MARVEL'S Fantastic Four 2015

What's funny is that Marvel Comics switched Nick Fury to a black character more than 10 years ago, long before the movies came out... and they based the look on Samuel L. Jackson:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Nick_Fury

Years later, the writer on the comic got to meet Jackson and apologized for making the character look like him without permission, and (to his credit) Jackson laughed and said, "No apology needed! I got a 9-picture deal out of this character!"

Nowadays, we can say that nobody could've played that role except Jackson, and he's fantastic at it. I have no problem with him in the part -- and in fact, I cited his scene in Captain America 2 last year as being one of the biggest highlights of the entire film. Brilliant actor, totally believable, funny when he wants to be, serious when he wants to be, and a great screen presence.

The director is white. I have worked with the director of the first two Fantastic Four films, Tim Story, and while Tim is black, he has never directed specifically black films. He's also a good guy who makes interesting movies.

I think the casting for the current Fantastic Four is questionable, and more than one Marvel writer has questioned whether it was an example of tokenism:

It is currently a fad in Hollywood — bordering on a fetish, it sometimes seems — to swap out White characters for other races and ethnicities. And I am frankly amazed that the Black community is not outraged by this patronizing modern version of blackface. Where are the roles created FOR Black actors? Why should Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Halle Berry, etc, have to settle for table scraps?

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/06/17/john-byrne-the-fantastic-four-and-racebending-in-casting/

Again, I would be every bit as indignant if a black or Asian character was arbitrarily replaced by a white actor. But after 50 years of all four of the Fantastic Four characters being white, it is a little oft-putting to witness what looks like an arbitrary change done just to diversify an otherwise mostly-white cast.

On the plus side of a diverse cast: quite a few industry observers have said that the cast in the Fast & Furious films runs the gamut from black people to Hispanics to people of various mixed ethnicities, and this has helped them appeal to many different kinds of audiences and broaden their appeal. I have no problem with that since these characters don't have a pop culture history that goes back decades. And it's good to give people of all races somebody they can identify with and cheer for. But I suspect this would be much more controversial with a black Superman, an Asian Spiderman, or a Hispanic Batman.

 

In terms of Marvel adaptations, many elements from the films are actually taken from the Ultimate versions of their characters, as was the case with Nick Fury. The story and setting of the new FF movie is more oriented towards the Ultimate Fantastic Four versions of the characters.

Don't forget DEADPOOL is on the way:

 

Thanks for that, explains the younger age of the characters for the movie.

 

Forever!

 

Michael Douglas with a pointy little goatee as the scientist looks downright cheesy.

 

At this point most Marvel movies pre-release are either going to look like they'll turn out to be Guardians of the Galaxy or Iron Man 2, in terms of "quality".

(cause there's no middle ground on the internet, right? )

 

True, and two of those films were mediochre to awful. We already gotten our two mediocre FF films out of the way, so maybe this one will turn out to be good.

 

I don't think it's accurate to suggest that any criticism of this casting decision must be inherently racist.

I remember when I watched the Wonder Woman TV movie with Cathy Lee Crosby in 1974. Crosby was blonde and wearing a uniform that looked nothing like what Wonder Woman wore in the comics, and that really irritated me. If you're a fan of the source material that a film is adapted from, you don't want to see deviations from that source material, and that includes having the characters look significantly different. I suspect a lot of the criticism of the casting of the Human Torch comes from that perspective, rather than anything racist.

I'm skeptical the casting decision was made with absolutely no discussion of the actor's race. To the contrary, I suspect they made a conscious decision to change the race of the Human Torch, thinking that a more diverse cast would broaden the film's appeal.

 

Love that Trailer ! But hate that it is a movie and not a TV Series like "DareDevil"- TV makes far more sense when you adapt comic series that also were "episodic" - 12+ hours are so much better than just 2 hours, if it is any good that is

 

Leave the human torch alone and make a reboot of this bad mofo instead :




The last one wasn't so great ........

And make it a TV series if you please .......

 

I think Iron Man 2 is far better than Iron Man 3 (which is a over-long mess). It's just the ending of 2 that's a little disappointing.

 

The trailer doesn't get me too excited about the movie. Just doesn't feel like the Fantastic Four, and it has nothing to do with the casting. What bugs me is that this treatment seems really generic and purposelessly dark. IMO, what defines the heart of FF is a lot of the softer side of storytelling, character depth and relationships, clips of which don't really make trailers pop so I'm hoping the movie is better than advertised. Not too hopeful though and dreading how many years will have to pass before they get it right and just get Brad Bird to direct.

 

I think with Trank's reported behaviour, I would now safely assume that the casting of Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm is entirely of his own making. Nothing more than fuelling his ego not to mention making Sue and Johnny's father black as well. I still refer to this movie as "In Name Only" and also being Trank's vision while abandoning any faithful adaptation of the characters altogether. I really look forward to the response to this movie, for better OR for worse.

 

Trailer looks fine to me. I have been on the fence about this movie. Thing, Sue and even the Torch look well conceived. I cannot buy that as Reed Richards and that is not Victor Von Doom. I can accept that they are going for the Ultimate Fantastic Four vibe with younger characters, but I am especially not feeling Reed. Maybe that will change after the movie.

 

I also have been on the fence about this movie but since not much coming out this summer will give it a go.

 

Early reviews are pretty dire, with 12% on Rotten Tomatoes at this moment (only 3 out of 26 critics giving generally favourable reviews), but ratings could still go up or down:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fantastic_four_2015/

 

Yeah, in the early 60s Reed was in his forties and in stories with flashbacks, it is clear he was a contemporary of Nick Fury (who was then white, of course, so was allowed to command a group of largely white soldiers). Pretty sure Ben Grimm was the same age - and Doc Doom too. Sue, you have to assume, was about 2o years younger and Johnny Storm (from the same parentage as Sue...) was a contemporary of Peter Parker, and I know, unlike most other characters, PP aged slightly, so you have to assume Johnny was around 18-26.

I don't think it's racist to moan about this. It smacks of tokenism. If a white guy played Wyatt Wingfoot or T'Challa of The Falcon or Luke Cage, that would be wrong too.

There's a lot wrong with this film. The casting is only part of it.

 

ouchhhhh. i saw the teaser and what not.. i lost hope right away. Fox really can't do it justice.. they need to give FF to MCU!!!

 

It's not looking that bad to me, but I have no loyalty to the comic (used to buy them back in the day). I'm a sucker for The Thing though, which is enough to make me want to watch this.

 

Rain is in the forecast, so I'll be seeing it this weekend. I'm hoping for the best as I'd enjoy a good sci-fi adventure film.

 

The Thing looks cool. The movie is getting trashed though. The director is getting the blame.

I don't think they should have gone to an origin story again. They should have just picked up where they are an oddball family unit and given it a lighter touch.

They didn't need to follow the comics as an example but The Incredibles would have been a good template.

 

I used to own all the #1's, Spiderman, FF, Iron Man, Thor, Avengers (when I see the prices they're going for today I always bite my knuckle!). This movie saddens me. Its had the 'stench' of being a bomb from the get-go. There's a goldmine of stories told by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby that would make great movies. Here's the movie I wish they'd make; the 1st mega-crossover happened in an early FF book when the Hulk goes on a rampage in NY, the FF try to stop him. I still remember the fanboy in me being thrilled when the Thing punches the Hulk through a wall! But the Hulk proves to be too much for the FF, and in the next issue, the Avengers join in the fight. THIS is a movie I'd love to see!

 

I'll probably go in with low expectations and hope for the best. If it's good, I'll be happy. If it's bad, I'll still be happy since I'm hoping it helps Marvel proper get the rights back.

 

I really would like to see them do Galactus correctly. It would be great visually to have him standing there, oblivious to what's going on around him, as he builds his Earth-sucking machine..

 

BTW, I dunno if anybody has noted this so far, but this is not "Marvel's" Fantastic Four -- it's a Fox film. I suspect Marvel is not happy about the movie at all.

Film director Josh Trank just released a statement today that basically blames the film's impending failure on Fox:

“A year ago I had a fantastic version of this. And it would’ve received great reviews,” he wrote of the 20th Century Fox pic. “You’ll probably never see it. That’s reality though.”

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/f...ox-is-responsible-for-bad-reviews-1201558644/

I predicted more than six months ago that the movie would tank, but I didn't think it would bomb this big, this hard.

One wonders if Marvel/Disney is poised to make Fox an offer to try a different take on the characters in a few years, as they did with Sony and Spiderman.