The Fantastic Four Appreciation 2020

[CaptCleghorn]

"You got your first 'Richards'" is easily the best line of the book. I loved this story. The FF helps folks, past events are referenced, we see a family/team dealing with adversity, and Franklin has his personal foe. This is exactly what people have been asking for. The Haunnakah sweater Ben was wearing n the cover that didn't appear in the issue was kind of a tease though.

I was kind of disappointed Yera, I mean Lyja, wasn't portrayed as the scumbag she truly is, but we can't have everything. Does Alicia still have some of that radioactive clay around? Payback is a bitch, you know.

[Oberon]

I am so tired of the Krasinski and Blunt fancasts which are mostly based on them being married in real life. I'd rather not have the actors be married being a requisite for Sue and Reed. There are plenty of actors in Hollywood who'd better fit the roles.

Sue at least, should be younger, especially if you want Johnny to be close/r to Spidey's age. I certainly like the actors but think we need younger.

[CaptCleghorn]

Sue at least, should be younger, especially if you want Johnny to be close/r to Spidey's age. I certainly like the actors but think we need younger.

Spidey's in High School in the movies, right? If a Johnny/Peter connection is important in the MCU (I'm not convinced), then Johnny can be 17-18 on the flight and Sue could be realistically 30. Basically Sue needs to be old enough to care from Johnny legally when their parents died/whatevered. I don't like Sue and Johnny being too close in age as Sue's been a mother figure for Johnny. That seems far more unlikely with a couple of years difference, but it makes sense with a ten year gap.

[Crimz]

Spidey's in High School in the movies, right? If a Johnny/Peter connection is important in the MCU (I'm not convinced), then Johnny can be 17-18 on the flight and Sue could be realistically 30. Basically Sue needs to be old enough to care from Johnny legally when their parents died/whatevered. I don't like Sue and Johnny being too close in age as Sue's been a mother figure for Johnny. That seems far more unlikely with a couple of years difference, but it makes sense with a ten year gap.

Not necessarily. Remember they were living with an aunt for a time so the age gap could be smaller than expected. Also, that time in their lives is pretty vague in general as they could have been in foster care or living by themselves, unknown to authorities until later. She shouldn't be 2 or 3 years older, but 5-10 is a decent gap.

[CaptCleghorn]

Not necessarily. Remember they were living with an aunt for a time so the age gap could be smaller than expected. Also, that time in their lives is pretty vague in general as they could have been in foster care or living by themselves, unknown to authorities until later. She shouldn't be 2 or 3 years older, but 5-10 is a decent gap.

The Aunt and other details are iffy in the comics due to Byrne's weird Sue/Reed attraction. And even if it was cast in adamantium in the comics, the movies are rarely obliged to keep to what's in the comics. This is a movie age discussion so it's different than what I'd think about for the comics.

[Crimz]

The Aunt and other details are iffy in the comics due to Byrne's weird Sue/Reed attraction. And even if it was cast in adamantium in the comics, the movies are rarely obliged to keep to what's in the comics. This is a movie age discussion so it's different than what I'd think about for the comics.

Yeah things will be different. Sue may not have raised Johnny in the MCU version and she'd likely have some field of expertise.

[Digifiend]

Just out of curiosity, What did Sue do that was new? I scanned through the issue and I didn't notice it.

A solid force globe, rather than a hollow force bubble. Unfortunately Griever simply phased through it.

[Oberon]

A solid force globe, rather than a hollow force bubble. Unfortunately Griever simply phased through it.

Haven't caught up with the last 1, maybe 2 issues, but the idea of a solid force construct gos to the idea of what Molecule Man said of her powers waaaaay back

and also the whole chipping away Celestial Armor thing. Griever must be very powerful.

[Thundershot]

"You got your first 'Richards'" is easily the best line of the book. I loved this story. The FF helps folks, past events are referenced, we see a family/team dealing with adversity, and Franklin has his personal foe. This is exactly what people have been asking for. The Haunnakah sweater Ben was wearing n the cover that didn't appear in the issue was kind of a tease though.

I was kind of disappointed Yera, I mean Lyja, wasn't portrayed as the scumbag she truly is, but we can't have everything. Does Alicia still have some of that radioactive clay around? Payback is a bitch, you know.

The “Richards” line was definitely the best... I was worried Lyja would end up going bad, (and replace Sky) but she has stayed on her path of being a hero. We will always agree to disagree when it comes to Lyja... I’m looking forward to finding out more about Alicia’s missing memories when it comes to N’Kalla or if it was Lyja all along posing as Alicia before she went to Earth.

[CaptCleghorn]

Haven't caught up with the last 1, maybe 2 issues, but the idea of a solid force construct gos to the idea of what Molecule Man said of her powers waaaaay back

and also the whole chipping away Celestial Armor thing. Griever must be very powerful.

Griever was talking about her being an idea or a concept. That starts to get into some nuanced writing which writers like Neil Gaiman can handle. Slott has tried this heavier more intense concept stuff in his Surfer series, but IMHO has failed to exploit the themes to their potential. Not that he did a bad job, just not great. Now if Griever is truly an idea or a concept like one of DC's Endless, we have an entity who is more than just a cosmic level powerhouse. It would be great if Slott could get deep and pull off these concepts, but I fear he may be swinging for fences out of his reach. Still, I do hope he pulls it off, as an idea that goes beyond science would keep Reed and Val off-balance, but for Franklin be something his mind could encompass better.

[Amadeus Arkham]

Is anyone here hoping for the FF film to be kind of ‘Interstellar but with superpowers’?



Look at the grandness, the trippy and arresting space visuals, the sound. Look at how they create a sense of excitement of what may lay ahead. This is what I want out of my FF movie.

[Hypestyle]

I would like to see more of the FF as a space-traveling family like "Lost in Space" but they are not really lost, of course. Discovering new planets or visiting places they've only observed from afar. Take the best of Star Trek exploration and have an assortment of conundrums to come up.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Is anyone here hoping for the FF film to be kind of ‘Interstellar but with superpowers’?

That would tonally be similar to Josh Trank's movie, maybe better executed but I doubt that's something that would set investors, Feige, and the fans at ease.

It's also not at all in Jon Watts' wheelhouse.

Interstellar is a spaceflight movie. If you are doing the origin of the FF for an entire movie, Interstellar makes sense but it doesn't make sense at all if you want to do it as a superhero movie (which means powers, which means villains, which means fight scenes...at a minimum). An entire movie set in the inside of a spaceship and the depths of space means you have a limited color palette to work with. Besides a lot of people here don't want to touch the origin too much. There's debate on showing the origin just a little bit and for the essential stuff versus not showing the origin at all...but the consensus is to avoid doing a deep-dive on that the way the Tim Story and Trank movie did.

Look at the grandness, the trippy and arresting space visuals, the sound. Look at how they create a sense of excitement of what may lay ahead. This is what I want out of my FF movie.

Mathew McConnaughey's character in Interstellar is a good model for how they should approach Reed Richards, I'll say that. And the relationship between his character and the young version of his daughter is how they should do the Reed-Valeria relationship. Among all the FF-writers, Hickman's run on FF does seem closest to the tone of Nolan's Interstellar and certainly his Reed-Doom Saga from FF to NewAv/Av and SW'2015 runs on that existential seriousness ("Everybody dies"). But Hickman's run focused on Reed (and Valeria) and generally didn't do a great deal with Ben, Johnny (aside from killing him for a bit) and Sue.

IF you want to deal with the wide palette and range of FF-villains and stories, then you need to tackle other runs and other tones.

I think a better model, and the one that Feige will look at, is late-80s and early-90s comedy science-fiction. Stuff like Ghostbusters, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Flubber, quite a few Joe Dante movies -- Innerspace (which was quite obviously a reference for Peyton Reed's Ant-Man movies), Small Soldiers. Spielberg's ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park. And of course, they will look at Incredibles if only to get ahead of the obvious jokes and tired comparisons.

I would like to see more of the FF as a space-traveling family like "Lost in Space" but they are not really lost, of course. Discovering new planets or visiting places they've only observed from afar. Take the best of Star Trek exploration and have an assortment of conundrums to come up.

The problem is that the FF aren't primarily a space-faring family nor is the comic largely set among Cosmic Marvel. The Fantastic Four explore everything and everywhere. From the ocean floor and ocean beds, to fantasy kingdoms and places, to alternate universes and alternate dimensions, as well as dealing with regular bizarre supervillains like The Puppetmaster. It's not just one kind of thing.

[Amadeus Arkham]

I would like to see more of the FF as a space-traveling family like "Lost in Space" but they are not really lost, of course. Discovering new planets or visiting places they've only observed from afar. Take the best of Star Trek exploration and have an assortment of conundrums to come up.

Given how much of a Star Trek nerd Feige I see Feige going in that direction.

[Amadeus Arkham]

That would tonally be similar to Josh Trank's movie, maybe better executed but I doubt that's something that would set investors, Feige, and the fans at ease.

It's also not at all in Jon Watts' wheelhouse.

Interstellar is a spaceflight movie. If you are doing the origin of the FF for an entire movie, Interstellar makes sense but it doesn't make sense at all if you want to do it as a superhero movie (which means powers, which means villains, which means fight scenes...at a minimum). An entire movie set in the inside of a spaceship and the depths of space means you have a limited color palette to work with. Besides a lot of people here don't want to touch the origin too much. There's debate on showing the origin just a little bit and for the essential stuff versus not showing the origin at all...but the consensus is to avoid doing a deep-dive on that the way the Tim Story and Trank movie did.



Mathew McConnaughey's character in Interstellar is a good model for how they should approach Reed Richards, I'll say that. And the relationship between his character and the young version of his daughter is how they should do the Reed-Valeria relationship. Among all the FF-writers, Hickman's run on FF does seem closest to the tone of Nolan's Interstellar and certainly his Reed-Doom Saga from FF to NewAv/Av and SW'2015 runs on that existential seriousness ("Everybody dies"). But Hickman's run focused on Reed (and Valeria) and generally didn't do a great deal with Ben, Johnny (aside from killing him for a bit) and Sue.

IF you want to deal with the wide palette and range of FF-villains and stories, then you need to tackle other runs and other tones.

I think a better model, and the one that Feige will look at, is late-80s and early-90s comedy science-fiction. Stuff like Ghostbusters, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Flubber, quite a few Joe Dante movies -- Innerspace (which was quite obviously a reference for Peyton Reed's Ant-Man movies), Small Soldiers. Spielberg's ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park. And of course, they will look at Incredibles if only to get ahead of the obvious jokes and tired comparisons.

The Hickman run is one of my favorites, but I understand it’s not likely Marvel heads in that direction. In fact, I’d rather they don’t exactly model FF off of Intersellar but largely borrow it’s sense of grandness and adventurism(which I feel is necessary for the FF) and overall warm philosophical nature. Doesn’t necessarily mean making it exactly like that film. They can also modify and correct any short comings that run and others had for their version. For myself, I’d love to see the FF do a bit exploring stuff like the multiverse, and and other civilizations like Alantis but it’s all treated with the same epicness and grandness that Intersellar had. I actually think the first movie should remain on Earth for a while, before when venture into to different realms, different civilizations, planets. I hope Marvel’s FF is more like a cross between Trek, Star Wars, and maybe a bit of Intersellar.

But yeah, it’s most likely to be a Sci-fi comedy due to Watts.