Cinematic Repair: Remaking the Fantastic Four
Before we can repair the dignity and renown of the most misused superheroes, we need to look at where it all went wrong.
The Broken Parts
Origin Story Been Done To Death
All of the Fantastic Four movies spend much of their run time showing how the team got their powers and how they get use to using them. Unfortunately, when it's combined with them doing nothing of worth, we end up not having enough time to dedicate to them being heroes. This a superhero movie we're taking about, so we need them to do cool stuff. In general, origin stories have been done to death, to a point that we need to stop.
The Fantastic Four Doing Nothing
If you haven't seen the released Fantastic Four movies, we can see one of the biggest problems of the film: our heroes do NOTHING! They waist the viewer's time with them trying to figure out how their powers work and either being silly or glum. I recognize that a story delving into the origin story of a group of superheroes should put time into how they got their powers and how they work, but the fact that the films ultimately have far too much nothing going on is a no fun.
Doctor Dumb-Ass
These insults to greatness are brought to you by Fox Studios
It's no denying by any Marvel comics fan that Doctor Doom is possibly the greatest and most influence super villain in the Marvel universe. He's a master of both science and magic, is possibly the smartest man on Earth, has countless plans and preparations to take over the world, he's the ruler of an entire country, and he's proven himself to be a force to be feared in battle. He's also a deep and complex character in his motives and actions, making him a legendary villain. He is a bad-ass with depth and detail.
Too bad the movies turn him into a one-note idiot with super powers. Rather than studying science and magic to create himself into the ruler of Latvaria and most feared conqueror in history, the movies turn him into another member of the Fantastic Four's voyage that was effected by the same mutagen effect and given a stupid-appearance that's a lifeless mockery of the original and some stupid lighting powers. GOD!
No Balance
The primary issue with the films is its imbalance of comedy and seriousness; The 2005 film and its sequel were extremely silly, from a bit where Reed Richards uses his stretching powers to grab some toilet paper to Johnny Storm being horny and dushy all the time. The 2015 flick was the exact opposite; it was dreary and overly serious, with no sense of life or fun. What a Fantastic Four movie needs is to have a balance of both, having light-hearted fun that's willing to get serious when it needs to be. We can't have one extreme, but a balance.
The Reusable Pieces
While the movies had their issues, which were far more than what they can overcome, there's some things that can kept.
The Fantastic Four Themselves
Of course, the one thing we have to keep is the Fantastic Four team themselves. I mean, how can we have a Fantastic Four movie without the Fantastic Four? I can adept and agree that some extra diversity might be needed to make the team less "all white," (perhaps Ben Grimm as another race, or Johnny as an adopted brother to Susan and thus another ethnicity) but we don't need to change their core characters: Reed is a genius but blames himself for what happened to his friends (namely Ben), Susan is caring but strong and more dangerous than the rest, Johnny is cocky as hell but of good intent, and Ben is big but gentile yet glum. Simply put, we need the team in its core.
Origins In The Negative Zone
"Do you know what the f*ck is going on? Cause I sure as hell don't."
By all intents and purposes, the original origins of the Fantastic Four was pretty stupid: the team were exposed to cosmic radiation that gave them their powers. Also, Susan and Johnny weren't even actual scientists and were just pulled along for the ride. Yeah, it's lazy and uncomfortable.
Thankfully, the Ultimate universe created an alternative origin to their powers, which even the 2015 film would utilize: their powers stem from their entering and return from the Negative Zone. In the comics, the Negative Zone is a place composed of anti-matter. For a person of our universe to traverse there, they would have to reverse its polarity on a molecular level. Perhaps in an MCU Fantastic Four movie, the team traveled to the Negative Zone through a dimension-ship as part of an exploration in inter-dimensional travel, but possibly due to an attack by hostiles, they were forced to travel back; their ship may then malfunction, causing them to be shot back into our universe and suffer great molecular change, granting them their unique abilities. This can also give question about the fate of others that were part of this exploration; it can't simply be four people going into an unknown dimension. They're going to need more people, and it'll show
The Repair Job
Now, with what we know we can keep and what we have to scrap, we can look at the means of fixing it all:
Origin Revealed Through the Story
As I've mentioned above, origin stories have been done to death, especially as they're really just the same stuff over an over. In contrast, with Spider-Man: Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy and all of the Marvel Netflix shows (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage), we don't need to spend over a third explaining how they got their powers. Just go with "they have superpowers and we can explain how they got their abilities as they're doing stuff."
For the Fantastic Four, my idea is to have an investigator for Shield attempting to get in touch with Reed Richards about a unique cosmic phenomenon that he may be familiar with. After Reed and his companions are forced to reveal themselves, he and Susan then spill the beans on their origins and why they've been hiding for so long.
A New Beginning Villain
A major issue with ALL of the Fantastic Four movies is it s mishandling of Doctor Doom. Not only do they make him far from the master villain that the comics have created him to be, but they've also made the mistake of making him their first villain. He's treated as a one-off villain that the Fantastic Four need to overcome to save the day, rather than the universal threat he truly possesses. Instead of starting with Doctor Doom, we need a villain that's much smaller but one that's close to the Fantastic Four. Like, maybe their first villain ever in the comics: THE MOLE MAN!
FEAR THE MOLE MAN! ALL 4'10" OF HIM!
What? Are you not intimidated? Well, that's pretty normal, actually. Harvey Elder, better known as the Mole Man has never been a major-name villain in Marvel Comics. However, he's no push-over. The Mole Man is the prime king of the Moloids, has access to the ancient but advance technology of the Deviants, and has created an army of giant monsters to serve him. To make him even more close, we can modify his origins to make him more interesting. Perhaps Reed and his companions were not the first people to enter the Negative Zone. Now, what would happen to a man who was trapped there for years?
Dedicate Time To Being Heroes
No More Di*king Around! The 2005 and 2015 movies have done nothing but waist the viewer's time. This team was quintessential in shaping the Marvel Universe as we know them now, and to have their movies featuring them not being heroes is unacceptable. With the team's origin story explained through the film rather than begin it, we can delve more into the heroes doing great deeds and forming their identities as heroes.
The Mole Man can easily work into this; as a guy who commands an army of monsters, he can easily have these monsters attack parts of the world, forcing the Fantastic Four to reveal their presence to the world by defeating the monster, saving lives and being heroes.
Deeper Issue In The Skin
All of the major Marvel movies tend to focus on real-world issues. In Infinity War, the topic of overpopulation and belief that it will inevitably bring extinction is the overlaying reason for Thanos' actions. Now, what topic could the Fantastic Four tap upon?Well, there's one that's unusual but interesting: immigration. Didn't see that coming, did ya? To set up the idea of immigration in the plot-line, I see this through the moloids.
The moloids are a subterranean race that the Mole Man leads. In the comics, they're the product of the Deviants and are native to earth, but I believe that we can move their origins to the Negative Zone, where Harvey Elder was trapped for several years. The moloids were never anything impressive but were family to Harvey for their aid to him. Perhaps they're a race that'd been hunted to near death and are stuck on a planet that's itself dying. Rather than his motivation being revenge on the world or a desire to conquer, Harvey desires to return to Earth so as to create a safer home for the moloids. Once he's been led to ancient alien technology, Harvey is able to create a new portal machine, allowing him to return. Unfortunately, every-time he tries to come back, he's met by hostility from the world, costing the lives of innocent moloids and forcing him back to the Negative Zone. After years of failed attempts to get through peacefully (note, time the Negative Zone is weird, so everything is off time-wise), even getting attacked by (Hydra-controlled) SHIELD, he's concluded that he must have an army of his own to take a home for themselves.
To add to the concept of immigration, perhaps Harvey's past attempts of peace were covered by the Hydra-controlled SHIELD. To top it off, people identify Harvey and his moloids as criminals and terrorists, delving into the common trend of demonizing immigrants. In the end, the resolution comes through understanding: The people of Earth were wrong to think of these aliens as purely hostile, while Harvey and the moloids were wrong to think humanity was purely against them.
The Right Crew
Now, a good Fantastic Four movie needs the right actors. This can be tricky as we've seen obscure people give mind-blowing performances. Still, I feel some good acting capability is needed. Now, I already have an opinion for an actress perfect for Susan Storm: Charlize Theron. Charlize is a veteran actress who can pull off the look, personality and maturity of Susan and easily bring the heroin to the Screen. Still, there's many actresses that can do the role; Charlize was just the first one that comes to my mind.
Alternatively, there's a frequent fan interest in having real-life married couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Both are skilled and have experience in both serious and light-hearted stuff. I can see John and Emily as the heads of Marvel comic's first super-family.
Alternatively, there's a frequent fan interest in having real-life married couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Both are skilled and have experience in both serious and light-hearted stuff. I can see John and Emily as the heads of Marvel comic's first super-family.
For the villain, I can see the Mole Man being portrayed by Danny DeVito. The Mole Man has always been portrayed as short, old and not the most appealing. Danny has experience playing rather ugly, gross characters, like the Penguin in Batman Returns and Frank Reynolds in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, so having DeVito as the Mole Man would work. As a bonus, DeVito and the Mole Man are both 4'10". However, there's many other actors that could portray the Mole Man, so we must keep our horizon open.
For direction, the first to come to mind is Peyton Reed. Not only is he a skilled director and knows how to make things both funny and serious while still grounded, he himself displayed interest in making a Fantastic Four movie. As such, I would give him helm on making the Fantastic Four, well, fantastic again.
Doom is Coming
Got a case of Thanos? Let the good Doctor take care of that for ya.
Now, I know that most production people will demand that Doctor Doom must appear in a Fantastic Four movie. It's like having a Batman movie without the Joker, or at least hinting at him. Now, I do agree that we should at least hint at Doctor Doom's presence in the MCU. For me, we do it in a way akin to how Darth Vader was at the end of Rogue One, where the Sith Lord reminded the fans of his greatness by showing his power, martial prowess and shear intimidation in slaughtering several armed men shooting at him and those men realizing how screwed they really are. In a similar vain, in introducing Doom, we should have him display his prowess by effortlessly decimating a team of superheroes (Avengers?) to collect an item in their possession (an artifact containing a Cosmic Cube?). Through this, not only would we feature Doctor Doom in the MCU and establishing his presence, we would also be returning his honor and reminding people that the previous movies gave us no true Doom. We will know that the Doctor is in, and he's ready to win.
The Work
After looking at what worked and didn't work for the Fantastic Four movies, and how we could fix it, let me give you a "synopsis" of how I believe a MCU Fantastic Four movie could/should/would go:
A young investigator for SHIELD has been sent by the new SHIELD to investigate a series of phenomenons related to a unique energy signature. He goes to several scientific experts that may help but none of them can give him an exact answer. In his research, he comes across a past project under SHIELD's funding that had numbers fitting to the phenomenon but extensive information was redacted. He was forced to dig further and found some individuals who worked on the program; Researchers Reed Richard and Susan Storm, driver Jonathan "Johnny" Storm and pilot Benjamin J. Grimm. After some searching, the investigator is able to find Reed at the Baxtor Building, where he and Ben live in seclusion while Susan and Johnny work to provide money. When the investigator came to Reed for answers, Reed refused to assist him and demanded him to leave to his work (primarily in fixing his friends). The investigator refused to to leave until Ben forced him out through intimidation and force.
Despite this, the investigator continues his works and decided to talk to Susan and Johnny for answers, as the two siblings want to get out from hiding. At a cafe, they attempt to give him information when one of the cosmic phenomonon's occurs and a colossal monster appears right outside the cafe. As the monster goes on a rampage, Susan uses her force-field powers to prevent it from harming innocent people, while Johnny uses his fire abilities to damage the monster. At that point, Reed and Ben are called in for extra assistance, leading to the two devising a quick sling-shot using Reed as the rubber and Ben as the ball, launching themselves towards the fight. Through their efforts, the four are able to take down the monster and save several lives in the process, leading to people celebrating them as heroes, christening their name as the Fantastic Four.
With their nature revealed, Reed is convinced by Susan to tell the investigator everything: Back in the 2000's, Reed and Susan were part of a research program under SHIELD's supervision, as they delved into inter-dimensional travel. Along with a larger research team, they were able to develop an inter-dimensional teleportation ship. A team was developed, consisting of Reed and Susan and lead supervisors and researchers, Johnny and Ben as pilots, and a few other researchers, pilots and soldiers. After teleporting into another dimension (the Negative Zone), they began researching the terrain and ecosystem when they were eventually attacked by a number of alien creatures (similar to the monster that attacked New York), being led by a short humanoid with a staff and wearing some older equipment. Several of the team were killed, leading to Reed, Susan, Johnny, Ben and a few others to flee back to the ship. As they attempted to teleport back, a malfunction occured, as a number of important parts were removed from the ship, and they were shot back a ways away from their origin. When SHIELD found them, Reed, Susan, Johnny and Ben were the only survivors and had suffered sever molecular alteration; Reed became extremely stretchy and malleable; Susan was invisible and subconcously producing force-fields; Johnny was producing intensive heat, forcing the rescue team to utilize special equipment to transport him; and Ben was entrapped in a giant rock, which he eventually broke out of, revealing to have a rock-like body. SHIELD had then imprisoned them in a secrete complex and erased the information of the program (during this time, SHIELD was secretly under Hydra control). Despite this, Reed was able to escape his confinement, reach the security room and hack into the system, causing the security systems to work against the guards while allowing him to break his friends out. After that, the team fled the compound and found sanctuary at the Baxter building, where Reed and Susan use to work extensively. There, Reed would work to find a way to fix his companions, while Susan and Johnny would work to support everyone and Ben could hide out.
In the Negative Zone, the man who attacked Reed and his companions is finishing up on a massive inter-dimensional portal. Through translated communication with the moloids, he intends to use the portal to allow his himself and his army to make a new home for them. Back on Earth, the team are adapting to being known superhumans. Susan adapts well and Johnny takes the new popularity in strives, while Reed proved to be socially awkward and Ben's rock-man nature makes him uncomfortable around people. In a sequence where Johnny and Sue are trying to help Ben return to reality by taking him to a club, the club is attacked by another phenomenon that causes a strange bug-man to appear and attack the patrons until the three are able to take it down.
Reed eventually comes to help the new SHIELD in figuring out these phenomenons, which produces energy signatures similar to the dimension his team teleported to years ago. Further research uncovers that Reed wasn't the first to work with SHIELD in inter dimensional travel; Harvey Elder had been working for SHIELD years before, where he developed an inter-dimensional portal that lead to the Negative Zone. However, the portal malfunctioned, isolating Harvey and his team on the other side. The program was scrapped and the information redacted as well.
During this, one massive signature is occurs at the same base that Harvey's machine was built, leading to a number of superheroes and SHIELD agents to investigate. There, they're met by the man from the Negative Zone, who reveals himself as Harvey, and a number of his small alien companions. As the heroes attempted to confront them, they revealed their alliance with SHIELD, leading to Harvy to declare them his enemy and called forth his army of alien monsters to attack. They're able to defeat the heroes and take them prisoner before moving towards a city location. To make things worst, the portal deactivates and reactive within several major cities across the US, leading to more monsters to appear. This forces the Avengers and Armed Forces to take action but their unable to get the upper hand, as their efforts are stretched thin.
Reed and his companions, now wearing the suits they wore in their travel to the Negative Zone (which has adapted to each one's powers), go out to confront Havey and his army. Meanwhile, the investigator works on getting more information to relay to the team. Information he's able to find is that these phenomenons aren't recent; years ago, during Hydra's control of SHIELD, there's similar events of alien organisms appearing from random portals. These aliens, similar to Harvey's moloids, appeared to be non-hostile but ultimately killed on sight. There was even an event where a man (whom the investigator confirms is Harvey) and a number of moloids attempted to make peace but were met by hostility and forced to flee back.
As the team work to stop the monsters and save lives, Reed attempts to confront Harvey, leading to Harvey to believe Reed to be working for SHIELD, whom he has only disdain for. The investigator is able to relay information to Reed about Harvey, notably his paranoia and possible mental illness. He believes that Harvey is attacking SHIELD because it betrayed him and wants him dead. After further fighting, Harvey reveals his actual intents: create a habitable home for his moloids, whose population is minuscule due to being near-eradicated by other alien invaders. Reed is able to convince the Avengers and armed forces to cease fire and Harvey agrees to command his monsters to stop. This leads to negotiation between Harvey and higher ups of SHIELD (including Nick Fury), and the two agree to equal terms: SHIELD will assist Harvey and his moloids in relocating to an uninhabited but habitable location (which would later be called Monster Island), and Harvey will release his prisoners (revealing that he had no intent on killing people) and dismantle his portal machine after his aliens are through. When asked about the bug-man that attacked, Harvey states that it wasn't one of his creatures, that it was "something else" from the Negative Zone. After everything is done, Reed and his companions are further celebrated, cementing their status as new heroes.
In a post-credit sequence, we have some scientific members of the Avengers studying a piece of Harvey's teleportation machine, particularly the device that gives it the power needed to create a lasting portal (possibly containing a true Cosmic Cube within it). During this time, the Avengers compound is attacked as a mysterious individual appears and utterly defeats the entire team with absolute ease. He then takes the device and warps out. The assailant is Doctor Doom.
The Total
So, what does all of this give us? Well, it's no wonder that several people working for Marvel Studios would be happy to have the Fantastic Four in their rights, especially as they're possibly the single most important individuals in Marvel comics. What I gave is just an idea of how this could work, but there's dozens of others that could work. What I want from Marvel Studios to do is give justice to the first super-family, as well as expand the horizan of the MCU and show that they can do the Fantastic Four and even Doctor Doom justice.What Come Next
As with everything that's part of the MCU, there's always the question of "what comes next." Well, for the Fantastic Four, there's plenty of comic book history that we can follow from. There's dozens of events and villains that we can utilize, from earthly villains like Diablo and the Mad Tinkerer, to more cosmic forces like Blasstar and Devo the Destroyer.What is most certain that some villains need A LOT more prepping to implement. There is Galactus, Devourer of Worlds, and his many heralds. There is Annihilus of the Negative Zone and conqueror of worlds, along with his devastating Annihilation Wave. For forces like these guys, we need to utilize them on a bigger scale; rather than one-time villains for the Fantastic Four, these are individuals who create galaxy-wide events that require the combined efforts of all parties involved.
Lastly, and more importantly, there's Doctor Doom. To be honest, this guy should be built up even more than Thanos; Doctor Doom stands as the single greatest villain in Marvel Comics and should be treated as such. He's also a unique and interesting character in the question of personality and motivation, making for a great character when done loyal to his comics.
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