Nathaniel Richards

Nathaniel Richards is the time-traveling father of Reed Richards and a brilliant scientific mind whose mastery of temporal technology allowed him to journey across eras, playing a long-running and enigmatic role in the lives of the Fantastic Four.

A figure shrouded in the grand legacy of Marvel's First Family, Nathaniel Richards made his debut in West Coast Avengers #42 in 1989, a Copper Age introduction courtesy of writer-artist John Byrne. Over more than three decades, he's carved out a presence most deeply felt in the pages of Jonathan Hickman's celebrated FF and Fantastic Four runs — rich, ambitious storytelling where he shares the stage with luminaries like Reed Richards, Victor Von Doom, and Spider-Man himself. With only 17 catalogued appearances, Nathaniel is a figure of genuine intrigue rather than ubiquity, the kind of character whose every showing carries weight — exactly the sort of deep-cut discovery that makes digging through Marvel's vast mythology so rewarding.