Seeing its comic debut in 1966, the Super-Adaptoid mimics the powers of all superhumans in its vicinity. This includes shapeshifting to resemble them, and even spawning weaponry like Iron Man’s armor and Thor’s hammer Mjolnir.
Now, this immensely powerful force officially exists in the MCU. However, it’s the Fantastic Four – not the Avengers – who have accomplished it.
The Super-Adaptoid Is Officially MCU Canon
Marvel recently published Fantastic Four: First Foes #1 – a canon prequel comic exploring the early adventures of the titular team. The comic reveals the team’s past connection to the villainous Mad Thinker (briefly mentioned in the MCU’s Fantastic Four: First Steps), and his backstory as Reed’s former teacher.
The Mad Thinker turns against the Four due to jealousy, with the final straw being when they overshadow the unveiling of a dedicated AI that can efficiently run New York City. In response, he turns the ‘Super-Adaptive Android’ against them, with features designed to counter each of their powers.
The Fantastic Four: First Foes #1 comes from the creative team of Dan Slott, Ryan North, Phil Noto, Mark Buckingham, Alex Sinclair and Joe Caramagna.
From the name to the green design, it’s clear this is the MCU’s answer to the Super-Adaptoid. This reveal is a huge surprise to fans, since a totally different android is associated with the Mad Thinker in classic comics. In comic lore, the Mad Thinker’s muscle is the Awesome Android – a gray-skinned, square-headed, shapeshifting artificial lifeform.
The comic does also introduce the Awesome Android – in order to defeat the Super-Adaptive Android, Reed corrupts the robot with HERBIE’s programming. In response, it shapeshifts into a form similar to the Awesome Android and turns against the Mad Thinker – just as the original eventually did in Marvel lore. It seems that in the MCU, the two android villains are one and the same.
Fans knew that First Foes would officially star the MCU’s Mad Thinker, and assumed the Awesome Android would appear, but the introduction of the Super-Adaptoid is a total surprise, especially given it’s most often tied to Avengers lore.
Are Fans Likely to See the Super-Adaptoid On-Screen?
Since Fantastic Four: First Steps is set in Earth-828, Marvel is free to introduce a different version of the Super-Adaptoid to MCU canon at a later date or to bring back the comic version. However, fans have already seen the robot on-screen.
First Steps ends with a cartoon showing the team’s fictional animated show, in which Sue Storm’s Invisible Woman is shown fighting a green robot.
First Foes shows the cartoon again, confirming that robot is the show’s version of the ‘Super-Adaptive Android.’ Indeed, the show plays a significant part in the plot – it introduces the Mad Thinker’s codename, intensifying his rage against Reed Richards (up until then, he had named himself ‘the Great Thinker.’)
Fans watching the movie couldn’t have known it was the Super-Adaptoid (and indeed, perhaps that wasn’t even the case at the time.) However, now they know that Fantastic Four: First Steps officially brought the Avengers’ Super-Adaptoid villain into official MCU canon, potentially setting it up as a major future threat.
The Fantastic Four: First Foes #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.