It was only a matter of time before Disney-owned Marvel finally took a stand against rights holder Fox Studios.  What I mean by this is Fox holds the film/tv rights to several Marvel titles, in a large purchase made over a decade ago.  But, Marvel COMICS still holds the COMICS rights to these titles.

Today it was announced that Marvel Comics would be CANCELLING the current Fantastic Four comic title after the publication of a triple sized issue, #645.  This is largely believed to be a “frak you” to Fox for their currently-in-production reboot of the film franchise The Fantastic Four.  Something Marvel has gotten really good at is having comic releases around the same time as their big films, an added bonus of enticing fans of the films to read the source material and vice versa.

This decision means there will be NO Fantastic Four comics released after sometime in 2015, meaning the new film will open without the additional support of Marvel Comics proper.   June’s solicitation for James Robinson and Leonard Kirk‘s Fantastic Four: The End Is Fourever reads:

THE END IS FOUREVER! Witness the closing act on the First Family of the Marvel Universe! THE INVADERS meet the FANTASTIC FOUR as the hunt for REED RICHARDS and the missing kids of the FUTURE FOUNDATION continues. Meanwhile the mastermind behind everything unveils his ultimate plan. But how does FRANKLIN RICHARDS factor in? And how does this all lead to…The END?! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #642-644 and the Triple Sized Final Issue 645!

Draw your own conclusions I guess, but let’s remember the writer and director of the upcoming FF film told the cast “Not to read the comics because they wouldn’t be anything like the film”.

And if you’re curious about the current sales of this title and how that plays into the choice to cancel the comic, Fantastic Four clocked in at number 98 on the “best selling titles” of September.