Editorial: A Much Darker More Mature Fantastic Four Film Plus Fan Cast

Editorial: A Much Darker More Mature Fantastic Four Film Plus Fan Cast

I am The Comic Critic and I'm here to share my thoughts on The Fantastic Four reboot and which direction it should take plus I share a fan cast.

Editorial Opinion
By ComicCritic - Aug 10, 2012 06:08 PM EST
Filed Under: Fan Fic

Hello and I'm The Comic Critic,

It's safe to say Tim Story's Fantastic Four films were not so fantastic at all. Also he was not the right director at the time for this project, it was as if Fox played pull the director out of a hat game. It was a wildcard which did not work at all. Now with the rise of comic book films coming full circle it's no surprise a Fantastic Four reboot is now suddenly in the works. Josh Trank who recently directed Chronicle is in the mix to direct the film as we heard so far. I would say Josh Trank is another wildcard. I definitely know Chronicle is no were near the level of Fantastic Four so if he is going to do it he's going to have to step up his game. Do I think the Fantastic Four rights should be back at Marvel? Well I think right now with Marvel going into phase 2 currently it might be a little too late to suddenly add them in among The Avengers, the same with Spider-Man and the other characters. Half of what is in phase 1 of the new marvel films has been established already so it would pose a challenge. Now on to the topic of the reboot. The Fantastic Four films we have seen so far, yeah they took much more of a comedic approach to them. I feel we have yet too see the dark side of The Fantastic Four yet to be portrayed. With all these great characters in the mix, it is easy to get good story up and running. Maybe with a much more original story and a hip cast that would match the personality of the characters we can have a winner on our hands.

The film should skip the origins since we know it already, possibly taking place 10 years after they get their powers. A world were The Fantastic Four has already been established as a strong presence among humanity and such.
But flashback scenes of the origins should still be important in a few parts of the story to serve as a reminder. Dr.Doom should be known as a menace to society but not as the main villain. Latveria should have a strong place in the film as a main setting besides New York. Here is my idea of what the cast should look like and their descriptions of the character to suit the film reboot itself. I promise this is a better fan cast than my other ones.

Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards - Viggo Mortensen

Who better to play Mister Fantastic than this powerhouse actor Viggo Mortensen. Aside's from being a great actor he does have the scientific look going for him. Viggo for Fantastic 4!


Invisible Woman/Susan Storm Richards - Kate Bosworth

Susan Storm is supposed to be a strong independent female character. I think Bosworth can easily pull of this role. I have seen her in a few films and she has some talent.


Human Torch/Johnny Storm - Josh Hutcherson

A young up and coming actor who recently starred in The Hunger Games, he may not have the Chris Evans charisma but this kid looks like a Johnny Storm to me. Plus it would work for a more mature Fantastic Four film.


Ben Grimm/The Thing - Ron Perlman

Who better to say "It's Clobberin Time" other than Hellboy star himself Ron Perlman. I know it might not seem as an original new choice but after seeing Hellboy I just imagined him as The Thing. The voice is a great match for the character too. This would be perfect casting.


Victor Von Doom/Dr.Doom - Jeremy Irons

Another veteran actor like Viggo Mortenson and Ron Perlman. He has the Doctor Doom look going for him, the evil sadistic villain type glare. He was the first actor that came to my mind when I thought of Dr.Doom. He is also no stranger to playing a villain like most of you know. There is no need for further explanation just cast him already!


Any other secondary characters or villains I am not sure of yet. If done right we can have a version of Mole Man appear in the new film. This is the casting direction they should definitely consider for a new Fantastic Four film.

If Josh Trank was not up to direct the film anymore I would recommend action film veteran Brian De Palma who's film plate includes Scareface,Carrie,Mission Impossible and many other memorable films. He is still directing films today so it would be a great choice to see him come aboard the project.


If you have any other suggestion's post in the comments below and I'll check it out. Hopefully this is better than my last fan cast.

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MrCameron
MrCameron - 8/10/2012, 7:08 PM
I agree with you that they need to skip the origin and not make it so campy.

Viggo Mortensen is too old for Reed.

Fun Fact: Kate Bosworth was considered or Sue back when they were casting the first FF film.

Don't see Josh Hutcherson as Johnny. You need someone cockier.

If they skip the origin, Perlman would fit Thing well, but he's too old for the human version.

Jeremy Irons would have made a killer Dr.Doom 20-25 years ago.

Overall, this is kinda hit and miss for me. I'd suggest next time you do a cast, try to cast closer to the character's age.

Tainted87
Tainted87 - 8/10/2012, 7:25 PM
I don't see this as "darker" or even more "mature", just vaguely thematic.

I love your Jeremy Irons casting though - he's FANTASTIC (haha...)

I don't like the Fantastic Four. They can be funny, but I have never actually WANTED to read F4, and the only thing that really got me in was just research - and the public library has quite a few trades available.

I had a dumb idea to "Noir" (as in, give it that kind of treatment similar to X-Men and Spider-man) the Fantastic Four, but focus on their lives before they go out into space. In fact, their shuttle would blow up before reaching our outer atmosphere, and Nick Fury would commemorate them as the "Fantastic Four".

I mean the way I look at characters - you have to be able to like them without their powers. I mean if that was all there was to a character, then Amazo or the Super Adaptoid would be the most interesting characters in DC and Marvel.

Ben is a short-tempered, old-fashioned, high school football player who joined the Air Force to afford college. He's an orphan, his brother was killed by a street gang, and he wants to make something of himself, to be more than just a memory and a tombstone.

Reed is a snobbish scientific prodigy who reached beyond what was expected of him and is pridefully known in many social circles as a young man who applied himself.

Sue is something of a conformist, adapting and blending into situations that often task other women her age. She is an unofficial caretaker for her younger brother, who soaks up all of the attention and affection from her adoptive parents.

Johnny is a hot-headed, live-in-the-moment teenager who wants to do everything right away, and won't be held back by social niceties. He has a different girlfriend every other week and gives little regard to the embarrassment he brings upon himself.

Apply those little bios to five or ten years into the future, and there you have, the Fantastic Four.
AshleyWilliams
AshleyWilliams - 8/10/2012, 7:26 PM
Fantastic Four should never be dark. It should have a similar tone to Captain America or at the darkest, Iron Man.

Other than that I like your ideas.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 8/10/2012, 7:27 PM
By the way...

Flame on
SimyJo
SimyJo - 8/10/2012, 7:41 PM
Viggo Mortensen has declared himself retired from mainstream films on at least two seperate occasions post-'Hidalgo' - I don't think he likes mainstream films much anymore, I'd be very surprised if he were up for anything in a superhero film, let alone a lead-role.

I'm not sure about Jeremy Irons. He would only need to show his eyes through the mask for the facial shots of acting and the rest can be done with CGI or a body-double for the action.
He has a great distinctive and powerfully expressive voice but I'm not sure about Germanic / European accents (that I'm sure Von Doom would have). Iron's American accent (when he put it on) in Die Hard 3 was shockingly bad, almost laughable, I don't think he does accents very well, not as brilliantly as Hugo Weaving did as the Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger anyway.

Kate Bosworth?, *shudders* - really didn't rate her performance much in Superman Returns to be honest.

Don't know about The Hunger Game's Josh Hutcherson, so can't comment.

Ron Perlman?, well, he would be almost unrecognisable under the make-up and he does have great comic-timing re: playing off of a Johnny Storm friendly rivalry. Possible I suppose.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 8/10/2012, 7:59 PM
F4 should never be dark in tone. Making it dark is missing the whole point of the F4.

But I must say, I like your Doom casting :)

@talinted

He would be perfect as Torch! I've seen every episode of True Blood and not once has that crossed my mind! Good call my friend.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 8/10/2012, 8:00 PM
Also, Mortenson is too old looking for Reed.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 8/10/2012, 8:04 PM
Latverian sounds almost like Dracula in Transylvania. Not sure what accent that is, but its that real sinister sound.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 8/10/2012, 8:15 PM
The only actor I can imagine playing Reed is Matthew Goode, which is terrible because he's not even that good of an actor - I just see Reed in his Ozymandias performance... sort of.
95
95 - 8/10/2012, 8:38 PM
Firstly, I would not watch this Fantastic Four. Secondly, your cast is full of good actors— just not right for this Marvel property. Lastly, ten years is a really long time — an older cast won't fly with 20th Century Fox (especially when their director made a teen superhero flick) nor would it happen under Walt Disney Company.

This is my opinion. I don't like your ideas (not that that should matter to you). May very well be wrong, but it's what I truly believe. Plus for editorial, your explanations were fairly weak.

@Tainted87 That noir idea would be a great character study — would like to see that on film. But of course, with their death and all — it's out of the question that'll ever happen.
95
95 - 8/10/2012, 8:41 PM
Don't take my comment as condescending. I just don't agree. Just try to script this film you described. See if it works. I would read. You could prove me wrong.
95
95 - 8/10/2012, 8:44 PM
Charlton Heston as Reed— oh, nevermind.
SimyJo
SimyJo - 8/11/2012, 5:07 AM
@ComicCritic;

"Iron's does not need an American Accent for Dr.Doom, I think a more foreign one would be much better. Latveria is also an European country so it's easy to say he adapted to the language there"...

That was exactly my point. If Irons struggles with an American accent, I doubt if he could do a far harder and nuanced Eastern-European Latvarian accent.
marvelstudios
marvelstudios - 8/11/2012, 8:53 AM
would only watch a FF movie if Marvel made it
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 8/11/2012, 11:30 AM
I think the main objective for Doctor Doom, and I mean - the real Doctor Doom, would be to find a VOICE actor to read his lines. As I've said with Deadpool, you can just hire a stunt double to wear the mask, and dub all of the lines.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 8/11/2012, 8:26 PM
That may be the first time we have ever agreed on anything. I won't let it go to my head.
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