She-Hulk Fact — November 2, 2026

Today's Fact

Marvel's First Family was a closed shop — until Ben Grimm personally handed his place to a lawyer from Los Angeles.

SHE-HULK REPLACED THE THING IN THE FANTASTIC FOUR — AND KEPT THE SEAT FOR THREE YEARS!

The Featured Fact

When the heroes came home from the Beyonder's Battleworld at the end of the original Secret Wars, one seat on the Fantasti-Car was empty. Ben Grimm had chosen to stay behind on Battleworld, the one place where he could shift back into his human form at will, and before leaving he asked Jennifer Walters to take his place. In Fantastic Four #265 (1984), by John Byrne, the team returned to Earth with She-Hulk as its official fourth member — the first outsider ever admitted to a team that had always been one family.

This was no weekend guest spot. Jen moved into the Baxter Building, fought the team's rogues, and held the roster spot through roughly thirty-five issues, until Ben's return reshuffled the line-up around Fantastic Four #300. Reed introduced her on that first cover with a question — was the world ready for her? — while Johnny Storm answered that he certainly was.

She worked two jobs the whole time. Jen kept her Avengers membership as a reservist while serving with the Four, which made her one of the very few heroes of the era carrying full duties on two flagship teams at once. The replacement was meant to be temporary; the stay stretched across three years of publication and permanently changed what the Fantastic Four could be — proof the family had room for someone who chose it.

Why It's Obscure

Everyone remembers the courtroom years. The Baxter Building years came first, and they lasted longer than most Avengers line-ups.

1984

An invitation, not an audition — Ben Grimm picked his own successor before staying on Battleworld, electing She-Hulk as his replacement at the close of Secret Wars.

Fantastic Four #265

Home are the heroes — The team lands back on Earth already re-formed, and readers had to wait months for Secret Wars to explain how Jen got the job.

The Baxter Building

She moved in properly — Jen lived at headquarters and sunbathed on its roof, treating the most famous address in Marvel science like a home, not a posting.

Two rosters

Avenger and FF at once — Per Avengers #234, Jen maintained memberships on both teams simultaneously during her Fantastic Four tenure.

Gallery

Comic art of She-Hulk — including her in Fantastic Four colours — and the man whose seat she kept warm.

She-Hulk comic art in Fantastic Four colours — **Fantastic green**She-Hulk in Fantastic Four blue: the uniform she wore for her three years as the team's fourth member.

She-Hulk comic art — **The replacement in action**Jennifer Walters at full strength — the brawn half of a job that also asked for a lawyer's brain.

The Thing Ben Grimm comic art — **The man she replaced**Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing, whose Battleworld exile opened the roster spot Jen filled.

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against at least two independent sources before publication.

Bullpen Bulletins

Fantastic Four Broke Their Most Important Rule — ComicBook.comAnniversary feature on Fantastic Four #265: She-Hulk debuts as the newest member after Ben Grimm stays on Battleworld at the end of Secret Wars.
Fantastic Four Vol 1 #267 — Marvel DatabaseContinuity notes confirming the Thing stayed on Battleworld, elected She-Hulk as his replacement, and that she officially joined in Fantastic Four #265.
She-Hulk Joins Fantastic Four in Comics — ColliderAccount of Ben asking Jen to fill in, her thirty-five-issue tenure beside the family, and her standing as a reserve Avenger throughout.