Can we get a good Fantastc Four?

Yeah. I'm on par with the whole Ulitmate inspiration.

Good article.

I agree with everything in this article.

Hmmmmm...
I know many people already understand that the powers are EXTENSIONS of their personalities and lifestyles, and irrelevant to their actual characterizations, but I'm going to bring it up anyway.

An origin story is not wanted. We don't need to see how they got their powers, just that they have them. We don't need to have some ridiculous explanation for why they survived whatever mutated their bodies, because it's just already expected. How did Reed get to be so educated at such a young age? Because he's a super-genius.

I wrote a fan-fic four years back... very short, very different, but it didn't contain one bit of superpowers. I guess it was something that would fit in the "noir" universe, except it's about their lives, not their abilities. It was set mostly in the 60s as a period piece, but I never developed it past the idea process.

Ben lived in the shadow of his older brother who fell in with a gang, his parents got shot by mistake (shooters thought it was his brother), and the two got picked up by the police. Under pressure, they ratted out the gang members, gave some helpful information, and kept under observation until their uncle could pick them up. In retaliation, a drive-by tosses a molotov at Ben's brother, burning him to death. Flash forward, he's visiting his brother's grave and telling him how he's given up his dreams in football to join the Air Force, explaining that he's always needed something bigger in his life.
The Storms are driving home from a Christmas party in the rain at night, and Franklin is drunk. Mary is slightly buzzed, and didn't feel right driving, and her husband's used to it. Johnny (a toddler) is acting up, and Sue keeps poking him. Mary scolds her daughter, and Franklin gets irritated because she's not listening to whatever he's droning on about. Distracted, he hydroplanes their car into a tree, and Mary crushed by her seat-belt. Johnny and Sue are dazed, but unharmed as Franklin manages to recover them from the wreck.
Years later, Johnny's at a drive-in with his girlfriend Crystal, wanting her to come to dinner the next night, because it'll be too awkward to sit through alone. She makes no promises, but he knows she'll be there. The next day, the siblings are having dinner at their aunt's, hosting Reed as their guest. Reed is put under the spotlight, and he shyly tells them of his plans to be an astronaut. Sue is enamored, Johnny scoffs at the idea, but Reed insists that it's not only possible, but he's been approached to be a consultant at NASA. He compares aerospace engineering to Johnny's work on cars, and the two relate until Johnny loses interest. Crystal has shown up late.
That night, Reed returns to his dorm, and Ben asks how his "date" went. Reed reluctantly shares, and Ben asks about Sue - what's she like? Reed confesses that they didn't talk much - they didn't have any time alone. Ben tells him he's got to learn how to talk to girls, that they want attention, and that he's got to start somewhere even if it embarrasses him.
Days later, Reed and a foreign transfer student named Victor are conducting an independent experiment. Victor is acutely aware of Reed's genius, and wants his help to turn his theoretical data into reality. He has already displayed his wealth by providing all the materials Reed initially claimed such an impossible machine would necessitate. Victor wants to create a machine that would transmit thoughts across radio waves that could be picked up in noise similar to Morse code. Reed becomes aware that Victor is looking to contact his dead mother, and confronts him about it, declaring it ridiculous and cruel for him to perpetuate. The two argue, and Victor throws him out, insisting that he has all he needs to do it himself now. Alone, Victor turns up the voltage and causes the capacitor to blow, giving him third-degree burns over most of his face.
A few years later, Reed and Ben are down in Cape Canaveral. Ben has aced his fitness and zero-G training, while Reed has had some unsavory scores, having encountered G-LOC at the intermediate 7gs, and hasn't been cleared. The two meet the Storms again, the circumstances being that Johnny and Sue are appearing in a movie shot in Cocoa Beach, where the former is a stuntman and the latter has a couple of lines. Ben and Johnny leave the two alone, and talk football. Reed and Sue catch up (slowly), and he explains that he's so close to being an astronaut, and asks if she wants to tour the facility. Sue isn't so interested, and asks him if he invites just anyone he meets into his life. Confused, he misinterprets the question as flirtatious, and exclaims - only the movie stars. She figures he just wants to show her off, and is generally unkind. He tells her that most of the people there probably haven't heard of her, and that only makes things worse. Sue insists they change the subject. Reed asks about the movie she's going to be in, and what other ones she's been in. She lists off a few roles where she played a glorified extra, and reveals that she really hasn't had much luck. She tries to put herself out there, but it's hard to get noticed. Reed insists that she come by the facility so that he can show her off, meet some celebrities of a different kind, and help her get her name out there. She senses his honesty and agrees.

Weeks later, NASA has decided to shut down Reed's manned shuttle launch because its unique design was intended for him to pilot it, and he can't be cleared. Sue and Johnny are about to leave to go back home. Sue and Reed were dating and are dreading the separation, while Johnny's anxious to get going. They depart at a bus stop, and Reed is depressed. He decides to launch anyway, side-stepping the security measures by pre-programming everything by remote. Ben, knowing the two are going to get in some big trouble, decides to help him out. NASA becomes aware, but is unable to prevent the launch in time. The newscasters arrive to watch the blastoff, and film it live. Sue and Johnny watch the television from a diner intently as Reed and Ben are about to enter the lower stratosphere... but the spacecraft explodes.

Yeah they're toast. Originally I was going to have all four included, but I couldn't think of a legitimate reason why Johnny and Sue would be in the shuttle.

I think Ben is an over-exposed yet severely underrated character. He's not a mongoloid, he's just THE tough guy. He's been through hell and back, and came out well-adjusted and refuses to back down and sacrifice his integrity. It's easy to see him as an orange rock monster, but he's truly the soul of the Fantastic Four.

I have issues with Sue, though. What more is she than a woman who wants more attention? Yes, she's a mom, a wife, a sister, and a friend... but the writer in me wants her to be more than that. She's kind of a bore.

Johnny's pretty easy. You just make him into John Travolta from 'Grease' and go with it.