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Have to say, when I saw the cast I just shook my head and knew that I won't be watching this movie.

The combination of an even younger Reed Richards, a Twilight-esque skinny dude playing Ben Grimm, an African American playing Johnny Storm and a Sue Storm that has 5 years on her Reed Richards counter part.

All of this being directed by a very inexperienced Josh Trank.

Maybe if they take the actor who is playing Johnny Storm(Micheal B. Jordan) and put him in the Reed Richards(Miles Teller) role then it will at least look right from an age perspective. Jordan and Teller are the same age but Teller has a pass for 19 baby face while Jordan could pull off a believable 30.

Here is the cast

http://www.cinemablend.com/m/new/Fantastic-Four-Movie-Reboot-What-We-Know-So-Far-42375.html


Later,
ff

I never liked the Fantastic 4 anyway, so I very much doubt I'll be bothering with this. What is alarming is the rumours of FF+X-men. If they ruin X-men, who haven't had a bad film yet, I will be very annoyed.

 Paradigm wrote:
What is alarming is the rumours of FF+X-men. If they ruin X-men, who haven't had a bad film yet, I will be very annoyed.

Not only X-men but also the Avengers and other Marvel movie franchises. This could be the metaphoric domino that knocks the others down.

What really worries me is that Reed Richards is supposed to be in his 40's. About the same age as Doctor Strange. If this is how they are going to cast the third wave then just count me out now.
I'll never be ready for a 26 yo twilight version of Doctor Strange

 Captain Avatar wrote:

 Paradigm wrote:
What is alarming is the rumours of FF+X-men. If they ruin X-men, who haven't had a bad film yet, I will be very annoyed.

Not only X-men but also the Avengers and other Marvel movie franchises. This could be the metaphoric domino that knocks the others down.

What really worries me is that Reed Richards is supposed to be in his 40's. About the same age as Doctor Strange. If this is how they are going to cast the third wave then just count me out now.
I'll never be ready for a 26 yo twilight version of Doctor Strange

I think the Avengers are safe, simply because a) they have been a cinematic juggernaut so far and b) they're owned by Disney, who if anything will distance themselves from this rather than copying it. Unless it is so utterly bad that it sends out the message 'all super-hero movies are utter crap' (which, given the success of Avengers, X-men and The Dark Knight, would require an almost deliberate effort) then I think they're safe. The concern for X-men comes from the fact they're both owned by the same company, and if the shoehorn the FF into an X-men movie in an attempt to rival the Avengers (which isn't neccessary, X-men already have the cast and characters to do this on their own) it'll potentially ruin the X-men.

Regarding casting, Marvel have generally been pretty spot-on with their character choices so far (RDJ as Stark being the standout) so I don't think they'll mess that up. There were rumours they were going for Johnny Depp to play Strange, but I think those were debunked.

Saw the actor for Reed Richards.

Stopped reading, will not watch.

The Fantastic Kids, from what I know, are based more off their Ultimates versions, who are apparently younger. Nevertheless, this film looks to be more of a creative train wreck waiting to happen than even Ant-Man.

But it's FOX playing catch up, trying to do with their movies what DC and Sony are struggling to do with theirs: establish some connective tissue and create a franchise rather than anything of real quality.

As far as I'm concerned all this movie does is stop Marvel from using Doom, Silver Surfer, Annihilation Wave, Negative Zone and Galactus - all things that would be better off under the MCU banner than in the hands of "make anything to keep the rights" Fox. Then again, I suppose it was make this film or make a second low-budget F4 film never intended for release like Fox did the first time.

Ugh, really? I went through and did a quick read...adopted? Da Fuq? Johnny and Sue are biological brother and sister. This sounds like throwing in someone with different colored skin just to have someone with different colored skin. Hell, it would have made more sense to have BEN be black, and keep Johnny white. Stupid decision. Mostly because it takes a sibling relationship and alters it for no reason whatsoever. Stupid decision, Fox, but you're getting good at those.

I've still not seen any of the F4 movies so I honestly don't care.

That said, holy crap those are terrible picks, even Doctor Doom seems a weird one. (I hope they don't mess with the armor)

 Soladrin wrote:
I've still not seen any of the F4 movies so I honestly don't care.

That said, holy crap those are terrible picks, even Doctor Doom seems a weird one. (I hope they don't mess with the armor)

Since it's Ultimate F4 based, I hope they DO and go with the original Ultimate version rather than the 616-style change they had later when they introduced Marvel Zombies.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Ugh, really? I went through and did a quick read...adopted? Da Fuq? Johnny and Sue are biological brother and sister. This sounds like throwing in someone with different colored skin just to have someone with different colored skin. Hell, it would have made more sense to have BEN be black, and keep Johnny white. Stupid decision. Mostly because it takes a sibling relationship and alters it for no reason whatsoever. Stupid decision, Fox, but you're getting good at those.

How does Sue being adopted change their relationship at all? They're still brother and sister, and their powers aren't genetic so being adopted has no effect on them. Out of everything about this film that annoys me, the fact that Sue is adopted is the one thing doesn't annoy me.

The main thing that annoys me about this is that it's being rushed out so that the rights don't revert to Marvel.

Well, this looks like it will be awful. I just really hope they keep away the FF from X-men, but I'm almost certain they'll shoehorn them together.

What was that one FF movie that was made that never got released? Is this in the same vein, because it already seems like no one is going to bother watching it.

 Goliath wrote:

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Ugh, really? I went through and did a quick read...adopted? Da Fuq? Johnny and Sue are biological brother and sister. This sounds like throwing in someone with different colored skin just to have someone with different colored skin. Hell, it would have made more sense to have BEN be black, and keep Johnny white. Stupid decision. Mostly because it takes a sibling relationship and alters it for no reason whatsoever. Stupid decision, Fox, but you're getting good at those.

How does Sue being adopted change their relationship at all? They're still brother and sister, and their powers aren't genetic so being adopted has no effect on them. Out of everything about this film that annoys me, the fact that Sue is adopted is the one thing doesn't annoy me.

@timetowaste85-
I agree with you about the decision to make one of the Storms adopted. There are elements of the FF backstory that either hinge or just work better from them being full blood relatives.

I disagree about having Micheal B. Jordan play the Thing. Doing such would likely be viewed as a racist decision.

Ironically, playing the Human Torch will likely draw no such complaints even though it is definitely a choice that plays into negative societal stereo-types just as much as having him be the Thing.

The best decision would have been to cast him as Reed Richards. This would have avoided all negative stereo-types and have left the Johnny and Sue Storm relationship intact.


@Goliath-
There is a huge difference between blood sibling relationships and inter-racial adopted sibling relationships. The decision to go this route leads to in-story relationship issues that can only distract and detract from the overall FF as a family dynamic.

Basically, instead of going with a balance of issues/problems between the four characters they are setting up Sue and Johnny's characters to have the lead in what is supposed to be a cast of equals.

I'd rather Reed was black and that young Johnny showed his immaturity by being a bit racist. This would play into Johnny and Ben's not getting along due to Ben's deep friendship with Reed.
This would also create friendship conflict between Sue and Ben.

Imo, about the only thing they got right was the age anx look of the Sue Storm actress.

Later,
ff

 focusedfire wrote:

@Goliath-
There is a huge difference between blood sibling relationships and inter-racial adopted sibling relationships. The decision to go this route leads to in-story relationship issues that can only distract and detract from the overall FF as a family dynamic.

Why? Because they're adopted they're not as close as if they were biological siblings?

Basically, instead of going with a balance of issues/problems between the four characters they are setting up Sue and Johnny's characters to have the lead in what is supposed to be a cast of equals.

How? Because one of them is adopted it means that they somehow have more issues than they would otherwise?

I'd rather Reed was black and that young Johnny showed his immaturity by being a bit racist. This would play into Johnny and Ben's not getting along due to Ben's deep friendship with Reed.
This would also create friendship conflict between Sue and Ben.

Wait, wut? It's not okay to have one of the characters be played by a black man, because reasons, but it's perfectly fine for another character to be black? And to randomly make one of the characters racist? You do get the whole thing about the FF being one big family right? That's kind of ruined by having one of the members think another is subhuman...

 Goliath wrote:

 focusedfire wrote:

@Goliath-
There is a huge difference between blood sibling relationships and inter-racial adopted sibling relationships. The decision to go this route leads to in-story relationship issues that can only distract and detract from the overall FF as a family dynamic.

Why? Because they're adopted they're not as close as if they were biological siblings?

Basically, instead of going with a balance of issues/problems between the four characters they are setting up Sue and Johnny's characters to have the lead in what is supposed to be a cast of equals.

How? Because one of them is adopted it means that they somehow have more issues than they would otherwise?

I'd rather Reed was black and that young Johnny showed his immaturity by being a bit racist. This would play into Johnny and Ben's not getting along due to Ben's deep friendship with Reed.
This would also create friendship conflict between Sue and Ben.

Wait, wut? It's not okay to have one of the characters be played by a black man, because reasons, but it's perfectly fine for another character to be black? And to randomly make one of the characters racist? You do get the whole thing about the FF being one big family right? That's kind of ruined by having one of the members think another is subhuman...

Assuming this is an origins story, the fact that they end up as a family won't make a difference; there will inevitably be conflict between the characters along the way.

I don't care that they are adopted but it doesn't feel organic. It feels like they did it just to work a person of color into the story but didn't want two, either out of fear of having half the cast be black or not wanting Reed Richards and Sue Storm to be in an interracial relationship. I don't care that he is black, I care that they are doing, at best, half measures.

Exactly. Having two siblings of different race feels forced, not natural. It's like they just decided "lets not make this all white-spin the wheel of who gets to be played by a black guy". Goliath, most have pointed out what makes this a bad idea. Why are you hating on the rationale? Your reasoning makes little (no) sense.

Also, I disagree with Ben being black as a bad idea-he's the most well-loved character of the FF with a heart of gold. If anything, it would be the best role to go outside the box on race with. Agreed that Reed would be a good number two choice for that, but not either of the Storm kids. Bad decision process by Fox.

It does seem odd that if they wanted to make one, and only one, person black that they didn't go with either of the non-related characters.

kate mara us the only one i like. she can flat out act

 Paradigm wrote:
There were rumours they were going for Johnny Depp to play Strange, but I think those were debunked.

Current one right now, that as near as I can tell is "legit" is Joaquin Phoenix playing Strange in an upcoming Marvel movie, which, IMO would be a better fit than Depp. (personally, Depp has been ruined by his Capt. Jack roles... but I think, if he were to be in a Marvel flick, Brother Voodoo would fit him a bit better than Dr. Strange)

They should have just given everyone in Modern Family powers -

I've always love the Fantastic Four, and even then I was only...somewhat entertained by Fox's last two attempts.

(Cloud Galactus?)

This one here?

It isn't off to the best of starts, but then, who knows?

I'm not terribly hopeful though...

 Alpharius wrote:
I've always love the Fantastic Four, and even then I was only...somewhat entertained by Fox's last two attempts.

(Cloud Galactus?)

This one here?

It isn't off to the best of starts, but then, who knows?

I'm not terribly hopeful though...

I've never been a FF fan, but I HAVE almost always loved Silver Surfer, and yeah... THAT movie basically ruined things for me.. The effects for SS were cool, but overall.... disappointing.

 Ahtman wrote:
It does seem odd that if they wanted to make one, and only one, person black that they didn't go with either of the non-related characters.

I seem to recall them saying that the reason he's black isn't because they went 'we need a black person in the film' but that they went 'we want Michael B Jordan to play Johnny Storm'


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Goliath, most have pointed out what makes this a bad idea. Why are you hating on the rationale? Your reasoning makes little (no) sense.

No, they haven't. You and focusedfire have made a comments about how them being adopted means they won't have the same bond as biological siblings, which is complete bs. No one else in the thread has commented on them being adopted (apart from Ahtman, and his comment a) came after yours and b) was discussing the fact that Johnny is the only black person, which I have commented on). Going 'your reasoning makes no sense' without actually pointing out any of my supposedly flawed reasoning is no better than going 'nu-uh! You're super wrong!'

I could be wrong, but isn't Susan and Johnny's dad still around in the Ultimate universe?

 Goliath wrote:

 Ahtman wrote:
It does seem odd that if they wanted to make one, and only one, person black that they didn't go with either of the non-related characters.

I seem to recall them saying that the reason he's black isn't because they went 'we need a black person in the film' but that they went 'we want Michael B Jordan to play Johnny Storm'

Well 1) do you think they would come right out and say "we wanted a token person of color" and 2) he could have been Ben, Reed, or they could have had some consistency and also had a black actress play his sister. They had several good options and picked the one bad one.

Kate Mara is hot (real insightful post like anyone is surprised the Hollywood casts good-looking women for their female leads ).

 Alpharius wrote:
(Cloud Galactus?)

This was Ultimate based. The really should have zoomed in on the Gah Lak Tus swarm and shown some of the individual members, but the reasoning for the cloud was it's meant to obscure Gah Lak Tus(seriously, they use the Ultimate spelling in the script) so that they could show him in his true, 616-based form in a Silver Surfer spin off rather than "spoil" him for 5 minutes of someone else's movie.

Johnny being black, nor Sue being white really bothers me; it's a comic book movie, and there are seriously millions of alternate realities you can grab from in order to make that an actual plausible thing in the Marvelverse. Having said that, it would be rather cool if Sue/Johnnys BIOLOGICAL brother survived a wreck/whatever and became Dr. Doom, complete with obsession/hatred of Sue like what Doom typically has.

I'm more worried about the young playboy version of Richards than anything else; it worked for Professor X because it was a prequel, not him just randomly being younger than everyone else.

 focusedfire wrote:
a Twilight-esque skinny dude playing Ben Grimm

That's a bit like complaining that Andy Serkis doesn't look like a monkey therefore the new Planet of the Apes movies are going to suck. The Thing is going to be motion capture.


Anyhow, I'm not going to claim these are good casting choices, because I don't know. All I do know is that the people on the internet, even including dakka, are really bad at reviewing casting choices and determining whether people will be good or bad in the role. Typically they rely way too much on whether an actor has one or two physical features of the character, and on one or two other roles the actor has played, while having no idea about the actor's whole body of work, or their screen tests or their relationship with the director... the stuff that actually matters. I can't complain about the internet not factoring in those elements because there's no way it can really know, but I will point out its silly to pretend it can give a sensible opinion anyway.

I will say it's pretty likely that the new Fantastic Four film is pretty likely to suck because;
a) most films suck
b) the previous FF films sucked and this is being done by the same people so there's no reason to expect any change.