Tag Archives: Fantastic Four

Feb 18 2024

Four Things The New Fantastic Four Has To Accomplish

Now that the constant speculation about who would be cast as the Fantastic Four has ended (thank God!), we can officially get pumped for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) version of the Fantastic Four. With the casting out of the way for the core cast, the production has time to fine-tune the film, as seen with recent news that the film was being rewritten. Thanks to the failures of the previous film versions of the Fantastic Four, there is a a lot of pressure for the MCU version to get it right because it has to at this point.

Given that the Fantastic Four comics launched the so-called Marvel Age of Comics back in the 1960s and is considered one of the premier properties of Marvel Comics, it is outlandish that past efforts to adapt the superhero team into live-action films failed. Yet, here we are. As fans know, the first effort was an unreleased adaptation in the early 1990s that was produced with barely a budget in order for the producer to retain the film rights to the property. That monstrosity was as bad as its reputation and makes Madame Web look like Logan in terms of quality or lack of. The Tim Story duology that came out in the 2000s captured some of the spirit of the comic books, but lacked the gravitas to elevate them to top-tier superhero films. And the less said about the cloud thing called Galactus the better. The worse mainstream adaptation had to be 2015’s Fant4stic, which is how marketing stylized the film logo. The last version of the Fantastic Four basically tanked the career of its director Josh Trank, who had the bizarre idea to make his Fantastic Four film a body-horror film without any of the humor and charm the comic book team was famous for having.

Thankfully, now that Marvel Studios and Disney have the film rights to the Fantastic Four, they can give the property the attention it needs to create a high-quality superhero film. To do that, Marvel Studios has to evoke the qualities that made the comic books so beloved, especially the ones from the 1960s. At the same time, The Fantastic Four has to appeal to audiences in order to get them into theater seats. The cast, which includes Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Richards/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, are a solid first step, now it is up to the script and the director to bring the Fantastic Four to life. Here are four things The Fantastic Four must accomplish in order to succeed:

Find the Right Balance With Humor, Family and Awe

The two different film versions of the Fantastic Four were flawed in that they either lacked any humor or humanity, or were too goofy and did not aspire to greatness. The Tim Story Fantastic Four films had plenty of humor and most of it worked, especially the interactions between Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. But the flaw of those films was that they didn’t really aim higher. The films diminished Doctor Doom and had him being a petty businessman instead of the intimidating ruler of Latveria. What’s worse was that efforts to present something incredible lacked any real scope. The worst example was the Galactus storyline in the second film that reduced the cosmic villain into a giant gas cloud. Blame the budgets.

Now the Josh Trank Fantastic Four film was completely the opposite in that it lacked any humor and charm. The entire film was a dire and dark affair where the characters moped about their newfound powers and were forced to work for the military. Nothing in the film was cheerful or bright, nothing at all like the comic books. Those comics exuded optimism while dealing with challenges. Yes, the team often bickered and fought with each other, but they came together at the end because they were a family. The Trank film did not reflect this family aspect at all. It did not help that the characters were mistakenly cast as young adults, but that is another story. The Fantastic Four has to capture the wow factor and the family dynamics and the humor that made the comic books so revolutionary.

Explore the Fantastic (Pun Intended)

A major fault with the previous Fantastic Four films was that they lacked the sci-fi scale of the comic books. Yes there were many sci-fi trappings, but they were not anything audiences have not seen before. What was worse was that the production budgets of the films could not capture the epic scale of the comic books. Just look at the wild panels in Fantastic Four Annual #3 when Reed, Ben and Johnny explore the Negative Zone. Or the images in the Galactus trilogy of Fantastic Four #s 48-50 where the Human Torch traverses skyscraper-sized machinery to find a weapon to defeat Galactus. The closest we got to that in the films was in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer where Doctor Doom stole the Silver Surfer’s powers, which was taken from the comics. Yet, that was completely undone with the finale act where the Galactus cloud showed up.

Meanwhile, the Trank film did not have any of the joy of scientific discovery, even though many of the main characters were scientists. Sure, the characters visited an alien planet, but it was a barren, stormy hellhole that did not inspire any awe, and was more in line with the body-horror aspect of the film. But what made things worse was that the film had a low-budget feel. The Fantastic Four needs a huge budget and the best resources to pull off the mind-bending world of the Fantastic Four. This is not an easy feat given the difficulty of trying to pull off the stretching powers of Mr. Fantastic. In other words, The Fantastic Four has to and will be a true MCU epic with the budget and resources it needs to properly adapt the fantastic (yes, pun intended) feel of the comic books.

Do Not Have Doctor Doom as the Main Villain in the First Film

While Doctor Doom is the premier villain for the Fantastic Four and Marvel Comics, he has been overused in the past films. What was worse was that the depictions of the Latverian ruler in the films were not at all accurate. The filmmakers mistakenly tied the origin of Doctor Doom with the Fantastic Four, which was not the case in the comic books. But in the films the villainous doctor was involved in the same accident that gave the FF their powers, which in turn gave him some kind of electric powers, which was never shown in the comics. These reimaginings omitted his genius intellect that enabled him to master science and sorcery to be able to nearly conquer the world. Nor was his status as ruler of Latveria even a factor.

Doctor Doom has been misused in the previous films and he needs to be faithfully depicted if he is to be the main baddie of the MCU and the Secret Wars event. He should only appear in The Fantastic Four as a cameo, and in other MCU productions in the same way Thanos popped up here and there in early MCU films. As for which villains the FF should confront in the first film, well, supposedly Galactus and the Silver Surfer will be the foes, although it may be too early to confront them. It would have been better if a film trilogy built up to them. Other villains to make life miserable for the Fantastic Four could be Annihilus, the Molecule Man (a major character in Secret Wars), the Super-Skrull (though Secret Invasion ruined that), the Red Ghost, the Mad Thinker or even the Frightful Four. Or the sequels could have the team facing a villain not usually associated with them. A sequel film would also be a perfect way to bring back Namor since he was a major villain that the team fought in the early comic cooks.

Make the Characters Relatable

The Fantastic Four comic books, thanks to Stan Lee’s writing and Jack Kirby’s pencils and stories, were able to present outlandish and jaw-dropping sci-fi visuals while retaining a sense of humanity. Who could forget those intricately drawn panels of Reed’s room-sized machinery? Sure they were dazzling, but the focus was on the characters bickering in those same panels like a dysfunctional family. The Fantastic Four has to incorporate this aspect of family into the film.

Despite the faults with the Tim Story Fantastic Four films what they got right was a sense of pathos as seen with moments were Ben struggles with being the Thing. A perfect example was a scene in the first film where he was not able to pick up his wife’s wedding ring because his rock-like hands lacked dexterity. Then again the film was able to have some fun with Ben when one of the final shots of the first film showed him wearing humongous, custom-made sneakers. Meanwhile, with the Josh Trank film it was difficult to relate to the characters, even the Thing, who barely stood out as a character. The caustic, but loving relationship between Ben and Johnny, while done accurately in the Story films, was absent in the Trank film. That is except for one line at the end of the film where Johnny came off as a mean-spirited A-Hole when he mocked Ben.

If The Fantastic Four focuses on the characters and their family relationship, gives us a sense of wonder and adventure, while featuring villains other than Doctor Doom, then it will succeed. It’s just that simple. Fans will flock to see the film if it has these aspects that made the Fantastic Four one of the most popular superhero teams in comic books.

José Soto

Feb 11 2024

Deadpool & The Pending MCU Comeback

By now most Marvel fans have seen the eagerly awaited trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine, the sole offering from Marvel Studios this year. Just the fact that so many people were anticipating this trailer is alone to demonstrate that superhero fatigue is not necessarily upon us, especially when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Sure, the MCU and Marvel Studios had its struggles recently, as seen with failures of The Marvels and Secret Invasion and with behind-the-scenes dramas. However, the higher ups at Disney and Marvel Studios acknowledged that things were not working with the MCU and they took corrective actions. Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige took a long look at what was being filmed and realized that several projects were not working, at least up to MCU standards. As painful as it was, Feige delayed the release of projects like Daredevil: Born Again and Captain America: Brave New World to basically scrap what was filmed and start over. This is a costly gamble without any guarantee of success (see Solo: A Star Wars Story), but it had to be done. Disney also realized this and the fact that there was too much MCU product, which led to many projects been held back or cancelled. While many fans did not like this, it was what the MCU needed in order to 1) give the coming MCU projects the time to be improved and not rushed and 2) creating demand and anticipation for the projects.

During the past few months, the common theme among trades and the online was that the MCU and superhero films were in decline, given the fact that most superhero films in 2023 did not perform well. Another argument for the decline was the poor reception to the coming Sony films based on Spider-Man properties like Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter. But declaring the superhero films to be in decline may be premature. Of course, they are not as popular as they were around 2018-19, but at that period the Infinity Saga was reaching its climax and everyone wanted to know how the Avengers were going to defeat Thanos. In the years since, the MCU films have had to start all over again with a new storyline, the Multiverse Saga, which has had a rocky start due to many reasons. They range from the COVID-19 pandemic, the reign of Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who demanded too much MCU product and overstretched Marvel Studios, the writers and actors strike from last year, and the firing of actor Jonathan Majors, whose character Kang was supposed to be the next main MCU villain. Thankfully, many of them have been dealt with or are behind Disney and Marvel Studios.

As Marvel Studios reassessed what worked and what did not with its recent projects, the film studio had the time to tweak its upcoming projects to improve them. This has led to Kevin Feige taking more control of the MCU films and TV shows to ensure that the projects match the quality of the previous MCU films.

Now Disney and Marvel Studios have stated that they intend to focus on quality not quantity, which means they are scaling back on what they greenlight and not just any Marvel Comics property will make the transition to live-action. This is great because it allows the film studio to focus on its most popular characters and devote time and resources to more obscure characters to help them stand out (see Guardians of the Galaxy).

In the recent past, quality films and TV shows have found their audiences as seen with the success of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 and the second season of Loki. This will most likely occur with Deadpool & Wolverine given that it looks bonkers with its fourth-wall breaking and the zany and raunchy humor of Deadpool that does not seem watered down even though the film is from Disney. Deadpool & Wolverine could help change the direction that Marvel Studios is headed given its high anticipation. v

Also creating high anticipation for Marvel Studios is Daredevil: Born Again, which has excited many fans of the original Netflix production since it now features beloved characters from the Netflix shows. Then there is the over-the-top speculation on who will be cast in the Fantastic Four film coming out next year. Oh, and by the way, Marvel Studios: announce the cast already! Its not just the casting that has many excited about the Fantastic Four, but the fact that Kevin Feige is directly involved with the film and is a passion project for him given that past live-action efforts did not perform well.

Of course, another thing exciting fans is the coming of the X-Men in the MCU, which was teased in The Marvels and the mutants will be front and center in Deadpool & Wolverine. Frankly, it’s about time. Disney has had the rights to the X-Men characters for several years and although it was for the best that they took time for the memories of the Fox version of the X-Men films to dissipate, it’s time for them to appear in the MCU. Thankfully we’re getting that with Deadpool & Wolverine as the trailer clearly shows that not only do we see mutants but images of the MCU films and the Time Variance Authority from Loki.

Yes, it’s great to be excited about the MCU again and we have Deadpool & Wolverine to thank for that. Please, be great!

Sep 10 2022

D23 Expo 2022: A Great Disappointment For Marvel

For some time, fans expected the presentation by Marvel Studios at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) to pale when compared to this weekend’s D23 Expo 2022. The last D23 convention was jammed with exciting announcements about Marvel Studios. Being that D23 is prepared by Disney and devoted to its properties, one would think all mind-blowing announcements and presentations about Marvel Studios would be revealed at D23 after this summer’s SDCC. For weeks, the rumors have been flying fast about pending casting announcements for upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) projects. Supposedly, Deadpool 3 was to be announced with a special appearance by Ryan Reynolds; Henry Cavill, Denzel Washington, Jodie Comer, and numerous actors were to be announced as being cast for several MCU films and TV shows; the cast for the Fantastic Four would be revealed. Did any of that happen? NOPE.

There weren’t any major, new announcements, except that Matt Shankman has been officially announced as the director of the Fantastic Four film, and Armor Wars has been re-confirmed as going into production. The Marvel Studios presentation consisted of films and TV shows that we knew about. We did get some casting announcements such as Ke Huy Quan appearing in the second season of Loki, and that Tim Blake Nelson will appear in Captain America: New World Order as the Leader, With that last revelation does this mean that the Hulk will appear in Captain America: New World Order? The Leader is a Hulk villain, after all.

We did learn that a lot of footage and trailers were presented at D23 about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Echo, Loki, The Marvels, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Ironheart. Too bad, most of us cannot see them. Based on Twitter and other social media feeds by those lucky enough to have attended the presentation, the footage sounded great, but no one else could see the footage. All we received were TWO trailers. One for Secret Invasion, which has the look of a solid spy thriller, and Werewolf By Night, a one-shot film coming next month on Disney +. It is both surprising and concerning that Werewolf By Night will stream on October 7, less than a month from now, but it is only now we are seeing any footage. Honestly, the black-and-white trailer makes Werewolf By Night look very campy while evoking the mood of an old Universal horror film and a grindhouse film. But it could be good.

Perhaps the most intriguing news coming out of the Marvel presentation was the revelation of the Thunderbolts lineup. The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Basically, the lineup seems like a reunion of cast members from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Black Widow, plus a return of a villain from Ant-Man and the Wasp. So, no Abomination or Baron Zemo as everyone expected. Still, just the inclusion of the Winter Soldier is enough to get excited over the Thunderbolts.

As it can be seen, there wasn’t any announcements about other MCU projects. No news on Blade, Deadpool 3, zilch about the X-Men, not even anything on the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which is supposed to be streaming in a few short months, or Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3. Keep in mind that an exclusive trailer for that film was shown already at SDCC. They could have at least released it to the general public.

Even if Disney could not show exclusive footage to the general public for their MCU projects, at least release an image. Let us see a better look at Namor or Kang! Releasing two trailers does not cut it.

On the other hand, the Star Wars presentation was better, with its highlight being the release of the trailer for the third season of The Mandalorian. With the Star Wars presentation, not everything was shown to the general public, but at least enough was released. Even the Disney animated films presentation from yesterday was more interesting.

Blame it on our unrealistic expectations and for giving in the hype and speculation, but aside from the few thousand people who attended D23, the Marvel Studios presentation was a disappointment for everyone else. This was the first live D23 since the pandemic and the excitement was wild, Disney could have made some exciting and surprising announcements on the level of Avengers: Secret Wars at SDCC, but nothing new was revealed. Overall, the Marvel presentation was almost as disappointing as the presentation by Warner Bros. about their upcoming DC films and TV shows at SDCC. Yes, that bad.

Disney definitely dropped the ball at D23 with Marvel Studios and the MCU. Hopefully, future conventions and presentations will improve, but we should temper our expectations and be realistic.

Jul 24 2022

The MCU Returns To Comic-Con

San Diego Comic-Con made a huge return this weekend after a couple of years of inactivity thanks to the pandemic. Demonstrating that life in geekdom was returning to normal were all the presentations by and appearances of countless companies and individuals for the genre properties we love.

The big news this weekend at Comic-Con was the bigger-than-exptected splash made by Marvel Studios about their upcoming properties. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige appeared in Hall H of the convention and made several exciting announcements, which included the revelation that Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will end this year with the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. By the way, the presentation for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was quite emotional given the loss of Chadwick Boseman. However, the trailer released for the film was exciting with the reveal of Namor the Submariner and the Atlanteans.

Phase Five of the MCU starts next year with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on February 17, 2023, and concludes on July 26, 2024 with Thunderbolts (Marvel’s version of the Suicide Squad). Other films and TV shows, which will stream on Disney+, during Phase Five include Secret Invasion (spring 2023), Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3 (May 5, 2023, and by the way the leaked images of a baby Rocket Raccoon were adorable!), The Marvels (July 28, 2023), Echo (summer 2023), Ironheart (fall 2023), Blade (November 3, 2023), Agatha: Coven of Chaos (winter 2023), Captain America: New World Order (May 3, 2024), and Daredevil: Born Again (spring 2024). The last two entries were the most exciting announcements as the fourth Captain America will feature Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) who takes up the mantle of Captain America, while the new Daredevil TV series will have Charlie Cox resuming the title role he originated in the Netflix series. Fans have been teased about Daredevil with Matt Murdock’s appearance in last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, and even more enticed by his quick cameo in the latest trailer for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The She-Hulk series looks like fun, even though some of the CG still looks sketchy.

However, Feige was not finished. He announced the most important Phase Six MCU films, and the sixth phase will begin with Fantastic Four on November 8, 2024 and continue on and conclude with two Avengers films! Avengers: The Kang Dynasty on May 2, 2025 and Avengers: Secret Wars on November 7, 2025.

Of course, there are significant gaps in the release schedule for unannounced projects, which could go to future Spider-Man films or something to do with the X-Men. Keep in mind, that despite all the buzz going into Comic-Con there was not an official announcement that Deadpool would join the MCU and not a word was mentioned about possible followups to successful Phase Four properties like Doctor Strange or Shang-Chi. But more information will be revealed in the September 10, 2022 D23 Expo. Perhaps the cast and director of Fantastic Four will be announced by then or it will be revealed that the Russo Brothers will direct the new Avengers films.

When it comes to Spider-Man, aside from some details on the upcoming animated series Spider-Man: Freshman Year (which won’t take place in the MCU), there weren’t any annoucements by Sony Pictures, who owns the film rights to Spider-Man, about the future of the MCU Spider-Man. However, given the mammoth success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, a fourth MCU Spider-Man is inevitable, as are the future hot garbage Sony is filming like Kraven, El Muerto, and Madame Web.

Surely, there were other huge announcements at Comic-Con that did not deal with Marvel or the MCU, but they paled compared to Marvel Studios. It should be noted that Marvel Studios’ rival, Warner Bros. Discovery had a presentation about their DC film properties, which turned out to be a bit of a dud hampered with controversy. One of the big rumors going into Comic-Con was that Henry Cavill would appear or there would be an announcement that the actor would return to play Superman in either Black Adam or an upcoming DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film. But the actor was a no show, which melted the internet as furious fans lamented about this and the fact that the only involvement director Zack Snyder will have with DC properties will be an appearance in the animated show Teen Titans Go! The only revelations made about the DCEU were two trailers for Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. But nothing about upcoming DCEU projects like Blue Beetle and The Flash. It’s a shame because both DCEU trailers were very well done. Perhaps if Warner Bros. Discovery puts out another DC Fandome with more and substantial announcements then all will be forgiven, but to date there is not any information about a DC Fandome for this year.

Getting back to Marvel Studios and the MCU, the announcements were expected, but a pleasant surprise when they were officially announced. What was unexpected was that the early films of Phase Five were anticipated to be part of Phase Four, which seems to have ended prematurely. This could be because of the mixed reaction to Phase Four and a decision could have been made to end it soon in order to give fans a sense of starting over with more alluring and crowdpleasing films and TV shows in the next phase. So, even though Phase Four of the MCU turned out to be a mixed bag, fans can put that behind and look forward to what awaits with Phase Five, Six and beyond.

Jun 3 2022

Potential Directors 4 The Fantastic Four

The recent news that director Jon Watts left the upcoming Fantastic Four (FF) film by Marvel Studios was a big surprise for fans of the Marvel Comics property and apparently the film studio itself. Unlike Ant-Man and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where the original directors of those films were replaced fairly quickly, it seems as if Marvel Studios is taking its time and keeping to its vest who the replacement will be. There are many possible choices and rumors of who will take over. The popular talk was that John Krasinsky, who appeared as an alternate version of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in the latest Doctor Strange film was the frontrunner and one reason why Watts left the project. But those rumors have died down since it is not clear that the actor will even be cast as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) version of Richards.

When choosing the replacement director for the Fantastic Four, the president of Marvel Studios,Kevin Feige, has to pick a solid director with a proven track record. Unlike some other MCU films, the Fantastic Four truly has to be phenomenal because the superhero team is one of Marvel Comics’ top properties and the previous vilm versions of the Fantastic Four have been major letdowns. So, Marvel Studios has to get this film right and cannot afford a misfire. The latest rumor has it that Feige prefers to have a proven veteran filmmaker tackle the film instead of an up-and-coming director. That makes sense because for every Joe and Anthony Russo, who blossomed with MCU films, there have been forgettable picks like Alan Taylor.

With that let’s look at some possible choices, which will include the latest rumored potential directors and some suggested possibilities for the Fantastic Four. Of course, bear in mind Kevin Feige may tap someone completely unexpected for the task.

John Krasinski

As noted above, Krasinski is considered the frontrunner for the job, at least among fans, given all the fan art of his casting and his directing resume. He has shown the ability to not only direct. but star in genre films, as seen with A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place, Part II. One hindrence is that the actor/director may not want to commit to a long-term film deal. At best, he may only star and direct one Fantastic Four film and hand off the directing duties to someone else for the sequels.

Bryce Dallas Howard

She is the latest rumored frontrunner for the directing task, and for the role of Susan Storm. Fueling the rumors are her recent acclaimed directing of the better episodes of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Currently she is set to star in and direct a remake of Flight of the Navigator, so this may prevent her from taking the job, but then again she may jump ship for a higher profie job.

Peyton Reed

The director of the Ant-Man films famously pitched a Fantastic Four film back in the noughties to 20th Century Fox that would have taken place in the 1960s and would have been a comedy. For some time it was rumored that the superhero team would debut in Reed’s upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but that is doubtful since there has been no news or updates and the film’s release has been moved up to early next year. So there goes Reed’s chance to direct the FF, but, given his interest with the property and his MCU background, Reed would be a perfect choice.

Sam Raimi

After a long absence, the Spider-Man director made a superhero film comeback with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where he proved he could still deliver an enjoyable superhero venture. His Spider-Man films were very whimsical and adventurous with the unique Raimi camera tricks that should go well with the FF. Plus, Bruce Campbell could cameo as the Impossible Man or some other comedic role!

Chris Columbus

Back in 1995, Columbus was attached to write and direct an adaptation of the Fantastic Four, but unfortunately left the project due to the astronomical cost for the special effects, which would have been difficult to pull off in that time period. The director has solid genre credentials, most famously with the early Harry Potter films, and should be considered.

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