvel didn't hesitate to show that Maul was a truly worthy (and truly powerful) addition to the team. Hopefully there will come a time when Marvel can acknowledge Maul's time in the Fantastic Fourespecially because the Thing recognized him as a worthy successor.