While the core team of the Fantastic Four has been in place since their 1961 debut, Marvel’s First Family have had to replace occasionally throughout the decades. One forgotten member who briefly replaced the Thing was even stronger than Benjamin Jacob Grimm… before eventually moving over to the DC Universe.

The hero Maul took Thing’s place in Fantastic Four Vol. 2 #13, by James Robinson and Mike Wieringo. This was the beginning 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 fills in for a missing Ben Grimm in the alternate reality depicted in 'World War III.' The storyline 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’s Thing in World War III

The New Team Is Made Up of Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, Burnout and Maul

Maul's Fantastic Four hip emerged 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 relaunched 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 change in-universe by having the heroes of 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.

While giving an initial boost of sales, the 'Heroes Reborn' initiative wasn’t well-received by fans, leading Marvel to bring Cap, Iron Man, the FF and the Avengers back into the mainstream 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.

In addition to Maul, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, Burnout of Gen 13 replaces the deceased Johnny Storm to become the new Fantastic Four in this merged universe, albeit with very similar powers.

Meanwhile, the heroes of the WildStorm Universe had been dealing with the uber-powerful being known as Damocles during the 'Fire From Heaven' crossover event. With both universes in such a vulnerable state, they were briefly combined into one merged reality, although this new universe wasn't a paradise by any stretch. Earth is under attack from the Skrull/Daemonite alliance, and a betrayal by Doctor Doom sees the alien horde 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 hold back the tide in a losing battle.

Maul’s powers are rather unique, in that he can increase his size and mass dramatically, meaning that there is no limit to his super-strength.

Is WildCATs' Maul Stronger Than the Fantastic Four’s Thing?

Fantastic Four's Replacement Muscle Was a Size-Changer, Increasing His Strength and Mass

Within this merged universe, several heroes die or go missing in the war against the Skrull/Daemonite alliance. WildCATs' Spartan officially replaces a missing Steve Rogers as Captain America on the Avengers, and several heroes new teams. This is how Maul came to the FF, as the Thing was lost in the Negative Zone. While the two may have similar builds as hulking masses of muscle, Maul is vastly different from the Thing. Maul’s powers are rather unique, in that he can increase his size and mass, meaning that there is no limit to his super-strength.

Maul is actually Jeremy Stone, a human/alien hybrid known as a Titanthrope. He gains his powers through his heritage from the Kherubim empire, the sworn enemies of the Daemonites.

However, Maul's size-changing comes with the side-effect of a loss of mental faculties. Meaning: the bigger he gets, the less intelligent he becomes. As such, while Maul can increase his size to become stronger than the Thing, his resulting decreased intellect could pose a problem for his teammates during the heat of battle. The fact that he can also shrink back down to regular 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 taking out the Hulk.

Regardless of his differing strengths and weaknesses, Maul served on the new Fantastic Four irably, even as things became more dire in the merged Marvel/WildStorm universe. Since it took place in a one-off universe that would never exist again, 'World War III' was able to take some pretty wild swings that otherwise would never have been possible. The storyline 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 a Skrull agent in disguise.

The Thing Approved Maul As a Worthy Successor

But Thanks to Rights Issues, It's Unlikely He'll Ever Re the FF

Ultimately, the real Captain America returns from exile to work with SHIELD and take out the Skrull/Daemonite army for good. He leads a last-ditch strike team into Europe at the enemy’s stronghold with all the surviving heroes, and Maul shows off how strong he can be as he takes out a revivified Hulk. Maul achieves his biggest size yet seen, but it also proves fatal for the strongman. Unable to handle this massive size, Maul’s body gives out, and he dies from an apparent heart attack. Things become more grim when the Skrull posing as Sue Storm shoots Cap in the chest, apparently g the heroes’ death warrant.

With his dying breath, Steve Rogers convinces new recruit Rick Jones into throwing a grenade at Doctor Doom’s dimensional portal, thus splitting the Marvel and WildStorm universes back into two separate realities. The FF and Avengers were eventually brought back into the Marvel Universe proper in the subsequent miniseries Heroes Reborn: The Return, officially ending the 'Heroes Reborn' experiment. Roughly a year later, Jim Lee would sell WildStorm to DC Comics, which saw heroes like Maul eventually the DC Universe.

As such, it’s unlikely that Marvel will ever officially acknowledge that Maul was once a member of the Fantastic Four. Indeed, the recent Fantastic Four Vol. 6 #2 saw Reed Richards summon every hero who has ever officially served on the team, with Maul conspicuously absent.

It’s a shame, but the hero did wind up getting praise from none other than the Thing himself. In the last part of 'World War III' (appearing in Captain America Vol. 2 #13), Ben Grimm gives Maul his due for filling his spot on the FF, who points out that Maul saved his FF teammates on several occasions. “You did me proud,” Thing tells Maul before their final assault.

Unlike the Avengers and X-Men, the Fantastic Four aren't known for having a huge roster of , making it a particular surprise that a hero from another continuity has had the honor. Despite this, Marvel didn't hold back in showing that Maul was a truly worthy (and truly mighty) addition to the team. Hopefully, there will come a time when Marvel can acknowledge Maul's time on the Fantastic Four, especially because the Thing recognized him as a worthy successor.