Home Entertainment The new FANTASTIC FOUR movie is not based on the comics

The new FANTASTIC FOUR movie is not based on the comics

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When it was announced that director Josh Trank had cast his Chronicle star and friend Michael B. Jordan to play Johnny Storm in Fox’s upcoming reboot of Fantastic Four, the internet had its own FLAME ON! moment. See Jordan is black, while Johnny Storm is most definitely white. What’s more, he’s supposed to be the biological brother to Kate Mara’s very Caucasian Sue Storm. This had the comic book purists breaking out the torches and pitchforks, because this is clearly not how it was in the comics.

And it seems there’s a very good reason for that: This is not the Fantastic Four you know, at least not the one you’ve read about in the comics.

fantastic_four_by_terry_dodson

Speaking to Esquire Latinoamérica (via CBM), Mara explained that she’s had the pressure of playing such a fan favourite character as the Invisible Woman lifted off her shoulders, due to the fact that what Trank is doing with this film is a reboot in every sense of the word. This is going to be a clean start, meaning it is not beholden to the more than half a decade of comic book lore that’s come before.

“I don’t feel more responsibility with this role that I’ve felt with others. I understand that there are many fans of Fantastic Four and I guess they expect a lot from me, but I prefer not to be pressured by that. We are also trying to create a new way of seeing these superheroes, I’m focusing on making her (Susan Storm) as real as possible.”

“I’ve never been a fan of comics, I’ve never actually read one. I was going to for this movie but the director said it wasn’t necessary. Well, actually he told us that we shouldn’t do it because the plot won’t be based on any history of anything already published. So I chose to follow his instructions. The one fact is I am a fan of comic book movies, so it’s very exciting to be part of a movie like this.”

Well, crap. I’ve always been on the side of the fence supporting Jordan in his role as Johnny Storm, with my argument being that skin color makes zero difference to me as long as they just don’t change the core principles of what makes these characters who they are. But this sounds exactly like they may just be changing the core principles of what makes these characters who they are.

Now I don’t want to start any premature tyre burning until we have a better idea of the actual script and characters (remember, the last time an actor who didn’t like/read comics got a big role, we ended up with Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning take on the Joker), but for a film that already had its fair share of detractors, this revelation certainly won’t be making things easier.

Last Updated: July 16, 2014

20 Comments

  1. RAGE LEVEL TYRE BURNING 9000

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      July 16, 2014 at 09:07

      That’s racist! Those tyres are all black.

      Reply

      • Unavengedavo

        July 16, 2014 at 09:11

        Not if he is using the White rimmed tyres O_o

        Reply

      • Rince&pop

        July 16, 2014 at 09:48

        The white ones are the ones burning 🙂 The black ones are watching…

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          July 16, 2014 at 09:51

          lol

          Reply

  2. Unavengedavo

    July 16, 2014 at 08:56

    “The one fact is I am a fan of comic book movies, so it’s very exciting to be part of a movie like this”

    But how is it a Comic book movie if it isn’t based on a Comic book? O_o As far as I can tell, this is just going to be a movie that has similarities with a Comic book

    Reply

    • DarthZA

      July 16, 2014 at 09:28

      So essentially just like Nolan’s Batman trilogy?

      Reply

  3. Sk3tz0

    July 16, 2014 at 09:27

    Might be good… (RUNZ)

    Reply

  4. JC

    July 16, 2014 at 09:51

    Are you kidding me? If you are going to change all the CORE principles of the characters then you can no longer name them fantastic 4….. no! they are just the ‘special 4’ oh and please for crying out loud while you are at it please change the characters names.

    Reply

  5. James Francis

    July 16, 2014 at 10:54

    You all deserve this. What did you think was going to happen when Marvel makes more off the films than the comics? DC has already moved from New York in order to be in a more film-friendly environment. So rage all you want – this is your fault.

    Reply

    • DarthZA

      July 16, 2014 at 12:12

      Not really. The Marvel movies that have done well have been relatively true to their comic book counter parts. This isn’t even Marvel making the movies. Your argument is the equivalent of saying that all played Mass Effect 2, so now Mass Effect 3 is going to have a horrible ending and it is your fault.

      Reply

      • James Francis

        July 16, 2014 at 12:26

        No, my point is that it has been obvious for a long time that Marvel places the value of its movies above the comics. As such, if you have been supporting Marvel films, you have been supporting this trend. So if you bitch about it, you were too stupid to see the writing on the wall.

        I called this would happen a long time ago and I’m far from alone. Reams have been written about the shift away from comics and into movies – and how this is changing the very culture of Marvel and DC. Btw, both FF movies were produced by Marvel, so this is not out of their control at all. If the next movie is going to break canon, Marvel approved.

        So if you supported Marvel movies, you cannot complain about this. Not unless you lived under a rock for the past decade.

        Reply

        • DarthZA

          July 16, 2014 at 15:59

          Marvel have been trying hard to get their licenses back because they are not happy with the way they are handled, in particular the FF movie license. Even though Marvel denies it, no less than 3 different writers and artists have confirmed that Marvel has instructed them not to use FF in their stories or artwork.

          The movies being more successful than the comics in no way mean the comics should move away from cannon. At best your argument could be that the sheer amount of movies coming out is our fault, but not the fact that they have diverting so much from their source material.

          Supporting the trend of moving from cannon and supporting the movies are not related.

          Reply

          • James Francis

            July 16, 2014 at 16:09

            Marvel has broken canon even in its own internal movies. And it has had influence on all the external films. The reason WHY it wants those licenses back is money – plain and simple. That is also why it warns artists – not for purity, but licensing. It’s all about cash and Marvel has shown that it will sell its own baby if it means more profit. This is not new – just look at how it screwed guys like Jack Kirby. And Marvel is part of Disney, who really couldn’t give two shits about what hardcore fans want. If it did, maybe the extended Star Wars universe would still be around…

            You gave them money every time they did that. So you can’t now complain about it, because you tacitly approved of the behavior. They have been doing it anyway – the above is just the most explicit example of it.

          • DarthZA

            July 17, 2014 at 07:26

            I don’t agree with you train of thought at all, but I take you haven’t watched any of the Marvel movies then?

          • James Francis

            July 17, 2014 at 08:17

            You take it wrong. I have seen them all. And I’ll conclude by pointing out I don’t see Marvel protest anything about the F4 direction. You are putting a lot of faith in a company that hasn’t really stepped up to that capacity.

          • DarthZA

            July 17, 2014 at 08:43

            No, I just don’t believe that supporting the MCU, which the exception of Mandarin, has been incredibly faithful to the comics, in any way implies that I am supporting what is happening to Fantastic Four. The step in logic you make to support it is in no way logical.

            I am now also stating, that if I were to subscribe to your way of thinking, that you are part of the problem.

          • James Francis

            July 17, 2014 at 08:49

            Except I don’t see a problem. I don’t care if they break canon. I am just saying that if you spent cash on them, don’t complain. Success was inevitably going to breed this kind of behaviour and it is only going to get worse, especially since the movies are watched by over 10x more people than who buy the comics.

          • DarthZA

            July 17, 2014 at 09:34

            I still don’t see any logical step to get to that logic.

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