Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four #1

History

The project grew out of years of licensing conversations between Marvel and Toho that began, according to Marvel editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski, as discussions about reprinting the original 1977–1979 Godzilla, King of the Monsters series. Marvel VP of licensing and publishing Sven Larsen eventually worked with Toho toward a direct creative collaboration, and the announcement was timed to coincide with Godzilla's 70th anniversary. Editor Mark Paniccia — who has spoken about channeling the 'wildly imaginative spirit' of the 1970s series — paired current Fantastic Four ongoing writer Ryan North with veteran Marvel penciler John Romita Jr. for the debut installment, a creative team reflecting both contemporary Fantastic Four stewardship and the series' deep Silver Age roots. The issue's cover was produced by Adam Kubert, with a wide array of variant covers by Mark Bagley, Nick Bradshaw, Lee Garbett, Leinil Francis Yu, Peach Momoko, Skottie Young, and James Harren.

Trivia · 10 facts

• Released March 26, 2025 (cover-dated May 2025); a 32-page one-shot published by Marvel Comics in direct collaboration with Toho Company Ltd.
• Written by Ryan North (then the ongoing Fantastic Four writer) with interior art by John Romita Jr. and a main cover by Adam Kubert.
• First issue of the six-part 'Godzilla vs. Marvel' one-shot event — the first new Marvel Godzilla comic since Godzilla #24 (July 1979), a gap of over 45 years.
• The story introduces a conceptual mashup never before seen in either company's canon: King Ghidorah imbued with the Power Cosmic and serving as Galactus's newest herald, forcing an unlikely alliance between Godzilla and the Silver Surfer.
• According to Wikizilla, this issue contains the first story in any Godzilla medium to explicitly name or show King Ghidorah's home planet and to establish that he exterminated all other life there.
• The narrative is set in its own standalone continuity (non-Earth-616), but its internal timeline is anchored to occur after Fantastic Four #50 (1966), when the Silver Surfer was exiled on Earth after defying Galactus — a detail confirmed by an in-story text box.
• The 'Monster Homage' variant cover by Nick Bradshaw is a deliberate visual callback to the original Fantastic Four #1 (1961), with Godzilla standing in for Giganto.
• The issue was reprinted as part of the Marvel Halloween Trick-or-Read 2025 program, and the full six-issue event was collected in the Godzilla vs. the Marvel Universe trade paperback (September 30, 2025).
• Unlike the original 1977 Marvel license — which covered Godzilla alone and excluded all other Toho creatures — the 2025 collaboration gave Marvel access to additional Toho kaiju across the event, with King Ghidorah debuting in this issue and others including Mothra, Mechagodzilla, and Kumonga appearing in subsequent issues.
• The Fantastic Four first encountered Godzilla in issues #20–24 of Marvel's original Godzilla, King of the Monsters series (1979), making the 2025 team-up a reunion with historical precedent.

Full credits

Variants (10)