S2E11: VS X-Movies

[Mike]

D-Rod said that making a good Fantastic Four movie isn't that hard. Except, obviously, it is. The problem is that, as you guys said, FF is Marvel's First Family. And yet, they keep casting children to play them.

Here's my thoughts on making a good FF film:

1) Cast some actual adults. And I understand that Kate Mara was in her 30's, but Reed, Sue, and Ben all require a measure of gravitas, which so far only Michael Chiklis has brought to the table. They shouldn't look like teenagers in over their heads... by the mid-point of the film, they need to look like the kind of people who can manage the Baxter Building and who deserve to be in charge of the sort of empire that maintains the FF endeavor. Don't shuffle this off to them working for some nefarious government agency just because it's easier on your plot muscles. Make it work.

2) Make them a believable family. Start with Sue and Reed being married if that makes it easier, but they have to be believable. Look at the first X-Men movie. Wolverine is our liaison into the X-mansion. He's the guy who asks the questions for the audience. And when he gets there, the X-Men are an established and believable family. We didn't need to see every single origin. We didn't have to watch Xavier mentoring his original students or see Scott and Jean fall in love. It was all there for us when the movie opened, and the writing conveyed that without having to spell out every detail. DO THAT!

3) If you're going to open with a Dr. Doom story, then make him the ruler of Latveria. Make him a sorcerer. Don't feel like you need to give him and the FF their powers at the same time. As ruler of Latveria, Doom is A) bent on revenge against the FF for perceived sleights, but B) can have a cool motivation in wanting to throw off chains of both Soviet/Russian interference and/or U.S. imperialism. He is a terrorist, but should be sympathetic to a degree. Magneto-like in that aspect.

4) I don't care which of Reed's experiments gives them super powers, but for God's sake, don't make it repeatable. Don't give us an open door for creating superheroes whenever we damn well feel like it. Stop taking the easy way out.

5) Show me Galactus.