Uncanny Exiles: The Smartest Person in the Multiverse

A few weeks back, I tossed out an idea, which I’ve since taken to calling Uncanny Exiles.  Marvel, perhaps in a rush to dilute the products they don’t currently own the movie rights for, has been slapping the adjective Uncanny all over their titles as of late, and if they’re going to give it out for free I’m happy to take it.  I considered Fantastic Exiles, but that didn’t really hit home.  But all that is fundamentally besides the point; I tossed this idea out there a few weeks back. Franklin Richards and Nate Grey. Literal gods on a cross-multiverse road trip, looking for a place to call home.  I think it’s a winner.  And the nice thing about a multiverse is that it’s a pretty expansive sandbox to play around in.  Consider this part two of a semi-regular exploration of that sandbox.  Ladies and gentlemen, tales from the Uncanny Exiles….

At the end of the last column, in a teaser-ish fashion (look at me, toeing the Marvel company line everywhere), I had mentioned that one of the problems Franklin was going to have to contend with, out in the wide world of the multiverse, was his sister; Valeria Richards.  Now Valeria, as you can probably guess from my obvious predilections, is a character from Jonathan Hickman’s exceedingly brilliant FF run.  She’s the youngest child of Reed and Susan Richards, and the inheritor of her father’s genius.  At the ripe age of 6, she’s already one of the most frighteningly intelligent people on the planet.  What’s more, the word ‘frightening’ there is well used - Valeria’s the godchild of Victor Von Doom, and for a brief (and confusing) time was also his ‘familiar’, in the magical sense.  It’s one of the reasons she’s named for his lost love - Valeria and Dr. Doom share a very deep bond, and when you’ve bonded with a megalomaniac dictator bent on world conquest, it bodes ill for your personality-type.

See Valeria, much like her father, is quite intelligent.  But also like her father, she can be distant and empirical at the best of times, and downright cruel at the worst.  She believes she knows best, that she can solve everything, and she has no problem telling you that.  Moreover, perhaps because of Doom’s influence or perhaps because it’s simply who she is, she has no problem making sacrifices to get the job done, be they on her part or on yours.  This makes for a fascinating character, but it also makes for a supremely dangerous one.  Writers have been itching to show a Reed Richards without restraint.  I’d argue, in Valeria, they finally have their chance.

Now, much like Franklin, there’s an adult version of Valeria running around the Marvel multiverse; an exile from her own world, which was destroyed in a massive gambit she executed alongside her brother.  When last we saw this adult Valeria, she had finally found a place “she could build.”  This little pocket dimension exists outside the multiverse at large, and functions as a safe little home base, a resting station in-between worlds.  A place like that would be incredibly handy for Franklin and Nate to have.

Which is why, of course, they land there shortly after leaving Earth-616 (aka the original Marvel Universe), to find the place ransacked and Valeria gone.  Now, let’s be clear: Valeria may be brainy, but she’s not a damsel, and crossing her is very much not recommended.  The thing about smart people is they usually have a variety of cruel toys at their disposal.  That means whoever (or whatever) took her was dangerous in its own right, especially to have done it on her own turf.  Moreover, this is the multiverse we’re talking about; there’s an infinite number of Valerias out there to cover the trail, and an equally infinite number of worlds to hide her in.  But Franklin’s got an abundance of time on his hands and an abundance of power at his disposal.  He will find her.  And when he does you’d best believe he’ll be bringing the wrath of a god with him.