# Fantastic Four movie-I hope it's good! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097 "2005-06-13T16:11:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/1 "2005-06-13T16:11:19Z")
I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the Fantastic Four. And I like comic book movies. I’m tentatively looking forward to this one. Anybody heard any advance buzz about it? ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/2 "2005-06-13T16:39:07Z")
Hvae not heard much buzz, but I will say that I really do not like the look of the Thing based on the trailers. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/3 "2005-06-13T16:49:08Z")
The Thing looks a lot better than I expected. However, I am very underwhelmed by Mr. Fantastic’s stretching. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/4 "2005-06-13T17:05:56Z")
I still think Reed Richards and Johnny Storm look too much alike–both are handsome but nondescript white guys. I thought Reed could stand to look considerably older, or Johnny much younger. Until one of them “flames on” or the other stretches, I can hardly tell them apart at a glance. I’m also worried the movie will portray Dr. Doom (one of the most complex and interesting villains in comics) as a two-dimensional megalomaniac. The movie is way too short to do justice to Doom’s rich backstory, but I hope he isn’t just throwing buses around and shooting electricity like a second-rate Electro in a metal mask. With the exception of the Thing (who I’ve always liked, and Michael Chiklis is an inspired casting choice), I’m much more interested in Dr. Doom than the Fantastic Four. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/5 "2005-06-13T17:19:03Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > I’m also worried the movie will portray Dr. Doom (one of the most complex and interesting villains in comics) as a two-dimensional megalomaniac. The movie is way too short to do justice to Doom’s rich backstory, but I hope he isn’t just throwing buses around and shooting electricity like a second-rate Electro in a metal mask. With the exception of the Thing (who I’ve always liked, and Michael Chiklis is an inspired casting choice), I’m much more interested in Dr. Doom than the Fantastic Four. From the fleeting glimpse of him in ads I’ve seen, Dr. Doom certainly doesn’t look good. IMO he looks a bit cheesy, and the fact that most of the advance publicity is shying away from even talking about him bodes ill for the character. I’ve also got to say that it’s supremely unfortunate that Dr. Doom makes it to the big screen just as the final Star Wars movie (featuring the ‘return’ of Darth Vader) is in theaters. Darth Vader is a much better known character than Doom, even if a case can be made that Vader was a carbon-copy of Doom. I’m sure a lot of moviegoers who aren’t familiar with Marvel comics will be thinking Doom is the knockoff character. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/6 "2005-06-13T17:31:46Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > I’m sure a lot of moviegoers who aren’t familiar with Marvel comics will be thinking Doom is the knockoff character. Oh, you mean all those people who are already saying the Fantastic Four is a ripoff of the Incredibles? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/7 "2005-06-13T17:35:05Z")
I’m looking forward to this movie and the new Batman film. Both have potential. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/8 "2005-06-13T17:39:46Z")
I grew up on the FF, having obtained my first issue in 1962 or 1963. If they manage to capture the Thing’s wise-cracking and the Kirby visuals, then I’m sold. We’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/9 "2005-06-13T17:39:48Z")
What is Dr. Doom’s backstory? From the previews, all I can tell is that he’s kind of an ass, and that he has a metal fetish and shoots electricity. Also, that apparently he’s strong enough to take on the other four people. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/10 "2005-06-13T17:43:59Z")
Count me in as another person who thinks Michael Chiklis is an inspired choice as The Thing. And I’m interested in seeing Ioan Gruffudd (what a great Welsh name) too. I liked him in the few Horation Hornblower shows I got to see (though I confess I was really more interested in seeing Robert Lindsay, an actor I’ve liked for a long time, as Admiral Pellew). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/11 "2005-06-13T17:48:15Z")
The trailer has Chiklis saying “it’s clobberin’ time” in the most insipid way possible. I could do a better job and I’m a terrible actor. My expectations are low and my hope is even lower. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/12 "2005-06-13T17:53:09Z")
The movie may turn out to be decent (although nothing I’ve seen so far indicates that), but I will never forgive it for ensuring that my _dream_ FF movie will never be made. By which I mean a production design done full-on Kirby-style. You know – the enormous machinery, the huge metal arches, the cracking energy fields . . . just that unique _oddness_ of Kirby’s imagination. With today’s technology, it could be done, and it would look amazing. But no, they decided to make it look like a low-rent version of **X-Men** , with a Dr. Doom that actually looks \*worse \* than the Roger Corman version. Bah. I’ll still give it a chance, but I don’t expect to be too thrilled. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/13 "2005-06-13T18:00:10Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > What is Dr. Doom’s backstory? From the previews, all I can tell is that he’s kind of an ass, and that he has a metal fetish and shoots electricity. Also, that apparently he’s strong enough to take on the other four people. John Byrne comic version: Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards were college students together. Von Doom came from a gypsy background steeped in magic and was attempting to combine science and magic in a machine to save his mother’s soul from Hell (it was the 60’s, give him a break.) Reed saw his notes and noticed a mistake. When he tried to tell Victor, Doom got pissed and kicked Reed out. He tried out his machine and it blew up in his face, literally. Surviving with a relatively small scar on his otherwise handsome face, Doom was expelled from college (thus never getting his doctorate, btw 😉 ). Doom blamed Richards for his failure, and still sought a way to free his mother. He travelled to a monestary high in the mountains to study. There he had the monks create a suit of armor for him. Eager to cover his “hideously scarred” face, Doom put the mask on before it was cooled and succeeded in burning his face very badly. Doom discovered that through his heritage, he was rightful ruler of a small European country called Latveria. So he took over the country ruling with an iron fist (again, literally) and patrolling Doombots. Depending on who you believe, Latverians love Doom and life in their country is all hunky dory as long as they obey Doom’s rule…or they pretend to love him because they live in constant fear of Doom and his torturous ways (a la Billy Mumy). In the movie he looks like a businessman financing the FF and gets caught up in the same cosmic storm which turns him slowly into organic metal and electricity. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/14 "2005-06-13T18:09:49Z")
And he was one of George Lucas’ major influences in creating Darth Vader. Doom has a nobility to him and a strong sense of honor, going along with his regal stature. He wants to take over the world because he truly thinks he’s the best person for the job, and that he can do a better job of it than anyone else. And the scary thing is, he very likely CAN, but we don’t dare think about what that would cost. I think Doom should be portrayed as so smart, so dangerous, so powerful, that most superheroes should really panic and freak out when he comes to town. He should inspire reactions like “Oh crap, we barely beat him last time, what the hell are we going to do now?” from the likes of Captain America. But as much as I like Doom and think he’s a great villain, if he’s so brilliant, why would he have put a molten-hot metal mask on his face, rather than waiting for it to cool? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/15 "2005-06-13T18:22:59Z")
I will probably watch it, but the trailers make it look cheesy and juvenile. Besides, the Fantastic Four are a bit too bright and shiny for my tastes, anyway…I like my superheroes to be more along the caliber of Batman or Nightcrawler. You know, a little dark, have issues, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/16 "2005-06-13T18:29:48Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Oh, you mean all those people who are already saying the Fantastic Four is a ripoff of the Incredibles? Was this is a sarcastic crack? If so, all I can say is most non-comic readers probably aren’t aware of the family dynamic in the Fantastic Four. Perhaps folks will be complaining it’s a rip-off of the Incredibles after they see it, but so far nothing in the ads I’ve seen indicate there is any kind of family structure to the team. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/17 "2005-06-13T18:34:53Z")
> [@](#): > > John Byrne comic version: Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards were college students together. Von Doom came from a gypsy background steeped in magic and was attempting to combine science and magic in a machine to save his mother’s soul from Hell (it was the 60’s, give him a break.) Reed saw his notes and noticed a mistake. When he tried to tell Victor, Doom got pissed and kicked Reed out. He tried out his machine and it blew up in his face, literally. Surviving with a relatively small scar on his otherwise handsome face, Doom was expelled from college (thus never getting his doctorate, btw ). Doom blamed Richards for his failure, and still sought a way to free his mother. He travelled to a monestary high in the mountains to study. There he had the monks create a suit of armor for him. Eager to cover his “hideously scarred” face, Doom put the mask on before it was cooled and succeeded in burning his face very badly. Doom discovered that through his heritage, he was rightful ruler of a small European country called Latveria. So he took over the country ruling with an iron fist (again, literally) and patrolling Doombots. Byrne gets a lot of crap for that version of Doom’s origin but all of it is straight from the Lee/Kirby run on the series, they just told contradictory stories over the years. The sticking his head in the machine, having it explode, and blaming Reed was there from the beginning. Kirby maintained independantly for years that the scar Doom had this was slight and drew versions of Doom without the mask on with only a tiny scar, but reactions of various characters over the years to Doom without the mask certainly didn’t make it seem that way. In FF Annual 2 there is a retelling of Doom’s origin that includes putting on the searing hot mask. So basically, Byrne brought together the elements of the Lee/Kirby stories in a fairly coherant way (completely unlike what he would become infamous for later). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/18 "2005-06-13T18:35:07Z")
> [@](#): > > John Byrne comic version: Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards were college students together. Von Doom came from a gypsy background steeped in magic and was attempting to combine science and magic in a machine to save his mother’s soul from Hell (it was the 60’s, give him a break.) nitpick: Not John Byrne. Not in the 1960s. All the scripting in the 1960s and early 1970s was credited to Stan Lee (although Kirby claimed that he contributed a huge amount to it). Lee and Kirby’s version appeared in the second F.F. Annual circa 1964, with Richards checking Doom’s work, the explosion, and Doom’s shattered face. I don’t recall Doom trying get his Mom out of Hell in that version, though. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/19 "2005-06-13T18:37:53Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > Was this is a sarcastic crack? If so, all I can say is most non-comic readers probably aren’t aware of the family dynamic in the Fantastic Four. Perhaps folks will be complaining it’s a rip-off of the Incredibles after they see it, but so far nothing in the ads I’ve seen indicate there is any kind of family structure to the team. I think they’re refering more to the powers than family dynamic. Elastigirl = Mr Fantastic, Violet = Invisible Woman, Mr Incredible = (vaguely) The Thing and Human Torch is a combination of Jack Jack and Dash. And I have no doubt that someone, somewhere is honestly thinking it is a ripoff. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097/20 "2005-06-13T18:40:52Z")
One more thing, the best Doom story ever in my opinion was from the short lived Super-Villain Team-Up. The FF in reaction to something attack Latveria, storm Doom’s castle, beat his defenses only to be finally confronted with something they can’t beat: Henry Kissinger holding a freshly signed peace treaty. Doom must have gloated awfully hard that night… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantastic-four-movie-i-hope-its-good/308097.md?page=2)