FOX'S Fantastic Four Reboot Isn't The Fantastic Four You Know... And That's OK!

We're only a few days away from the release of Josh Trank's controversial Fantastic Four reboot, and many fans still seem to not be overly excited for the film, and on the surface, it IS easy to understand why. The film takes Marvel's first family and drastically alters many things: Johnny Storm is black, Sue is adopted, the whole team is younger than usual, the uniforms are totally different, Thing doesn't even have a uniform, and Dr Doom doesn't look much like Dr Doom. But if you look beyond that, the core elements of the Fantastic Four are still there. The powers seem accurate, Johnny and Sue are siblings (and there is no reason to believe the bond between adopted siblings is any less meaningful and existsent than that of biological siblings), Reed and Ben are best friends, the four are a team (and undoubtedly will be a "family" by the end of the film), and Doom is set to be an extremely powerful adversary for the team to go up against. The film shares the same core aspects as the comics: family, science and standing up to the challenge, no matter how outmatched you may seem.

So if the film shares the same core aspects as the comics, what makes the film seem so outrageously bad? Why can't the filmmakers take some liberties with how the deliver their incarnation of the characters as long as the core elements remain intact? We allow it to happen in comics all the time, in the form of "what if" story lines, mini-series, and alternate publishing lines that deliver stories set in other universes (i.e. Marvel's ultimate comics line, or DC's Vertigo comics). A great example of this is Marvel's Noir universe. In this case, we are specifically talking about Spider-Man Noir. SM Noir is drastically different to the mainstream Peter Parker of Earth-616, but his core elements are the same: he's an arachnid based vigilante, doing his best to ensure his world is a safer place for his loved ones. Beyond that, he hasn't really got much in common with your usual Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man. Another great example is Ultimate Thor: Norse God (Asgardian) on Earth, using his enhanced abilities and mystical hammer Mjolnir to fight evil. But Ultimate Thor is something of a hippie, rebelling against the government and "fighting for the people", etc. So if this is acceptable in comics, why not in film? After all, CBMs do simply take place in an alternate universe. 

So in conclusion, why slam a film that isn't even out for being different to the source material if it is, at its core, the same? So what if Johnny Storm is black? The Sue/Johnny situation never would have been possible back when the Fantastic Four were conceived, but times change, and media reflects that. Hell, if Stan Lee, the father of Marvel Comics himself, tells us that there's no issue with Johnny Storm's casting and Sue being adopted, who are we to argue? If you remove the prejudice from your opinion, the trailers for the film don't look half bad. So I urge you - go into the film with an OPEN MIND. Let it be different to Fantastic Four you grew up with, and accept it. You might just find yourself enjoying the movie.