Fox Finally Got Around To Unveiling A Fantastic Four Plot Synopsis

[RossaLincoln]

Fox Finally Got Around To Unveiling A Fantastic Four Plot Synopsis

It's basically the Ultimates version.

After what feels like eleventy-twelve years of dithering, Fox has, at long last, deigned to tell us something about what the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot will actually be about. Earlier this week an official plot synopsis magically showed up on Rotten Tomatoes. Here it is:

THE FANTASTIC FOUR, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel's original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy. (C) Fox

No doubt that the "friend turned enemy" is the techblogger version of Doctor Doom [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138528-Toby-Kebbell-Says-His-Doctor-Doom-Is-an-Antisocial-Programmer-in-Fantastic-Four-Reboot]. Meanwhile, now we know it's interdimensional travel that bestows powers on the foursome. Sigh. Though, given that previous statements by people associated with the film have said it will be "gritty" and "grounded", it makes sense that this movie is going to draw heavily from Marvel's Ultimates universe version of the Fantastic Four. If you like Ultimates, then this will be good news. If you don't, then you're probably in agreement with me on the likelihood the film will be any good.

I'm more interested in how understated this reveal is. Moviebob has been all over the biggest question [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/moviesandtv/columns/moviebob/12145-Fox-s-Upcoming-The-Fantastic-Four-Isn-t-Getting-Any-Hype] surrounding the film - why the hell is Fox being so secretive about it? This synopsis is the kind of information you'd normally expect to come out in a press release or, perhaps, even some kind of more deliberate press-manipulating event. Instead it's been dropped like bad political news at 5 PM on Friday. Weird.

Feel free to speculate on why this is in comments.

Source: Badass Digest [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_fantastic_four/].

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[bigfatcarp93]

NO.

Fox, let me make this clear:

There are heroes who can be done dark and gritty. Spider-Man? Can be done. Has been done. Daredevil? Most people prefer him that way. Hulk? Go for it. There's tons of superheroes who can be done dark with the correct writer.

THE FANTASTIC FUCKING FOUR CANNOT BE DONE DARK AND GRITTY. And they SURE AS SHIT can't be done "grounded." I mean, have you seen these guys' rogues gallery? Half of it is aliens, and another third is from either the future, Atlantis or another dimension.

FUCK OFF AND QUIT RUINING THIS SHIT.

 

[IOwnTheSpire]

Honestly, we need to wait and see before we judge this movie. I am frankly tired of everyone talking about how a movie or show is going to suck LONG before they've seen it. People keep saying things are going to suck, and often they turn out quite good. You'd think we'd have learned how to stop prejudging things, but we keep doing it, and it has to stop!

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I think fox knows this is going to fail, but are steamrolling ahead to keep the rights from reverting.

 

[ryukage_sama]

Maybe this is all some elaborate ruse. Maybe they're transported from a grim, "grounded" universe to the more narratively interesting interesting universe where they have to figure out how to behave.

Or maybe this is all exactly how it appears it will fail. Fox's own hesitation is immensely troubling for those counting on the film's success. I'd like to see the F4 returned to Marvel, but Fox has the funds to absorb a box office dud whereas Sony does not, so it's not very likely.

 

[Something Amyss]

Honestly, we need to wait and see before we judge this movie.

This is the internet, where logic and reason come to die.

That said, I honestly won't be surprised if it does suck.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

I'm not even a fan of the Four, in fact I think Doom is the only good thing from that franchise, but this... This is just... I honestly feel disgusted at how franchise-defiling this is gonna be. Like One More Day or Other M or anything Highlander that wasn't the first one. This is not a superhero blockbuster movie. This is a quick cheap B movie that they're slapping a brand name on so they don't give their rival more ammo. I know they can make good Marvel movies, because I watched Days of Future Past and that was awesome, so to see them do this... Ugh.

 

[RicoADF]

Urgh, more boring comic movies. Seriously I'm over this stuff, never understood the attraction some people have to them but didn't mind when they weren't flooding the cinemas like they are now. Their the CoD of movies.

 

[Kameburger]

"Fantastic 4 can be great as long as we fundamentally change everything about it!" says Fox! But fear not lady's and privileged patriarchs alike, we'll all get 90% behind this movie when the inevitable backlash from the ethnically diverse cast gets a trailer reveal.

We're doomed as a species.

 

[wswordsmen]

I am still not convinced that anyone will ever see this movie legally, except the production staff. We know more about the Marvel Movies slated for 2019 than we do about this.

 

[Reed Spacer]

Considering what steaming piles the last Fantastic Four movies were, it'll take some convincing that this new one will be any good.

 

[Therumancer]

I'm guessing they have unwittingly created something even worse than the Roger Corman version in their own way, and are now in a position after having spent a ton of money of deciding how to run damage control since they pretty much need to release it to keep the rights, but at the same time they are likely to take a massive bath upon release and what's more seriously taint their own brand and license.

The more I hear about this movie the more terrible it sounds like it's going to be, and really that's saying something when they already gave me such low expectations with the first couple of movies.

The thing that gets me though is why if they can't use the license to make money they insist on holding onto it and biding time. Personally, I'd think they would just sell the rights back to Disney/Marvel for at least enough to cover their losses, something which might also ease the bad blood.

Still, I find it kind of odd that they would think "Dark And Gritty" is a good idea with The Fantastic Four which is by definition supposed to be upbeat, despite having it's darker moments. I mean The Ultimate Universe did far better than anyone expected, but wasn't ever close to being a replacement for the main continuity for a reason. Seeing so many characters go grimdark was amusing in a way, especially when it was officially decided to be happening in a parallel dimension, but it just wasn't something that could carry all these characters.

That said I've still been morbidly curious as to how bad they managed to mangle the central family dynamic of the series. Supposedly The Human Torch has long since been confirmed to be black, and apparently The Invisible Girl is still a hot blonde, and they are still brother and sister... so which one is adopted, does mommy have explaining to do, or is this all just being glossed over and treated normally because nobody, including one of the smartest men in Marvel (perhaps THE smartest) somehow doesn't notice anything wrong and it will all be treated deadpan...

 

[RJ 17]

My favorite thing about news regarding this movie is that I get to see the thumbnail of The Thing getting punched in the face by the spring-loaded boxing glove.

 

[Sanunes]

I keep thinking the reason why they are making the movie this way is because "X-Men worked with these ideas, so lets use them in Fantastic Four".

 

[spartenX]

I think reading that synopsis actually made me dumber

 

[Kahani]

interdimensional travel that bestows powers on the foursome... "grounded"

I don't get it.

The thing that gets me though is why if they can't use the license to make money they insist on holding onto it and biding time.

What makes you think they can't use it to make money? Both the previous films easily made a profit. They may not be considered particularly good, but that's an entirely different matter.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Yeah, still not excited, but i will wait for a proper trailer. Thing about the story for the new movie is if its set in another universe, then why not have Galactus or one of his helpers (not Surfer) and when they beat him and return to earth they could then set up Galactus following them to earth for FF2. Guess it looks like Doom is some kind of alien overlord in this, thing is if he can destroy earth while living in an alternate universe then he seems way to powerful.

They still have a sequel planned for 2017.

 

[faefrost]

So they are giving us the "Ultimate Fantastic Four" The Movie?

... but that comic was pretty much awful in every attempt at it. The origin story was stupid. The characterizations were stupid. The take on Doom was stupid. Where they eventually took the characters was stupid. The fans rejected it and it was more or less cancelled 4 times. The biggest problem was from the begining there was no place to go with the characters that made any sense whatsoever. They tried to go real world dark and gritty and it failed horribly. The Fantastic Four require a sense of adventure or exploration. They are at heart a cosmic Indiana Jones story mixed with a touch of the Cosby show or similar classic sitcom. As someone said Dark and Gritty is idiotic for this property.