Everyone knows Reed Richards: genius scientist, superhero, and leader of the Fantastic Four, but not everyone knows about his Counter-Earth version – a purple, cosmic ray powered Hulk called the Brute.
Counter-Earth was created by the High Evolutionary to be a more perfect version of Marvel’s Earth-616, but due to the meddling of a villain called the Man-Beast, his experiment did not turn out as he had hoped. On this planet that stood only a microsecond out of dimensional sync with Earth-616, there existed a version of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Benjamin Grimm. They lived lives very much similar to the ones lived by their counterparts in the main Marvel continuity – Reed attended college with Victor von Doom, and he also later hijacked a space shuttle along with his three companions, just as they did in the main universe. However, the results of this fateful flight were very different.
First introduced in Marvel Premiere #2, by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, the Counter-Earth version of Reed Richards was the only member of the Fantastic Four to receive powers from the cosmic rays. Johnny and Ben only sustained mild injuries and Sue fell into a coma, but Reed was completely transformed into a giant purple monster fueled by rage. The transformations first only happened during a full moon, but eventually Reed gained control of it and could transform at will. However, this Reed and his alter-ego – known as the Brute – often had evil intent thanks to a blow to the head, and he even once impersonated and betrayed Earth-616’s Fantastic Four before being defeated and cast into the Negative Zone.
Reed Richards’ Brute Form Is Less Heroic Than Hulk
The big difference between the Brute and the Hulk is that the Brute was able to naturally retain Reed’s massive intellect, making him more akin to Professor Hulk than to the savage version most people are familiar with. Counter-Earth Reed and his Brute form are more like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – an unscrupulous scientist and his manipulative and violent alter-ego. Whereas Bruce and Hulk are often portrayed as the victims, Reed and the Brute have proven to be knowing and willing antagonists for several versions of the Fantastic Four and their allies across the multiverse. The best explanation offered for the difference in personality between Earth-616 Reed and his counterpart is the coma of Counter-Earth Sue Storm. When that version of Reed Richards lost Sue, the only person he loved, he threw himself into his scientific work, cutting himself off from his own empathy and human emotions, and in the process becoming a powerful and formidable force for evil.
Mister Fantastic Has His Own Monstrous Potential
Reed Richards’ potential for evil is a frequent focus of Fantastic Four stories, and in the Brute that idea is explored through Hulk-like powers. Recent stories have confirmed that cosmic rays are actually the polar opposite of gamma radiation, meaning that Brute may actually not just be Hulk-like, but may be his equivalent on the other side of the radioactive spectrum. In Marvel’s main reality, Ben Grimm is the one who physically changed, but his strong morals allowed him to accept his fate and use his abilities as the Thing. As the Brute, Reed Richards shows that he is not as inherently heroic, and instead needs his family around him to be his best self.
Now loose in the Marvel Universe and infrequently reappearing to cause trouble for various heroes, Brute gives Reed Richards his own freaky Hulk-like doppelganger, exposing his darker impulses and showing that without the Fantastic Four, he’d be little different from the rampaging ‘monster’ he’s fought to stop so many times.
