WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Marvel 2-In-One #9 by Chip Zdarsky, Ramón K. Pérez, Federico Blee and Joe Caramagna, in stores now.

Early on in Marvel 2-In-One, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm learned something they never knew about their powers as the rocky Thing and the flaming Human Torch: these abilities were connected to each other, and to the other members of the Fantastic Four. The longer the quartet is apart, the more their powers will fade, until they are gone completely. And since the duo has been separated from Reed Richards and Susan Storm ever since the conclusion of 2015's Secret Wars, Ben and Johnny have slowly been losing their powers.

For the past two issues, the heroes have been stranded on a parallel Earth, their superpowers completely gone. On the run from both the Mad Thinker's evil Fantastic Four and a twisted version of Peter Parker, Ben and Johnny find themselves on the ropes, with no hope of surviving. No hope, that is, until a familiar face shows up in the form of Susan Storm, whose mere presence is enough to reignite the dimension-tossed duo's superpowers.

But is this Invisible Woman the real deal, or is she simply an alternate version of the character?

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Marvel 2-In-One Susan Storm return

The Timeline Points to an Alternate Susan Storm

After being missing for more than three years, only making a brief appearance in 2017's Marvel Legacy #1, Susan Storm finally made her long-awaited return in Dan Slott and Sara Pichelli's Fantastic Four #1. We briefly see her, along with Reed Richards, on some far away planet, sending off a cosmic signal back to Earth. Their costumes are worn and torn, and it appears that after traveling through the Multiverse, Reed and Susan are finally ready to come home.

It's important to consider that the events of Marvel 2-In-One take place before Fantastic Four #1. In Slott and Pichelli's issue, Ben and Johnny are back on Earth, and though they believe Reed and Sue are dead, their powers are somehow restored. In Marvel 2-In-One #9, we see that the presence of Sue is enough to bring their powers back, immediately after she comes across them. But we still can't be certain that this is the real Susan Storm, and not some alternate version of the character. After all, if it is the real Invisible Woman, then why would she be back with Reed in Fantastic Four #1, and why would her family believe her to be dead?

Fantastic Four Reed and Susan signal

The more likely answer is that the Sue who appears at the end of Marvel 2-In-One #9 is this parallel Earth's version of the Invisible Woman. When Ben and Johnny first arrive on this world, they're informed that the superhero civil war went down very differently, that something terrible had befallen the Fantastic Four, killing the entire team. But perhaps Susan survived whatever attack the Spider unleashed on the super-team, and has been living in hiding all this time. Hearing mention that the Mad Thinker's evil Fantastic Four had now invaded this world could have been enough to bring her out of hiding, ultimately leading her to her "brother."

The monkey wrench in this theory is that in previous issues of Marvel 2-In-One, alternate versions of Reed and Susan have had no effect on Ben and Johnny's fading powers. So, could this be the real Sue?

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While unlikely, there is the possibility that this Susan actually is Johnny's real sister. After all, Ben and Johnny have received a bit of help from this world's version of Amadeus Cho, who sent out a signal out into the Multiverse to try and find Reed and Susan. Earlier in the issue, Amadeus says that he has tweaked the message so that it would also be able to go through... something. The young genius is interrupted before he can finish what he is about to say, but perhaps this new version of the signal actually did get to the Reed and Sue we're looking for.

Marvel 2-In-One Ben and Johnny powers return

Given that Ben and Johnny have completely lost their powers, it would be safe to assume that the same has happened to Reed and Susan in recent days. Surely, someone as smart as Reed has reached the conclusion that they need to be reunited. It' possible Susan has gone to find her brother, to spark all of their powers back. If that is the case, then the big question we'll see resolved next issue is why Ben and Johnny still believe that Reed and Susan are dead in Fantastic Four #1.

Susan Storm's appearance is quite brief, limited to two pages with only a splash page reveal of her true identity. For now, it's impossible to tell if she is the real deal, or simply another red herring. However, given that Marvel's first family of superheroes is finally set to reunite, for real, in Fantastic Four #2, we should find out very quickly how Ben and Johnny returned to Earth, and how their powers reignited.

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