USA Today's online edition (on newstands probably tomorrow) features a lengthy article previewing the Fantastic Four movie and has a cool new graphic of the movie's main stars.
The article focuses on how much is riding on the film's success after a spate of comic clinkers (as far as box office receipts go anyway) such as Catwoman and Elektra. The article also notes that The Incredibles animated feature may have stolen a lot of Fantastic Four's thematic thunder.
Here's an excerpt: "Since they formed a dysfunctional superhero family in 1961, the Fantastic Four have grappled with all forms of treachery and villains such as the power-hungry Dr. Doom, the bionic soldier Super-Skrull and the planet-devouring Galactus.
"But they never faced the League of Nerds. Or its doomsday weapon: the Internet. Or an Oscar-winning animated film that beat the superheroes to the big screen.
"Those foes arise July 8 when Fantastic Four arrives in theaters amid weighty expectations. And although the world may not be at stake, Hollywood's comic-book universe will be watching how one of its most beloved titles fares on the big screen."
As for comparisons to The Incredibles: Marvel Studios exec Avi Arad told USA Today, "I have no legal proof they lifted anything" from the comic book. "Let's just say great minds think alike."
"Filmmakers cut a scene in which The Thing rescues a cat from a tree because it looked too similar to a scene in which Mr. Incredible does the same thing.
"That had been a part of the comic book, but they did the scene first," Arad says. "And they made a great movie. Our challenge is to make just as great a movie."
The article goes into some depth about the history of the FF comic book and the long haul to the movie screen.
Check out the full article
here.
Meanwhile, FF writer Simon Kinberg relayed this to Hollywood Reporter about Dr. Doom's character journey in the film:
"The biggest thing I did on that movie, I think, was transforming the villain of the film. That was an ongoing and continuous process over the span of production because we just needed to make sure that we got the villain right because he is probably the most famous villain in the Marvel universe -- Dr. Doom. It actually was the basis for so many different villains and so many different comic books and even Darth Vader. He's the sort of uber-villain that they needed to make sure they really nailed and Julian McMahon plays him in the movie and did a fantastic job with him. But I was also working on the other characters and the other scenes and the action sequences that always transform as you're suddenly in the space and there aren't walls that are supposed to be walls and stuff like that. That was also a very fun process. I went up to Vancouver a few times to work closely with Tim and the cast. As somebody who was just a huge fan of the comics, it was just a thrill to suddenly see The Thing played by Michael Chiklis actually embodied and walking around was a pretty surreal stunning incredibly exciting thing -- no pun intended."
To read the full article, click
here.