# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/61 "2015-08-05T21:25:27Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > 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. I’ve only ever seen her in “House of Cards,” and I hated that character so much that I’ve transferred my hatred to the actor. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/62 "2015-08-05T22:38:08Z")
Here’s how I would write a FF movie (Part One): 1. Genius physicist Reed Richards has built a prototype Albecurrie drive, but it can only be tested in microgravity. He installs it in a Virgin Galactic-type suborbital spaceplane and recruits three friends to help with the flight: his former student, now lab assistant and fiancee Sue Storm to help run the experiment; Reed’s old buddy and test pilot Ben Grimm as pilot; and Sue’s race driver/stunt pilot brother Johnny as co-pilot. 2. All is well at first, but as soon as the prototype drive is activated something goes wrong. Instead of propelling the ship it somehow boosts background cosmic rays to off-the-scale energy levels. The ship’s electronics are fried and the crew exposed to unknown energies. The ship tumbles back to Earth and only the emergency parachute system saves their lives. As they crawl out of the wrecked cabin their new powers emerge. 3. A brief interlude: Back in his lab, Richards turns his attention to trying to understand the physics of how their powers work. He finds that a previous discovery of his- “unstable molecules”, that mimic the quantum state of what they’re touching- can be used to make a fabric they can wear that matches their powers: stretching with Reed, turning invisible with Sue, flaming without burning for Johnny and extreme resistance to damage for Ben. He also discovers that Sue’s invisibility is only one aspect of a force-field power she has and helps her learn to use it. Johnny becomes adapt at using his flame power, being able to precisely regulate it. Ben’s attempts to control his transformation are less successful- he can only fitfully and momentarily turn human again, which causes him extreme frustration and anguish. 4. Their transformation attracts world attention and we see a flurry of headlines and magazine covers about them. The sensationalist newspaper/tabloid The Daily Bugle dubs them “The Fantastic Four”, and Ben Grimm “The Thing”. We even see a shout-out to the FF#1 comic, when one Bugle headline trumpets “‘Fantastic Four’ defeat mysterious ‘Mole Man’”. Which leads us to: 5. The scene: a medieval castle somewhere in Eastern Europe. We hear a metallic stride and see from the back an armored, cloaked figure walking down a corridor. The figure enters a sumptuously appointed study and we see a high backed chair and table stand in front of a fireplace. We hear a voice say “Yes; what is it?”. We then see the armored figure from the front- it’s a Doombot and in a synthetic voice it says “The periodicals you ordered have been delivered”. We see a bandaged hand wave at the table stand and command “Leave them and go”, which the Doombot does. The hand then picks up some of the periodicals and we see it sort through the titles that were shown previously. It picks one prominently displaying Reed Richards on the cover and the camera pans back to reveal a completely bandaged figure wearing a bathrobe. We see a close up of the figure’s only visible feature- the eyes- as we hear the voice growl “_ **Richards…** _” ---
**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, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/63 "2015-08-05T23:14:40Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Genius physicist Reed Richards has built a prototype Albecurrie drive, but it can only be tested in microgravity. I think you just took a wrong turn at Albecurrie. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/64 "2015-08-05T23:18:25Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > And so did the Human Torch. What difference did that make for the actual readers of comics in 1963? It’s a minor correction to the claim that Namor/Sub-Mariner “originated in the first 50 FF issues”, is all. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/65 "2015-08-05T23:26:48Z")
I think they made a mistake by not using the X-Men series as a jumping point. There’s been talk about eventually featuring the FF in the X-Men movies, but they should have done that now. The movie should be set in the 70’s. (Because then you still get the cold war/space race aspect). Reveal that whatever was changed in Days of Future Past set off a butterfly effect that caused the accident giving them there powers. That explains why we never heard about them in the other X-men movies. (You could do the same for Doom, That should be the first 15-20 minutes of the movie. We don’t need another drawn out origin. Now you jump forward a few years to where they are a set team fighting villains. You don’t need to feature any of the big name X-Men, but the movie should be firmly set in that universe. Use Ant-Man as an example. A few references here and there, maybe feature some of the minor characters. Play up the aspect of the FF being loved as heroes while the mutants are reviled. Of course this would all set up the eventual FF vs. X-Men movie. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/66 "2015-08-06T02:37:17Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > But the bit they have to remember is three words: They’re a family. And family means no one is left behind. Or forgotten. Yeah, maybe an FF movie needs to be 1) animated, 2) Stitch-esque, 3) not so much what Fox presently thinks it is, and 4) (gulp) Disney?! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/67 "2015-08-06T02:39:46Z")
> [@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 Fox, Warner, Disnarvel, Fox, Warner, Fox, Disnarvel, Sony. Wow, Fox has three coming out in an eight-month span? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/68 "2015-08-06T02:51:48Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > What really made the FF in the 1960s were the villains. Most of the Marvel Universe originated in the first 50 FF issues. > > The Mole Man > Skrulls > The Miracle Man [snip] Miracle Man is a DC property, but it was created by Jack Kirby. > [@MrAtoz](#): > > It’s a badly dated origin story, a throwback to the pulp days when the hero cobbled together a spaceship in his backyard and loaded his pals aboard to go on an adventure, and very out of character for the level-headed genius that Reed would soon become. “Level-headed genius,” hee! Wait, I guess he was for a long time. Marvel’s kind of played him as a misguided, remote, arrogant, mad scientist for a while now. > [@Lumpy](#): > > Here’s how I would write a FF movie (Part One): > > 1. Genius physicist Reed Richards has built a prototype Albecurrie drive, but it can only be tested in microgravity. He installs it in a Virgin Galactic-type suborbital spaceplane and recruits three friends to help with the flight: his former student, now lab assistant and fiancee Sue Storm to help run the experiment; Reed’s old buddy and test pilot Ben Grimm as pilot; and Sue’s race driver/stunt pilot brother Johnny as co-pilot. > > 2. All is well at first, but as soon as the prototype drive is activated something goes wrong. Instead of propelling the ship it somehow boosts background cosmic rays to off-the-scale energy levels. The ship’s electronics are fried and the crew exposed to unknown energies. The ship tumbles back to Earth and only the emergency parachute system saves their lives. As they crawl out of the wrecked cabin their new powers emerge. > > 3. A brief interlude: Back in his lab, Richards turns his attention to trying to understand the physics of how their powers work. He finds that a previous discovery of his- “unstable molecules”, that mimic the quantum state of what they’re touching- can be used to make a fabric they can wear that matches their powers: stretching with Reed, turning invisible with Sue, flaming without burning for Johnny and extreme resistance to damage for Ben. He also discovers that Sue’s invisibility is only one aspect of a force-field power she has and helps her learn to use it. Johnny becomes adapt at using his flame power, being able to precisely regulate it. Ben’s attempts to control his transformation are less successful- he can only fitfully and momentarily turn human again, which causes him extreme frustration and anguish. > > 4. Their transformation attracts world attention and we see a flurry of headlines and magazine covers about them. The sensationalist newspaper/tabloid The Daily Bugle dubs them “The Fantastic Four”, and Ben Grimm “The Thing”. We even see a shout-out to the FF#1 comic, when one Bugle headline trumpets “‘Fantastic Four’ defeat mysterious ‘Mole Man’”. Which leads us to: > > 5. The scene: a medieval castle somewhere in Eastern Europe. We hear a metallic stride and see from the back an armored, cloaked figure walking down a corridor. The figure enters a sumptuously appointed study and we see a high backed chair and table stand in front of a fireplace. We hear a voice say “Yes; what is it?”. We then see the armored figure from the front- it’s a Doombot and in a synthetic voice it says “The periodicals you ordered have been delivered”. We see a bandaged hand wave at the table stand and command “Leave them and go”, which the Doombot does. The hand then picks up some of the periodicals and we see it sort through the titles that were shown previously. It picks one prominently displaying Reed Richards on the cover and the camera pans back to reveal a completely bandaged figure wearing a bathrobe. We see a close up of the figure’s only visible feature- the eyes- as we hear the voice growl “_ **Richards…** _” That’s really good. **B. Serum** ’s plan is pretty good, too. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/69 "2015-08-06T03:25:10Z")
I think Venture Bros. did a better job of this than how the FF movie was done. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/70 "2015-08-06T03:53:22Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > 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. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > 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 – I wonder if the creative team for the 2005 movie thought to themselves, “_We_ know that the Fantastic Four came first, but the non-comics-reading wider movie audience is going to _think_ we’re ripping off _The Incredibles_, so we’d better tweak it a bit to make it different!” ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/71 "2015-08-06T03:54:33Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I’ve only ever seen her in “House of Cards,” and I hated that character so much that I’ve transferred my hatred to the actor. Ah, I’ve never watched _House of Cards_ so I can’t know if I’d agree with you or not. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/72 "2015-08-06T05:47:48Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Miracle Man is a DC property, but it was created by Jack Kirby. You’re thinking of Mister Miracle. [Miracle Man](http://marvel.wikia.com/Joshua_Ayers_(Earth-616)) is indeed an FF villain, albeit a lame one. The best Miracle Man, however, is the [Mick Anglo/Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman character.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvelman) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/73 "2015-08-06T05:56:34Z")
FF has had some great runs with Byrne and Kirby, but in fairness they were kind of single dimensional characters excepting the Thing to some extent. The issue with the FF is that this more than almost any other characters In comics were defined by their “arches” and the FF villain’s were often multi-dimensional and spectacular. To do a FF story in 2015 that bangs on all cylinders in 2015 would be very, very difficult and no film I have seem so far comes close to getting the essence of the characters or their history. It’s like [Kevin Smith’s Hollywood-Jon Peter’s Superman story come to life.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo2KB1dEDdk) ---
**Author:** ![Gretchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/74 "2015-08-06T06:06:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 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. That reminds me of a similar idea I had of a comic book movie using a sitcom cast, it was Spider-Man/That 70’s Show. Eric as Peter, Donna as MJ, Hyde as Harry Osborne, Kelso as Flash Thompson, Kitty as Aunt May, Red as Doc Ock. Jackie could be Betty Brant, and I’m not sure about Fes. ---
**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 6, 2015, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/75 "2015-08-06T06:33:42Z")
> [@Gretchion](#): > > That reminds me of a similar idea I had of a comic book movie using a sitcom cast, it was Spider-Man/That 70’s Show. Eric as Peter, Donna as MJ, Hyde as Harry Osborne, Kelso as Flash Thompson, Kitty as Aunt May, Red as Doc Ock. Jackie could be Betty Brant, and I’m not sure about Fes. No, Red is J. Jonah. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/76 "2015-08-06T10:37:00Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Here’s how I would write a FF movie (Part One): > > [spoiler]1. Genius physicist Reed Richards has built a prototype Albecurrie drive, but it can only be tested in microgravity. He installs it in a Virgin Galactic-type suborbital spaceplane and recruits three friends to help with the flight: his former student, now lab assistant and fiancee Sue Storm to help run the experiment; Reed’s old buddy and test pilot Ben Grimm as pilot; and Sue’s race driver/stunt pilot brother Johnny as co-pilot. > > 1. All is well at first, but as soon as the prototype drive is activated something goes wrong. Instead of propelling the ship it somehow boosts background cosmic rays to off-the-scale energy levels. The ship’s electronics are fried and the crew exposed to unknown energies. The ship tumbles back to Earth and only the emergency parachute system saves their lives. As they crawl out of the wrecked cabin their new powers emerge. > > 2. A brief interlude: Back in his lab, Richards turns his attention to trying to understand the physics of how their powers work. He finds that a previous discovery of his- “unstable molecules”, that mimic the quantum state of what they’re touching- can be used to make a fabric they can wear that matches their powers: stretching with Reed, turning invisible with Sue, flaming without burning for Johnny and extreme resistance to damage for Ben. He also discovers that Sue’s invisibility is only one aspect of a force-field power she has and helps her learn to use it. Johnny becomes adapt at using his flame power, being able to precisely regulate it. Ben’s attempts to control his transformation are less successful- he can only fitfully and momentarily turn human again, which causes him extreme frustration and anguish. > > 3. Their transformation attracts world attention and we see a flurry of headlines and magazine covers about them. The sensationalist newspaper/tabloid The Daily Bugle dubs them “The Fantastic Four”, and Ben Grimm “The Thing”. We even see a shout-out to the FF#1 comic, when one Bugle headline trumpets “‘Fantastic Four’ defeat mysterious ‘Mole Man’”. Which leads us to: > > 4. The scene: a medieval castle somewhere in Eastern Europe. We hear a metallic stride and see from the back an armored, cloaked figure walking down a corridor. The figure enters a sumptuously appointed study and we see a high backed chair and table stand in front of a fireplace. We hear a voice say “Yes; what is it?”. We then see the armored figure from the front- it’s a Doombot and in a synthetic voice it says “The periodicals you ordered have been delivered”. We see a bandaged hand wave at the table stand and command “Leave them and go”, which the Doombot does. The hand then picks up some of the periodicals and we see it sort through the titles that were shown previously. It picks one prominently displaying Reed Richards on the cover and the camera pans back to reveal a completely bandaged figure wearing a bathrobe. We see a close up of the figure’s only visible feature- the eyes- as we hear the voice growl “_ **Richards…** _”[/spoiler] Nice ideas! I could definitely see Doom finding out about the accident that created the Fantastic Four and concluding that it was Reed Richards’ fault just like Doom’s was. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/77 "2015-08-06T12:03:08Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > “Level-headed genius,” hee! Wait, I guess he was for a long time. Marvel’s kind of played him as a misguided, remote, arrogant, mad scientist for a while now. Yeah, I’ve been out of comics for a good twenty years now. That’s not the Reed Richards I know. ---
**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 6, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/78 "2015-08-06T13:31:34Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I suspect that one reason screenwriters can’t help tinkering with the FF’s origin story is that their origin is hard to take seriously today. Not only is it very strongly tied to Cold War concerns–beating “the Reds” into space is their primary goal–but it requires us to believe that Reed Richards, otherwise portrayed as the most brilliant man on the planet, was so reckless as to blast into space accompanied by his completely untrained girlfriend and her even more untrained teenage brother, in a rocket that he knew did not have adequate radiation shielding. And we can be sure he did know this, because his pilot (the only qualified member of the crew, by the way) told him so in those very words. > > It’s a badly dated origin story, a throwback to the pulp days when the hero cobbled together a spaceship in his backyard and loaded his pals aboard to go on an adventure, and very out of character for the level-headed genius that Reed would soon become. But it’s _cooler_. You could do a modernized version of the classic origin. Reed is tinkering with some sort of super-fuel. He’s got a cobbled together working prototype build around an old space-shuttle chassis with his new super-engine/fuel. He wants to win the (thinly veiled X-Prize) Ben is helping him. His landlady’s daughter and her kid brother are hanging out watching. Suddenly every SETI device in the world goes off. An obvious artifact has appeared and is doing some inerta-less steering towards earth (90 degree turns,etc) and it’s headed to earth _fast_…like it’ll get here in hours. The four of them jump in the ship (the only one ready at the time) and go up to take a look. As they approach cautiously, the alien device starts giving off some strange radiation and then evaporates. They pilot back down to earth and find the mysterious alien radiation has changed them. And it turns out (probably in the sequel) that the alien device was a “Silver Surfer summoning probe”. Original origin, more or less, no Reed “Shielding doesn’t matter” Richards stupidity, and we lose the “Beat the Reds to the moon” stuff. ---
**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 6, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/79 "2015-08-06T14:07:40Z")
The problem is that filmmakers don’t always look to what makes the original property interesting in the first place, and want to put their own stamp on it. add to that pressure to make things “relevant”, and you realize that there is no guarantee that a purchased pop culture property will translate into a movie anything like the original item. There are plenty of examples, but consider the case of Conan the Barbarian. There have been three Conan movies now, but not one of them captures the “feel” of Robert E. Howard’s character. They all completely rewrite the character, and none of them are based even in part on a Robert E. Howard story. In that respect, the best “Conan” movie yet made may he **The Sword and the Sorceror** , which doesn’t even _claim_ to be a Conan movie. But it steals scenes from at least three of Howard’s “Conan” stories. I mean, heck, even Tarzan, despite the woeful divergence between ERB’s character and the movies, has had a number of relatively faithful adaptations, at least in part. ---
**Author:** ![Hiker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3be4f8/32.png) [@Hiker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hiker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023/80 "2015-08-06T14:11:02Z")
The way I see it the problem with every adaptation that attempts to be very faithful to the original is that we have seen it all before - and not only once but many times. Superhero comics turned into movies have become so frequent that they have an increasingly hard time still being interesting. If only the hardcore fans of the FF want to see a movie based on these characters, that movie is bound to be a flop. And if you want anyone else to care for them, you have to have something interesting to offer. Ideally something that has not been done yet. Why not set the entire story in late 19th century London? Doctor Reginald “Reed” Richards is a somewhat shrewd scientist obsessed with the idea of discovering an energy source that can surpass electricity. Fellow scientists cold shoulder him, but the young noblewoman Lady Susan Storm has taken a fancy with him. When he tries to demonstrate his most promising experiment to her … Not too hard to evolve a plot from there. Give the whole thing a steampunk vibe. Alternatively you could try to be more of a Science Fiction movie. Try to be less like the Avengers and more like Star Trek / Interstellar. Make the whole thing about exploration and adventure. \*Or \*you hand the entire thing to Quentin Tarantino and tell him to do with it whatever he likes. I am sure whatever came out of that I’d watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fantastic-four-cursed-when-it-comes-to-film/727023.md?page=5)