The Reed Richards and Sue Storm marriage is one of the frequently acknowledge bedrocks of the Marvel Universe. However, their marriage is not without obstacles over the years. To be sure, Sue hasn’t cheated on Reed physically, but there have been times she and Namor came close in the mainstream Earth-616. Sue has even used the Atlantean-human hybrid at times as emotional support at key moments.
Many of the hurdles in Marvel’s “First Family” stems from Reed getting caught up with his scientific work or secretive associations with the Illuminati. These instances naturally kept Sue at a distance. Namor taking advantage of Reed’s emotional neglect, for want of a better word, is a frequent Fantastic Four trope mined over the years by various creative teams to elicit more drama. And now in Namor the Sub-Mariner: Conquered Shores #2 (by Christopher Cantwell, Pasqual Ferry, Matt Hollingsworth, and VC’s Joe Caramagna), an alternate future shows a potential romance between the undersea king and Sue was a lot more controversial than first assumed.
Namor and Sue Storm Really Do Love Each Other
The issue begins when Namor needs to find a way to track down Jim Hammond/Human Torch. He wants to restart society, so he requires a fuel source that’d simultaneously help the surface and ocean worlds after the Kree rendered the planet almost uninhabitable. This leads to Namor entering the Baxter Building to aid on the mission, using Reed’s pass-codes. Luke Cage is taken aback, wondering how Namor knows such things.
The Sub-Mariner then makes it clear he and Sue knew each other way better than anyone assumed. In fact, these flashbacks confirmed they were truly, madly, deeply in love, all behind Reed’s back. It’s a nod to older stories where Sue left Reed to stay at Namor’s side, such as Fantastic Four #147 after he tried to temper Franklin’s powers, and after Reed’s secretive plans in cloning Thor in Civil War. In those instances, it became obvious Sue did love Namor, feeling complete, trusted and wanted, whereas it sometimes felt like it was a marriage of convenience for a work-obsessed Reed. And as this exchange proves, their bond was much deeper than just the periodical rendezvous, with Sue requesting a sacrifice from the sea king that she knows she’d never get from Reed.
Namor and Sue Storm Tease a Physical Relationship
Here, Sue begs Namor to abandon his work with Atlantis and come with them to space to fight the Kree — a war that’d claim all these heroes’ lives, including hers and Johnny’s. It’s unknown if Reed went missing on Earth after the aliens attacked or if he perished in space too, but what’s for certain is the chemistry and sexual tension was there when Sue sought Namor out. She mentioned how she loves him because he’s not Reed, which is a huge blow to Fantastic Four fans. It’s implied Sue and Namor have a lot more going on, with Sue needing him by her side. It has fans wondering what she means by him being “vital,” as it could mean for the war, or something more personal seeing as the planet’s been ravaged. Either way, Sue wants to kiss him in these flashbacks but holds back on letting him do so, as she knows they won’t see each other again — crafting regret and emotional flux in both in this pseudo-cheating moment.
He has Atlantis to stay behind to tend to, after all, so she can’t risk losing the other man in her life. Ultimately, this is a lot of drama, ramped up more than what we knew before, leaving fans wondering how much Reed, Johnny and the Thing knew. Ultimately, this shapes a truly checkered past, as it feels more obvious than ever that this reality’s enamored Sue couldn’t hide her passion for the sea king. And that there may well have been an affair going on, stirring up the infidelity debate once more with Sue, Namor and a potentially jealous Reed.
