How would YOU reboot the Fantastic 4?

[The Face]

I suppose it's no longer news; Fox has officially removed Fant4stic 2 from their line-up, therefore confirming that the property is pretty much dead for the time being.
I found myself thinking about this and wondering how Marvel could possibly reboot the Fantastic 4 should they ever get the rights back. So I thought I might as put the question forward to all of you and see what you think.
The rules are simple; there are none. Should the Fantastic 4 join the MCU? How? Should they be their own movies? Which comics should they be based on regular or ultimate? Should it be animated or live-action? Who would you get to play the characters? What story-arc should be used? Is a reboot even possible or have Fox effectively killed the property? Pretending for a moment that studio money isn't a problem how would YOU reboot the Fantastic 4?

 

[Tymminator]

I would have them established as the "First Family" of the MCU who disappeared at least 5 years before Ironman ever showed up. I could accept them being as far back as from the 1960's as some have said to even as late as the 1990's. In this area, I'm flexible and there are pros and cons to using either version. In the end, I guess I don't care which.

Either way, they would have been presumed dead/lost/whatever as they were stuck in some sort of dimension/Time warp/whatever so they missed the "Battle of New York"and I would bring them back as characters in Infinity War I or II.

I would have Reed Richard be cast as someone who could pull off being the smartest guy in the MCU and have the presence to be the one character where even Tony Stark would shut up and listen to.

 

[2kt09]

Sucks, I'm 2 weeks late to this.

If the merchandise sales warrant a reboot.

If we go down the "first family" approach the 60's method is sound. Really any decade that predates the original Ant-man and Wasp should be fine. I completely blanked out as to when they were still active.

I care enough to say that another period cbm is unnecessary and we could manage to make the F4 still be in their 20s and 30s without all the bloat of "trapped in time". My idea is that they would first be introduced in a GOTG film having explored some of the universe for a couple years to under a decade since they first left Earth. They haven't gone/couldn't go back since.
No origin movie, no flashbacks.
Since, this is in the MCU, the genre gimmick would either be space opera OR, although extremely unlikely, space horror.
The movies would obviously nitpick Ultimate and 616, while doing it's own thing.

Should the Fantastic 4 join the MCU? Should they be their own movies? Which comics should they be based on regular or ultimate? Should it be animated or live-action? Who would you get to play the characters? What story-arc should be used? Is a reboot even possible or have Fox effectively killed the property? Pretending for a moment that studio money isn't a problem how would YOU reboot the Fantastic 4?

No.
Yes and no.
Only familiar with Ultimate.
Animated because it's the superior medium.
I was more than fine with the 2015 cast.
...Mole-man and Annhilus...Evil Reed is too intriguing to pass up if the characters can even be developed that far
Fox effectively killed the property, but a reboot is always possible because that's the cinematic landscape we live in.
Already provided my synopsis up top.

 

[ernesth100]

Make them Inhumans.

 

[metaphysician]

Ugh, no. Definitely not.

My personal inclination is to have the reboot be an origin story, with Reed Richards the mind behind the first Earth-created FTL spaceship prototype. Ben, Sue, and Johnny are the crew on its first mission, which goes. . . interestingly. It works, but there are side effects. Also, the ship conks out in extra-solar space, near to a mysterious alien structure. Que main plot, as the newly minted Fantastic Four have to learn to control their powers, while investigating the structure and its inhabitants, while repairing the ship so they can go home.

 

[Krandor]

I would start with a doom movie and introduce him too. Then, since the F4 are explorers could have them show up in a GotG movie as a cameo as they are out exploring. Then you can have them return to earth in their own movie.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Sell it to Disney.

Then Disney should make it an action family comedy directed by Peyton Reed.

But it would be closer to Ant-Man, Iron Man and GOTG than it would be to the Tim Story "films".

 

[eon001]

Definitely sold by the lost in time/space concept. Having them come back from another dimension after infinity war would be a great way to kick off phase 4. They spent there time fighting annihilus and have trapped him there. (Setting him as a future villain)
I would have Mole man as a villain. Save Doom for the sequel. While the FF were in the other dimension Doom was brewing in Latveria. Observing world events but not interfering. The return of Reed brings him out of hiding because of there history together.
Keep the tone light. Like a family orientated GOTG. Basically the Incredbiles. I nice mix of drama and comedy. Big budget sitcom-ish feel.

 

[eon001]

If I was Fox, I would keep the FF and try and integrate them into the Xmen movies. Have them ride the coat tails of more successful movies and maybe set them up for another movie that doesn't suck.

If Fox sell the FF, they don't just lose the heroes, but they lose the awesome associated characters like Doom, Galactus, Silver Surfer, Skrulls etc. In the arms race of Superhero franchises, I think it would be dumb idea for them to get rid of potential billions.

I would order a creative sit down with Blur studio, Bryan Singer, Matthew Vaughn etc and try and thrash at a workable idea for the future of the FF.

They could create a mix of the Future Foundation and the 616 FF. Government creates a genius think tank to develop an answer to the "Mutant threat". This leads to experiments with cosmic rays. One thing leads to another and BOOM, Fantastic Four.

 

[metaphysician]

Fox almost certainly *can't* integrate the FF into the X-Men movies. If they could, they probably would have done that instead of the reboot.

 

[Thriller]

I would keep the FF origins story down to the first quarter of the movie (or less) for any future reboot, and not four fifths of the movie, like whats been done before. And MORE fight/action scenes! Both origin FF movies have been hampered by that. One decent fight scene (with Doom Zzzzzz) at the end, in both movies, is not enough!

 

[Dark Raven]

Make them Inhumans.

No more Inhumans. They're getting really dull. Everyone who is not is more refreshing than them.

 

[DigificWriter]

What I want to see happen is for FOX to try and take advantage of their 'warming' relationship with Marvel (resulting from whatever agreement they worked out allowing them to secure television licensing rights for the X-franchise) and work out some sort of arrangement whereby they can fold the "Four" into the "prime" X-Verse or the "Legion" X-Verse.

I'd also like to see an effort made to try and get Teller, Mara, etc. back and for FOX to pull a 2009 "V" where those actors play different versions of their same characters in a different universe.

 

[Dark Raven]

Lol. So yet another crap version of the FF then with all the baggage of the last disaster?

 

[DigificWriter]

Lol. So yet another crap version of the FF then with all the baggage of the last disaster?

Why/how would folding the "Four" into either the "prime" X-Verse or the "Legion" X-Verse and possibly trying to getMara, Teller, etc. back automatically equal "another crap version of the FF"?

It'd be no different than what's going on with Spider-Man over at Sony, at least in concept, other than that you'd bring back a cast that didn't really get a "fair shake".

The other scenario - which would be almost conceptually identical to what's now happening with Spider-Man - would be to negotiate with Marvel and work out a way to fold the "Four" into one of the two pre-existing versions of the "X-Verse", but go with a brand-new cast.

For those of us who like Marvel Studios' work but don't feel like they are or should be the "be all/end all" when it comes to properties based on comics owned by their sister company Marvel Entertainment, both of these scenarios would provide the "best of both worlds", as it were.

 

[Flint Marko]

Why/how would folding the "Four" into either the "prime" X-Verse or the "Legion" X-Verse and possibly trying to getMara, Teller, etc. back automatically equal "another crap version of the FF"?

It'd be no different than what's going on with Spider-Man over at Sony, at least in concept, other than that you'd bring back a cast that didn't really get a "fair shake".

The other scenario - which would be almost conceptually identical to what's now happening with Spider-Man - would be to negotiate with Marvel and work out a way to fold the "Four" into one of the two pre-existing versions of the "X-Verse", but go with a brand-new cast.

For those of us who like Marvel Studios' work but don't feel like they are or should be the "be all/end all" when it comes to properties based on comics owned by their sister company Marvel Entertainment, both of these scenarios would provide the "best of both worlds", as it were.

So Digific wants Fox to have their fourth attempt at a property they've never understood. Never mind the fact that they've never come close to getting anything outside of the X-men right, or that each of their attempts have gotten worse with each effort, or the fact that Marvels track record pretty much proves they're the end all be all for adapting their own characters; nope, Digific wants to see Fox take another crack at it! I'd act surprised but this is the same guy who swears the X-men have no continuity problems.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ I answered the thread question honestly.

I like the Marvel Studios movies, but their track record means jack-squat to me as justification for other studios rolling over and just handing properties - successful or otherwise - back to them for no apparent reason other than that Marvel Studios has made a crap-load of money and a bunch of movies that lots of people enjoy.

 

[Flint Marko]

^ I answered the thread question honestly.

I like the Marvel Studios movies, but their track record means jack-squat to me as justification for other studios rolling over and just handing properties - successful or otherwise - back to them for no apparent reason other than that Marvel Studios has made a crap-load of money and a bunch of movies that lots of people enjoy.

When the other studio in question takes a dump on the franchise three times in a row, with each successive effort being worse than the last, you don't go for a fourth attempt. That's just common sense. You have a history of making contrarian claims like this and providing no solid reasoning to back it up, but I'd be interested to see you try in this case.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ I disagree. I'm of the belief that you try until you succeed, regardless of how badly or repeatedly you fail.

That's my reasoning, and I don't actually have to justify it.

 

[Flint Marko]

^ I disagree. I'm of the belief that you try until you succeed, regardless of how badly or repeatedly you fail.

That's my reasoning, and I don't actually have to justify it.

I could easily go into the obvious ways in which that sentiment doesn't apply to multi-billion dollar media conglomerates with damaged IPs negatively effecting their bottom line, but I'm sure it'd fall on deaf ears.
And no you don't have to justify anything, you never do, but don't expect to be taken seriously if you don't.

 

[Dark Raven]

It's not just taking a dump again on the franchise when having been dumped on 3 times already, but taking a dump using some of the same **** as before from the last time round.

^ I disagree. I'm of the belief that you try until you succeed, regardless of how badly or repeatedly you fail.

That's my reasoning, and I don't actually have to justify it.

So you believe that Fox should just keep trying ad infinitum with this leftover turd from Trank until finally one day, maybe someone appreciates it?

Sounds like insanity to me: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

 

[SlamAdams]

Reed Richards - John Krasinski
Ben Grimm - Seann William Scott
Sue Storm - Anna Torv
Johnny Storm - Cameron Monaghan
Dr. Doom - Matthias Schoenarts

Reed is a celebrity scientist, Neil Degrasse Tyson meets Steve Jobs. He is working for Roxxon on space tourism, a means to an ends for his deep space travel experimentations, specifically a Temporal Lock which counteracts gravitational time dilation. His pulled strings to get Ben Grimm on the crew. He was an ace pilot in the military but his academic struggles kept him out of NASA. He usually just ends up doing basic maintenance. Reed is hosting investors including his girlfriend and Roxxon PR agent, Sue Storm, and her brother, Johnny. She pulled strings to get him to be the first civilian. They all wear blue biometric jumpsuits. They simulate atmospheric conditions on the body and record vital signs from further study on extended space travel. Hidden among the investors is a Latverian terrorist sent by Doom to sabotage Reed's project. The terrorist first uploads a virus into the main computers and then sets off a suicide bomb vest causing an emergency exit. Ben and Reed had to save a crucial piece of the temporal lock before getting one of the lifeboats with Sue and Johnny. The virus tracks Reed's biometric suit and forces that lifeboat to Latveria instead of the agreed landing spot with the rest of the lifeboats. They end up crashlanding and getting separated all with superpowers caused by radiation coming off the temporal lock. Doom is targeting Reed because the temporal lock was his idea. It was the experiment he was working on in college that backfired and burned his body. That's as far as I got. I figured the Four would spend time braving Latverian forests and Doom's castle trying to reunite and fight him together. The Temporal lock would be based on the Doomlock, Doom's device that stops time travelers from changing the present.

 

[ripse]

Join with MCU, like Spidey now in civil war

 

[Mike Murdock]

I'm going to focus more on the production side than the content side. I think, first off, add them to the MCU, give Marvel creative control. Fox has shown they can't turn a profit let alone make a good movie out of the Fantastic Four.

Second, have a creative braintrust like they did for the first Iron Man that pulls in anyone who has a familiar understanding of the character and puts them in a room (the one exception is I'd have Stan Lee give his thoughts but not be in the room. I don't want a George Lucas effect where his presence dominates everything else). But people like Mark Waid and Jonathan Hickman absolutely should be there. I wouldn't be opposed to Hickman even having a go at the script.

Third, hand the project to Peyton Reed. Ant-Man demonstrated what he can do with a Marvel property. More importantly, he had a proposal that Fox rejected for being too Jack Kirby that shows how much he loves the Fantastic Four.

As for the content, I'll only say a few general rules. It should be fun without being campy. It should have a sense of adventure. They should be explorers of the unknown. To me, the Ultimates comic is the closest tone I can think of. I also don't think it should be an origin story. You can have the origin in a few minutes if you need to, but that's about it (I wouldn't bother). I'd also introduce them carefully. Don't start with the Fantastic Four. Have the Avengers call on Reed Richards as a consultant. He can have a cool scene delivering some necessary exposition while stretching just to introduce the character and get audiences to accept him. Then they'll be curious to see what Marvel can do with the property.

 

[Dasher10]

I'd have Reed and Sue already married. I'd use somebody who isn't Doom as the villain. I'd have Doom fight Black Panther fight Doom first. I'd use a new villain who we haven't seen before like Annihilus. I'd combine origins between 616 and Ultimate to make it a space expedition through a wormhole to a parallel universe. I'd make it less a superhero film and more of a pure sci-fi film with super powers. I'd focus heavily on banter and interaction between the cast.

The tone should be pulp sci-fi horror like a lot of 50s and early-60s Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comics mixed with the Twilight Zone, Alien and HP Lovecraft and then layer humorous dialog on top of it.

Most importantly, I'd like to see a director who has a strong visual style, has done sci-fi films and can do justice to the visuals of George Perez, John Byrne and the late Jack Kirby and Mike Wieringo. I feel like Alfonso Couron or Ron Howard could really do something special with the IP.