Bentley Wittman

Bentley Wittman was a world-renowned escape artist and self-made genius who grew bored with fame and wealth, turning his intellect toward crime. Armed with his own anti-gravity devices and advanced technology, he became the Wizard, founding the villainous Frightful Four to oppose the Fantastic Four.

Few Marvel villains have the audacity to name a team after themselves in opposition to the world's first family, but Bentley Wittman — the brilliant, scheming mind behind the Frightful Four — has been doing exactly that since his Silver Age debut in Strange Tales #110 in 1963, conjured by Stan Lee, H. E. Huntley, and Dick Ayers. Over six remarkable decades, he's remained a fixture of the Fantastic Four universe, sharing pages with Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and the Human Torch across 167 catalog appearances and 11 key issues that collectors rightly prize. Whether clashing with Marvel's First Family or — in one of comics' more delicious ironies — eventually finding himself allied with them under the Fantastic Four banner, Wittman is living proof that a truly great antagonist can reshape himself across eras without ever losing that core of magnificent, dangerous intellect. If you love the rich tapestry of Marvel's Silver Age and the ongoing saga of the FF, Bentley Wittman is a character whose long, twisting history absolutely rewards the deep dive.