# Is Fantastic Four cursed when it comes to film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023 "2015-08-05T01:12:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/21 "2015-08-05T07:08:38Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > The reviews so far suggest it isn’t bad. Just boring. Talky. No action til about 90 minutes in. How is that not bad? I can’t think of anything worse you can call a superhero move than “boring”. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/22 "2015-08-05T08:11:50Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Also, this is a stupid thing to be bugged by, but the young man they have playing Reed looks un-Reed-like to me, and feels like “generic Hollywood Jewish kid.” I can’t believe this kid’s schnozz bugs me this much. Then again, Ioan G. didn’t look like Reed to me either. As I’ve often said, you don’t cast a superhero movie with actors to play superheroes. The actor who plays Reed needs to be believable as a scientist, the actor who plays Tony Stark needs to be believable as an asshole multi-millionaire, etc. Anybody can put on the suit. So, do the other members of the Fantastic Four even have personalities apart from being superheroes? I get that they don’t have the traditional secret identities, but what were they each before they became Fantastic? I browsed around Wikipedia a bit, but didn’t find much. Maybe that’s why Fantastic Four movies have been disappointing; the characters just aren’t that interesting when they’re not battling evil. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/23 "2015-08-05T09:32:44Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > the young man they have playing Reed looks un-Reed-like to me Has Reed Richards ever been portrayed as young in the comics? Hasn’t he always been colored to be greying at the temples? The actor from the 2005 film actually wasn’t all that much older (in 2005) than Miles Teller (the new guy) is now, but he had a much more mature face. When I saw the first preview for the new movie, at the first appearance of Miles Teller as Richards I thought to myself why would they make that character so young? My only point of interest in the new movie: it would be nice if it were at least successful enough to impart upon Kate Mara a little bit of actual Hollywood star power. She’s worked steadily for years and I like her, even her very small role and single scene in _Iron Man 2_ was played very enjoyably. It would be nice to see her career take a step up. ---
**Author:** ![Hiker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3be4f8/32.png) [@Hiker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hiker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/24 "2015-08-05T10:50:14Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I’m not sure why this property in particular is so hard to adapt, it is almost tailor made for film due to the four person dynamic and personality clash. Basically super heroes crossed with a sitcom or family drama. Perhaps you have your answer right there. Couldn’t it be that crossing super heroes with sitcom and family drama simply isn’t such a good idea? Many of these “tentpole” movies today are trying way too hard to cater to every freaking demographic the marketing guys can think of. The result often is a mixed bag of everything and nothing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/25 "2015-08-05T11:05:18Z")
> [@Hiker](#): > > Perhaps you have your answer right there. Couldn’t it be that crossing super heroes with sitcom and family drama simply isn’t such a good idea? What, like THE INCREDIBLES? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/26 "2015-08-05T11:14:17Z")
Yeah, we’ve had a _great_ Fantastic Four movie. It just wasn’t about the Fantastic Four. ---
**Author:** ![Hiker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3be4f8/32.png) [@Hiker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hiker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/27 "2015-08-05T11:18:28Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > What, like THE INCREDIBLES? Touché 😃 ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/28 "2015-08-05T12:05:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > How is that not bad? I can’t think of anything worse you can call a superhero move than “boring”. Well, boring is subjective. I quite enjoyed Ang Lee’s Hulk. But, yeah, people going into this expecting a rollicking action ride will be twiddling their thumbs for most of it. It’s more of a sci fi character study apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Hiker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3be4f8/32.png) [@Hiker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hiker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/29 "2015-08-05T12:13:31Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > Well, boring is subjective. I quite enjoyed Ang Lee’s Hulk. > > But, yeah, people going into this expecting a rollicking action ride will be twiddling their thumbs for most of it. It’s more of a sci fi character study apparently. Off of the top of my head I can think of one superhero movie that refuses entirely to follow the “action ride” pattern: _Unbreakable_. Not one of the worst entries in the genre IMO. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/30 "2015-08-05T12:20:34Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > This new one does have 5 reviews currently on Rotten Tomatoes. 4 negative and 1 positive. It’s now 6 negative and 1 positive. To quote the “positive” one: _“it’s a muddled and underdeveloped origin story which segues jarringly from light-hearted adventure to heavy-handed grit, grasping for a gravitas that it hasn’t earned … losing itself entirely in cliched dramatic beats and a would-be climactic final battle that feels utterly weightless and lacking in any stakes … unlikely to kick-start a new franchise, barely sustaining the narrative steam to power itself through its modest 90-minute running time.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/31 "2015-08-05T12:26:56Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I’m gonna go tell John Byrne you said this. > > Well, not _me._ Someone will tell John Byrne you said this. Someone who has a membership on his message board. Probably. > > Maybe. Why did I picture [Neil Patrick Harris](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QboAzdZxUkk) reading this out loud? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/32 "2015-08-05T12:35:10Z")
> [@Hiker](#): > > Off of the top of my head I can think of one superhero movie that refuses entirely to follow the “action ride” pattern: _Unbreakable_. Not one of the worst entries in the genre IMO. \*Unbreakable \*isn’t boring. _Fantastic Four,_ apparently, is. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/33 "2015-08-05T12:45:38Z")
So far this year we’ve had Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Now we have a reboot of The Fantastic Four, just ten years after the last attempt. In two years, they’re releasing a reboot of Spiderman (with yet another actor) after Spiderman 2 was released in 2014. Is the audience going to overdose on superhero movies? ---
**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:** [August 5, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/34 "2015-08-05T12:56:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, we’ve had a _great_ Fantastic Four movie. It just wasn’t about the Fantastic Four. Yeah – I’ve said this for years. _The Incredibles_ basically did the FF before the first Fantastic Four film came out. It wasn’t just that they used (ripped off?) the basic FF vibe – matching single-color bodysuits with chest logo (with no capes), family drama with sibling squabbling Access to high tech Dealing with mundane problems (despite being superheroes) as well as villains The powers of Stretching, Great Strength, and Invisibility (with Invisible Force Fields\*) The alpha male is “Mr. Incredible” (echoing Reed Richards’ “Mr. Fantastic”) They even used a thinly-disguised version of The Mole Man, the FF’s first foe (as “The Underminer”, at the very end) – it was that they did it _better_. The way Elasti-Girl stretches and bounces away from Mr. Incredible after their early-morning encounter, pre-wedding, embodies Joe Adamson’s dictum that cartoon characters “never just _walk_ from one end of a room to the other. If they do, the animator has abandoned them.” It _defines_ her power and her comfort in using it. In all their movies, though, the Fantastic Four do a lot of “walking” Violet and Dash “discovering” the full extent of their powers, after years of hiding them, was brilliantly handled. You could see them experimenting with them, gaining confidence, and the exhilaration of discovery. The Fantastic Four should’ve done the same. Except maybe for Johnny Storm, though, you didn’t see it. what really “made” the FF was the overall scale – huge superscience, other dimensions, galactic travel. “Kirby Dots” were the perfect expression of the FF experience. The Incredibles approximated that with the James Bondian trappings of Syndrome’s island (and the music). Syndrome’s island headquarters, and that Lava Wall in the Dining Room were just the sort of things Doctor Doom should’ve had – but didn’t. \*A very definite indication of where the idea was taken from. Originally, Sue Storm only had the ability to turn invisible. It was only when they got about sixteen issues in and realized that this wasn’t much of a projective superpower, so they added to her powers by giving her the ability to project invisible “force fields” (and also to make other people or objects invisible). It was the very first time anyone had added that capability to invisibility. Dash’s speed, by the way, is not only similar to Johnny Storm’s ability to fly, but in one “alternate world” incarnation of the FF, super speed was one of the powers. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/35 "2015-08-05T13:06:57Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > What’s the hook for Fantastic Four? I can’t seem to nail it in my head. I liked it when it was called The Incredibles. What the hook SHOULD be for the Fantastic Four is: A family. With a mommy, a daddy, a grumpy uncle, a reckless little brother and a kid or two. And every version of every FF movie has tried to remove that. What they should do is a kid friendly, G or maybe PG rated film. Do a 5 minute montage before the credits: steal the rocket\*, go into space, get hit by cosmic rays, crash, reveal powers, crime-fighting/exploration montage (lots of easter eggs here–a 5 second glimpse of a huge guy dressed in purple with a tuning fork on his head could cause nerdgasms, etc), Sue gives birth to Franklin (and Valaria?), roll title sequence, and then a “Seven years later” note appears on screen. Boom: you’ve gotten the overdone origin story out of the way, established that they were crime-fighters and now you can do the family bit. Maybe Reed invents that Negative Zone portal and Valaria and Franklin are stolen by Blaastar unless the FF help him defeat Annhililus. Maybe for her birthday, Valaria wants to go to Hawaii and Reed, ever the overachiever builds a Fantastisubmarine and they discover Atlantis (and intro Sub-Mariner)? There are hundreds of plot hooks, and by making it kid-friendly, you have a whole generation of younger kids hooked on the Marvel franchise earlier. Plus, Disney used to do a crapload of kid’s movies. This could get them back in that business. But the bit they have to remember is three words: They’re a family. \*and none of this interdimensional portal crap. It was a rocket because it’s cooler. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/36 "2015-08-05T13:13:25Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Then again, Ioan G. didn’t look like Reed to me either. That’s funny - I thought he looked the part nicely. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/37 "2015-08-05T13:26:37Z")
I’d rework this story from the Big Bang Theory. Leonard as Reed with Penny as Sue, get the nerd/hot chick dichotomy going. Raj as the Human Torch, he can only talk to women when he’s on fire. Penny’s old boy friend Zack as the Thing. Sheldon can be Dr. Doom. You can’t make the FF work on film unless you break the mold. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/38 "2015-08-05T13:28:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So far this year we’ve had Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Now we have a reboot of The Fantastic Four, just ten years after the last attempt. In two years, they’re releasing a reboot of Spiderman (with yet another actor) after Spiderman 2 was released in 2014. Is the audience going to overdose on superhero movies? February 12, 2016 – Deadpool March 25, 2016 – Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice May 6, 2016 – Captain America: Civil War May 27, 2016 – X-Men: Apocalypse August 5, 2016 - Suicide Squad October 7, 2016 - Gambit November 4, 2016 - Doctor Strange November 11, 2016 – Sinister Six ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/39 "2015-08-05T13:35:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So far this year we’ve had Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Now we have a reboot of The Fantastic Four, just ten years after the last attempt. In two years, they’re releasing a reboot of Spiderman (with yet another actor) after Spiderman 2 was released in 2014. Is the audience going to overdose on superhero movies? Not this audience member. It’s the goddamned Golden Age of superhero movies as far as I’m concerned. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/40 "2015-08-05T13:36:39Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > February 12, 2016 – Deadpool > March 25, 2016 – Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice > May 6, 2016 – Captain America: Civil War > May 27, 2016 – X-Men: Apocalypse > August 5, 2016 - Suicide Squad > October 7, 2016 - Gambit > November 4, 2016 - Doctor Strange > November 11, 2016 – Sinister Six June of 2016 is TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II, which maybe counts. (And July is TARZAN, which maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe counts.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023.md?page=3)