Pretty simple. Choose a work from comic books be it super hero, crime noir, science fiction, high fantasy or what ever. Currently being done, already many adaptions in the can, never been done before, it doesn't matter. Just share with your fellow fans how you would approach the big screen or even small screen versions of whichever character, franchise or series you want to see. Give us specifics in castings or just tell us what "types". What's the tone? Your over all story? Or maybe you just want to tell us the set up and keep the story under wraps? No matter. Share here. This isn't about posting full on fan fiction either. There are places on the Hype to share that. Think of this as more your pitch for what you would like to see and how you would like to see it done. I think it's inevitable that such an endeavor will bring up and criticize previously done adaptations. That's understandable, but try to keep that thing to a minimum. This isn't so much about someone else's vision this is about YOUR vision. If you were tasked with bringing some comic book inspired idea into live action, or even animated form, and you were given whatever resources to accomplish it How Would You Do It?
How I'd do Fantastic Four? Spoiler First up, I would place them into the MCU, no doubt but I honestly think the MCU connection is the least important aspect. The franchise could work as either a film or a streaming series though reasonably speaking a show would require an incredibly high budget. Let's start off with tone. Tone: I see the tone as being a mix of the nonchalance cool of OCEAN'S 11 mixed with the high tech tales of exploration one had on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The characters are all witty banter and creative solutions that take on situations one would expect from a group tackling all sorts of scientific mysteries and attempting to expand the horizon of knowledge. I would go for background music that alternates between a big brassy swing sound like Sinatra in the early 60's and a more subdued techno inspired one. Think half the time it's Henry Mancini or Lalo Schifrin and the other half it's Daft Punk. Above all the connection between the main characters needs to be front and center. This is a "family". There is a deep connection between all of them. Now, that doesn't somehow preclude conflict, drama and personality clashes. If anything it guarantees it! That said that element cannot come off as forced or unearned. Ben's resentments and depression, Reed's guilt, Johnny's impulsive flippancy and Sue caught in the middle of it all could be done in a way that is feels very manufactured. This is something even the comics often stumble with. I would show that each character has a bond with the other three in ways that are unique and understandable despite the out there circumstances they always find themselves in. Basic Set-Up: I think I would start en media res with the team having the origin told in flash backs, whether film or TV series. If a film, those flash backs would be to simply fill in plot and background info. On a TV show I think I would take the LOST approach and have pivotal information revealed during said flashbacks. The flashbacks would be about both the lead up to them gaining their powers and the aftermath but also character history from long before the group got together, ranging from childhood to college age. Based out of Manhattan the team's headquarters of the Baxter building is more than just a place to hang their hats. It is the central hub for cutting edge theoretical research, which cover particle physics, nano tech, artificial intelligence, genetics, and astrophysics, except that it's not all just theoretical. At any time of the average work week great minds of science, politics and celebrity can be found coming and going from the ground level entrances. Of course that's when the FF want people to know they have guests. And guests aplenty would be an element I would have. Real life celebs, politicians and scientists along with the FF's fictional alums like Hank Pym and Tony Stark would always be around conferring with Reed and the team. I think the team needs to be seen as "cool" and celebrity pop ins would add to that. People come and go to get the team's help or assist them with something but Reed is also smart enough to harness another form of power the team possesses to do good. The power of celebrity and wealth. To that end the Fantastic Four Futures Foundation is the name under which the team operates it's charitable and philanthropic enterprises. If a TV show the FFFF would be a very prominent aspect. On a show you can have the FFFF lead to all kinds of stories. If a film it would be a bit more of a background element. Action would be of the four quadrant manner, not too gory or over the line but it has to be thrilling. The story has to be about sci fi wonder and the dangers that can come with it. The Team: 1. Johnny Storm/The Human Torch- Okay I'm gonna get a huge pet peeve off my chest about the usual depiction of Johnny... HE SHOULD NOT BE A ****ING IDIOT. Look I know it's can seem to a film maker that with one of the FF being the literal smartest man in the world that it's natural to have some other member be thick as a brick. I get it but it irks me no end in toon and movie versions where Johnny is just a fool that's there to bring laughs. Johnny of course can be used for comic relief, and of course he's not at Reed's level intellectually but why does that then also mean he's a dope with no common sense who comes off as if he has no real respect for any of the others so often in adaptations? Well I ain't having none of that. Johnny would be called on for lighter material and to bring humor but it shouldn't really ever be at the expense of being a real character, or undermining his or other character's inherent dignity. In my conception of a live action FF, whether TV/Streaming or Film I see Johnny as an honest to goodness teenager. Not an astronaut, not a pilot, not a peer in any way close to the others in age. He's a kid. Full stop. Now Johnny acting flip, making huge mistakes or acting out fits and I think the audience would find it more acceptable. He's well under 21 years old. As such, his emotional tool box isn't fully loaded yet. He doesn't have the natural stockpile of experiences to draw from that the other members do. This makes him rash, but not acting just to do dumb stuff. He's literally ignorant, but not thick headed stupid. As a kid he's likely to overcompensate in all manner of things both to positive and negative effect. He loves his sister deeply as he was convinced for so long that they would only have each other in this world. Now there's a man in Sue's life. How does Johnny handle that? I actually think that instead of headless rebellion that Johnny welcomes Reed, even idolizes him, though he's got to keep a "too cool for school" attitude as a front. Remember, he's a teen overcompensating. But he embraces Reed. Sue is more than just Johnny's older sister. She's been his defacto mother as well and he wants her to be happy. In Johnny's eyes he wants that family unit to be complete and Reed isn't just his brother in law, he's a father figure. One that he butts heads with but that is what happens between father's and sons all the time. Johnny also LOVES having super powers and the celebrity that comes with it. To that end instead of being indifferent to Reed's technobabble, at least when it comes to his powers Johnny soaks up Reed's observations like a sponge. He's fascinated by what he can do and listens to Reed so that he can learn to do even more. Johnny is also a gear head and I would make this a point of commonality between he and Ben. Johnny is never going to get the concepts of sub atomic particles but he understands the engineering of modern cars and is even picking up some aeronautics form Ben. Johnny knows Ben misses his life as a pilot and so he always asks him about stories from that time in Ben's life as they go about working on the classic cars that are Johnny's hobby. Johnny has reservoirs of compassion but again his youth trips him up. He really feels for Ben but in trying to get him out of the funks that sometime overcome him he ends up appearing to just be a snot nosed punk to those on the outside looking in. He's just trying to do something in a situation he feels powerless in where someone he respects and loves is being tortured by their circumstances. Johnny might tease Ben to take his mind off of his situation, but if someone else does it even half hearted he will blow his top at them. I don't have any particular actor in mind for Johnny or any of the other members but if I had to put down the type I guess I would go for someone like a light haired Justin Long meets Sean William Scott type from the early part of their careers. Somebody that can get the youthful aspects of the character across well, both the genuine and the flippant and can handle both the dramatic and light shades. 2. Ben Grimm/The Thing- The character that always evokes the most pathos, but also the most fun and relatable character. Ben is the guy that is the natural protector type since he was young. He was the type that for sure bought into all sorts of common held stereotypes about being a man and he did his damndest to live up to them to the max, but not in a way that's all about aggrandizing himself at the expense of others. For Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew all that male energy is about being strong enough and stoic enough to handle what ever life throws your way so you can be there for your family but also so that you are tough enough to protect those less fortunate or weaker than yourself. Ben is about commitment, and about taking the slings and arrows of life as they come because that's what a man does. This is a bit old fashioned in it's outlook but with Ben it works. That's not to say he doesn't have the signature Marvel Comics angst. No, it's there in spades. He's just really good at covering his disgust and depression at what has happened to him for the outside world. So he throws himself whole hog into the world of super heroics a celebrity and attempts to live his life as though nothing has changed all that much for him despite the reminder he gets whenever he looks in a mirror. Ben is the most New Yawk of the four. He is an embraced and beloved figure of everyday folks in NYC. He's on a first name basis with every food vendor and hot dog cart owner in a ten block radius of the Baxter Building. TMZ and other tabloid media stake out the building's entrance to get video of the affable "freak" who tries to live life as though he's not a giant super strong orange rock colored being. He goes about his life trying to live it the way he did before the accident. This leads to inadvertent humor as Ben clothes himself in comically over sized NYC sports Jerseys or everyday clothing. Ben loves kids, again that natural protector part of him, so he often spends his off time donating himself to the FFFF charities that deal with handicapped and disfigured children. Ben also feels that he'll never have children of his own now. As such he attempts to pass on knowledge and wisdom of the hard earned kind to Johnny as much as he can. Ben has resentments against Reed. Who deep down would not? But he's also aware that his friend is beating himself up inside everyday that he cannot find a cure. Ben knows that while Reed is a man of total rationality somewhere in his psyche Reed thinks that Ben's condition and the inability of him to find a cure despite all his brilliance is a punishment the universe has doled out for Reed's arrogance about his towering intellect. As such, while Ben feels bad about being transformed, he actually feels worse for Reed and keeps a stiff upper lip to not hurt his feelings. This mix of inner turmoil and the way that Ben's personality was even before the exposure to cosmic rays means that of them all Ben is always ready to leap head first into some adventure. If he's doing something, if his big rocky hide can be useful then that's less time he has to contemplate how his deformity has affected his life. I think they hit the nail on the head with Michael Chiklis in the Story films casting wise but he was not well served by those scripts. So I would keep the casting in that wheelhouse. A big bear that can be both menacing and lovable in equal measure. 3.Susan Storm-Richards/The Invisible Woman- Sue is the member of the team that is dealing with it all. And I do mean everything. She is not a scientist as in the Story or Trank films. But what she does have is a natural skill at organization and delegating responsibility. The team but also the Baxter Building and the FFFF could not work without her constant efforts to keep every plate spinning. Sue has a natural gift for PR, and spin, but not in the negative way we think of in say politics. No, she's great at making her case for something and being able to negotiate among people to get it done. It could be an outgrowth of navigating the personalities of the FF or it could be an inborn talent. In any case she is through either nature or circumstance an outgoing extrovert. In NYC she's a sought after celebrity that can bring focus and action to what ever cause the FFFF has in it's cross hairs. She's in a way the team's therapist too. Everyone, even Reed goes to Sue to cry on her shoulder or to complain about the others. This can be overwhelming but Sue keeps her frustrations well hidden under a facade of being a modern woman that's got it all together. She's the one member that thinks it's all on her to make it work when they are not out on an adventure. The adventuring super hero thing is Reed's department. Her domain is everything else that makes the adventures possible. Her marriage, raising her brother, looking out for Ben, running the charities, administering the board for the research the Baxter Building does. She does it all because she has to, which is what many women that balance career and home will tell you. Her codename is a two edged sword. She does so much and does it flawlessly she sometimes feels she is invisible. It's like as though the others often don't get that the team operates as it does due to her herculean efforts. The other side of that sword is that there are days she wishes she could just disappear and let all of this weight be on someone else's shoulders. Sue is not a scientist but she is fascinated by Reed and how he views the world, existence in total. Reed is devoted to truth above all, and in searching for those truths he reveals new wonders to the world. She may get frustrated with the man but he's someone she has complete and total faith in. Sue's ability to improvise also serves her well in the use of her powers. Perhaps more so than even Reed she is the one member of the team that can use her powers in the most versatile way and she is the most inherently dangerous member of the team, something to often overlooked by the FF's adversaries, even Doom. I guess in casting you need a mixture of the gravitas that a Charlize Theron has (and had even when she was quite young) and the everyday womanly smarts and comic timing of a Sarah Chalke type. 4. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic- Oh boy... Where to start? Okay first off Reed has got to come off a lot less like an egghead and a lot more cool. Perhaps to the point of arrogance even. If you look at recent adaptations getting across how amazing Reed is because of his intellect more than his power set is seemingly difficult. Making smart cool and interesting is a balancing act, with it's own pitfalls writers fall into regularly. Again, I think the key though is to make Reed and his intelligence cool. The difficulty is not doing it in the way that's currently en vogue. More often than not these days you find fictional geniuses as being depicted as either snobby, arrogant asshats that are separate and cut off from society or others in some way usually emotionally or they are geniuses but lack some aspect of common sense. In any case there is this very ham fisted rule in a lot of stories where there is some heavy personality price to be paid for being so much smarter than everybody else and while it can work to make Cumberbatch's Holmes cool, or Dr. House ect. it also tends to make them off putting in some way. The other type is the usual socially awkward nerd trope. None of that should apply to Reed. No, for Reed I think the template is another BBC regular... Doctor Who, or more specifically the affable and endearing take of the Matt Smith/David Tenant years of the Timelord. Here was a super genius that was a little off, sure, and still a science genius but never an ass to those whom it was unwarranted to be so. Funny, always thinking, always observing always game to find out something new. That's Reed to T if I were in charge of the character. I would leaven that with a pinch of social awkwardness but maybe not even that. I would say that Reed is eternally "un-hip" but he's always "cool". Reed isn't keeping up with popular culture because he's unconnected to the wider world and culture. He's more than aware. He just realizes it doesn't really matter. But he is grounded into what does, and that goes beyond his research. He calculates it all into his actions. He isn't blind to politics, nor human emotions and interactions. That sort of analysis on the fly is what gives him such an edge in his adventures and endeavors, both before he gained his powers and after. That's why again, flashbacks are really important. Establish that Reed was a genius that thrilled to adventure as much as to research. Make it that he sees no appreciable difference maybe? All knowledge is self knowledge could be part of his personal credo. He's not a cold man. His emotions are as keyed into things as anything else. He is fulfilled by finding out new things and going new places and he wants others to be just as excited as he is. He's a rational man but he sees a "spiritual" value in scientific quests, and a beauty in the truth science uncovers about the universe and sentient existence in it. This also makes him the type that takes a lot of effort to surprise on his enemies part. Reed even without his power could walk in and out of CIA headquarters and liberate whatever information he wanted to an no one would ever know he was there. Again, like the Doctor... He's just that cool. No, I would have this version of Reed not be simply a forgetful professor type that shuts himself off from his friends and family all the time. If anything this version of Reed is in fact using his brain all the time to try and serve them in some fashion. Cutting them off knowingly or inadvertently would actually be the signs of someone a lot less bright than Reed is supposed to be. No this is a Reed that has a balance between his emotions and his rationale sides. What makes him a genius is that he can actually navigate those two areas equally. Now that brings up some interesting story points once you establish that because now when he gets to a situation where he must choose between the two, where he can't find the way to solve the problem all around you get to see what his choices will be and it's more likely for the drama to work. If we all assume Reed has a huge emotional blind spot and is an absent minded professor type then when he does just that... Who is gonna be surprised? If you establish that he has got his **** together then it becomes a bigger deal when even he can't square a circle so to speak. Above all the actor needed to play Reed cannot just be a nerdy milquetoast. He has to have a charm, even a magnetism, must be good at playing the collected type but also show the commitment to science because he finds it all so wondrous. I honestly don't even know where to start with the casting. I will say the story films and the show on CN and the Trank films all missed the mark to varying degrees to my eyes.
I've probably said this a couple times but here we go... If I made a Teen Titans film, this would be my reference material: DC Comics Presents # 26 "Where Nightmares Begin - Due to the fact that I think it would be pretty awesome to begin the movie with Robin's pseudo-Dream where he's fighting along side Starfire, Beast Boy, Wonder Girl and the rest of the team while being confused about it all before waking up and finding out from Raven that the "dream" had a purpose to it. The New Teen Titans #1 - Birth of the Titans It would not only be ideal for setting up the team but also explains why Robin has a rocky relationship without Bruce Wayne and touching on when Wonder Woman saved Donna Troy from a fire and brought her to Themyscira. The New Teen Titans #8 - A Day in the Lives - Even though this was a bit of a breather issue, you got to see Starfire being her outgoing cheerful self, which is something I feel should be shown in spades here. Tales of the New Teen Titans #4 - Starfire - This is where the backstory of Kori and Komandr's sibling rivalry was most explored along with showcasing the torture Starfire experienced at the hands of The Citadel. The New Teen Titans #23 -25 - Kidnapped, Citadel Strike!, and War! The New Teen Titans Annual #1 - Final Conflict! - Up to this point in the comics, it was one of the longest story arcs for Teen Titans and is one big space epic based Around sibling rivalry that amusingly culminates in a formal one on one fight between the sisters where they fight with their weapons and fist in a fight to the "death". Not only that but I feel like it's the most natural storyline to use if we're doing a film that shows how they become a team due to the fact that in Birth of the Titans, The Citadel are the first villains we see fight the Titans so why not have Blackfire be the main villain? Alongside that if I had to explore bits and pieces of Dick Grayson's backstory, I'd probably pull from Dark Victory as a source of flashbacks.
Spoiler SUPERMAN & THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES Upon returning to Smallville for the double-funeral of his adoptive parents - whose deaths during a freak electrical storm he was unable to prevent due to rescuing already-panicked civilians from a terrorist attack on the other side of the globe, during a college-sponsored mission trip - Metropolis University freshman Clark Kent has doubts as to whether being a hero is worth all that pain, and thus whether he'll be able to live up to Jonathan and Martha's high hopes for him. His new squeeze Lori Lemaris, ex Lana Lang and bestie Pete Ross try to assure him otherwise without much luck, but the matter soon comes to a head when a bionically-enhanced frontier-era outlaw named Tobias Manning and his robot gang come down out of another storm to hunt Clark down and go through anybody who stands in their way... Making matters worse is that not only does Manning ALSO know that Clark is super-human, but how exactly to hurt him: his gang's weaponry is powered by variously-colored variants of Kryptonite - one to poison him, one to put his powers on the fritz, another to knock them out entirely... Thanks to a stint in Metro U.'s journalism program, though, Clark's investigative instincts are already in full play even as he and his friends evade Manning, and it doesn't take him long after their first assault to figure out that that freak storm and his would-be captor are connected. Nor, for that matter, does it take long for three strangers who'd expressed cryptic assurances to Clark at the funeral to arrive on the scene with some super-powered backup when Manning's gang nearly succeed at dispatching Clark and his entourage... What follows is an adventure unlike anything young Clark dared imagine, one that will take him and his friends all the way to the 31st century and even into the stars, as Clark learns that Manning, for all the menace he exudes, is merely the pawn of a larger threat: a techno-organic despot from the planet Colu with a vested interest in neutralizing the Last Son of Krypton... Along the way, Clark and his friends new and old will also learn the terrible truth of Brainiac's obsession with preventing him from being a great hero...a truth predicated on the technological and genetic modifications Brainiac has made to countless whole cities' worth of races whose planets were doomed... ...and on the perverse experiments Brainiac has undertaken using DNA he has culled from each of his stolen cities, including a few samples of Kryptonian DNA; one being used to create Manning's mount... ...another to create a canine that ends up forming a certain bond with Clark... When all's said and done, and when even the whole world of their time is jeopardized, even Clark's best friends will be getting in on the world-saving action...some more directly than others... And Clark will at last embrace his heroic destiny... ... Casting is something I've never been good at, but I will say that in terms of tone it would obviously have to start off on a grim note, in order to get to a triumphant finale - in fact, I'm not entirely sure I'd put Clark in the cape until the climax (his first impression of the suit would likely be the same 'You gotta be kidding' reaction DCAU Clark had in STAS' "New Kids In Town", which of course is one of the influences here) - but overall it'd be an upbeat sci-fi popcorn yarn no bleaker than any OT "Star Wars" movie. As for characterization, I'd definitely want to keep the icily-resolute manner of DCAU Brainiac the way Corey Burton voiced him, to contrast him to Terra-Man who can afford to be a bit more darkly comic. As for Clark, I kind of imagine his arc in this movie to be almost as if it were compressed in "Superman: The Movie" between the Teenage Clark scenes and his arrival at the Daily Planet - this is the way Clark's journey would probably go if he didn't have Hologram Jor-El around to bolster him with messianic prophecies. And as the Legionnaires go, obviously we wouldn't be able to spend a whole lot of time with all of them, but outside of Rokk, Imra and Garth, we'd definitely be privy to Querl and the chip on his shoulder of being descended from the film's main villain. Previous stories that this one would be built upon would include, of course, the aforementioned "New Kids In Town", as well as LOSH episodes "Unnatural Alliances" and "Dark Victory" on the animated front; in terms of comics, obviously the Silver Age plays heavily into it, but even elements of comparatively newer stuff like the Brainiac Y2K storyline - specifically the B13 virus that futurizes Metropolis (in a sort of twist on MOS' climax, instead of Metropolis being heavily destroyed, we'd see Metropolis being heavily remade...open territory for a sequel, perhaps?) - would be prevalent.
Wow. All great ideas. The training of Dick as Robin is a missed opportunity when it come to Batman in movies or TV, and The Legion is a very untapped reservoir of epic proportions when it come to Superman in live action.
I think I've figured out where I'd take the sequel... Spoiler SUPERMAN & THE LEGION: THE FATAL FIVE We open as a few years have passed, and Clark Kent is already wrapping up his first year as a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet - and his first full year of operating in public as Superman - with a somewhat-familiar scene that past Superman movies would have climaxed with: That's right, this one STARTS with an all-out brawl in downtown Metropolis with a small army of Kryptonian criminals from the Phantom Zone led by General Zod. This battle's a little different in a few regards, however: 1) Superman is now joined by Insect Queen - still Lana Lang, now WGBS' star anchorwoman - and Krypto in a one-on-one throwdown against Zod and his two immediate cronies (again, one his lover and the other his bodyguard); 2) The futurization of Metropolis as a result of the B13 virus during the climactic fight with Brainiac at the end of the previous film helps level the field a little more for Metropolis' finest... 3) Furthermore, Zod and his goons haven't just broken out of the Phantom Zone...in fact, they're still there even as they're trading blows with Superman and his friends; no, what we see as General Zod and his bodyguard and his lover are really the possessed forms of Perry White and Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane, respectively, controlled by the Zod Squad via rings containing a synthesized mix of the Jewel and X-Kryptonite variants. And since STAR Labs didn't manufacture them - contrary to the pretense that they were made for the Planet staffers as harmless souvenirs - that leaves only one possible culprit. Yep, him again... ...but just as with Zod, Luthor's merely the opening act; as important as they are to the mythos, they've also dominated the Superman film franchise long enough. You see, ever since the first inklings of the existence of a flying invulnerable man a few years back, Luthor's been publicly warning of an impending space invasion; to that end he's been trying to reverse-engineer Manning's confiscated weaponry for the last few years (with the support of Lois' dad), and has thus fabricated a "Superhuman Reconnaissance Squad" - although the two volunteers among them, Lois' ex Sgt. John Corben and fired Planet janitor Rudy Jones, like to call themselves the "Superman Revenge Squad". It's not enough for them to be firing on any Kryptonian or other super-human (or -pet) that crosses their paths; no, they also follow Superman back to the Brainiac-5-created Fortress of Solitude once he finally frees his co-workers of the Zoners' control, where Big Blue intends to dispose of those phony rings in the disintegration pit below. This was Lex's endgame all along, of course: discrediting the Planet crew by getting them possessed notwithstanding, he knows Superman must have some kind of secret stash hidden in the Arctic plains where he's always tracked to. So Luthor's evil three withstand a Fortress-generated artificial storm to siphon-'n'-smash their way in behind Big Blue. But Lana with Lori and Krypto are right behind, and more fisticuffs ensue, during which some of the animals kept in the Fortress get loose; Lori is able to telepathically coax some of the marine variety to help out, though, and as for the others, Lana is forced to zap one of them into the Phantom Zone to prevent it from causing any further damage... Fortunately the Fortress' systems are self-regenerating, and its robot guardian comes back online just in time to help reign in the rest of the loose beasties - including Luthor's. That's the good news, anyway; the BAD news, of course, is what happens a millennium later, when a group of 31st-century fugitives decides to use the long-abandoned Fortress as a base of operations/hideout from the Science Police... . In the ensuing fight with the Legion and the chaos surrounding the Sun-Eater's accidental release in the thick of it all by a struggling Legionnaire who thought he was helping, things do not go well for our future heroes: Brainiac 5's attempt to use his new robotic aide Computo in the fight becomes subverted by the cyborg Tharok and ends not all that great for Triplicate Girl, though she copes with it... ...worse, further attempts to halt the creature's advance toward ol' Sol end with Lightning Lad needing a hand...literally: So the Legion enlists all the help it can get - meaning, of course, another time-trip back to the present day to pick up Clark and his friends...this time "joined" (read: butted in on) by the fellow Clark was in the midst of a throwdown with at the time, some boor from the planet Valeron who blames Lois (in her Zoned state) for his wife's death when the pair were visiting Earth, specifically Metropolis at the time... In addition, the Fatal Five make one more attempt to slaughter the Legion, until the blacking-out of Earth's sun by the Sun-Eater as the beast advances toward it convinces them that it'd probably be in their best interests too to quit trying to kill the Legionnaires long enough to do something about this creature, although mostly because they know they'll probably run out of solar systems to hide in if they don't. In the end, though, it's that struggling Legionnaire who manages to avert disaster...at the ultimate cost... ... Obviously there'd be quite a bit going on here, most of it focused around the early part of the picture leading up to the re-introduction of the Legion. Again, Luthor and Zod's parts would be pretty small this time, since their only function is to serve as catalysts for the Sun-Eater's escape from the Fortress and into the 31st century. That's another reason for the futurization of Metropolis in the previous film, so that the Metropolis police are able to take more of a hand in getting the big opening battle over with as quickly as possible. The Planet staffers' parts are also largely minimalized this time, since again this is supposed to be another Superman/Legion story, so that avoids trying to pile on a romantic triangle on top of things; in fact the closest thing to that in this one would be between Luornu and Chuck. In fact, those two plus Andrew would be the three Legionnaires we'd spend the most time with, since Rokk, Imra, Garth and Querl would have had their shot in the first one; again, I'd be trying to streamline and keep focus where I can with all that's going on. Also, yes, I know I'm basically bringing in Metallo and Parasite and Bizarro to do nothing more than commit a singular instance of high-spectacle breaking and entering, but again, the goal would be to get the present day/Metropolis stuff in the first act out of the way as expediently as possible (the better to emulate the three-act structure of "Superman: The Movie"); I was almost tempted to just have the Zoners flee for the Fortress and have the brawling continue there, but IMO that's TOO much of a replay of "Superman II"; hence, the Revenge Squad having been created by Luthor in the years since the first film. Tonally, this one would of course be a little darker than the first one...we see one Legionnaire lose one of her "selves" as a result of a friend's efforts gone awry and we'd lose another one entirely; another would be maimed in battle; Superman's current girlfriend is possessed into trying to kill him and DOES end up killing another hero's wife; Metropolis gets trashed and the Fortress is destroyed TWICE. To that end I'd bring in Vartox to provide some humor, in a somewhat-mordant vein similar to Inigo Montoya in "The Princess Bride" - yeah, he keeps threatening to kill the hero's new steady the first chance he gets, but by the movie's end it's not hard to see he's probably not going to fulfill that threat, 'specially when that cute bug-chick redhead brings him around (it also becomes heavily implied that Vartox wasn't exactly the best husband in the universe, and that the main thrust of his vengeance was to maintain some respect in the eyes of his fellow Valeronians, so as to make his softening at the end not quite as tacked-on). Basically he starts out as the Bates/Swan Vartox and ends up as the Palmiotti/Gray/Conner Vartox, with Lana Lang stepping in for Karen Starr...plus I'd like to see Vartox done right for once instead of just slapping his name on a generic Phantom Zone villain (I'm looking at you, "Supergirl" TV series...) As for storylines or elements thereof adapted, we clearly have the Phantom-Zoners-loose-in-Metropolis of "Superman II"/"Last Son"/"Man of Steel" essentially as the starting point, with a strong dose of "The Death of Ferro Lad" and a few flashes of Vartox's debut storyline thrown in. There's also a little bit of "Secret Origin" and New 52 thrown in with regards to Metallo's origins, even though that's largely hinted at in this film.
Great idea for a thread! I have given this quite a bit of thought and I would want to make an animated movie based on the Spider-Man:The Lost Years story. This is how I would do it: Prologue Peter Parker as Spider-Man is fighting Professor Miles Warren as the Jackal. Jackal manages to knock out Spider-Man. Jackal brings Spider-Man to his lab and sedates him. Then Jackal creates a clone of Peter Parker. But the clone doesn't turn out perfect. He has a mark across the face and his physique is bigger than the real Peter. He's Kaine. Jackal sees no use for an imperfect clone and decides to kill him. But the clone is stronger than anticipated and fights back. The clone escapes in horror over that his creator, his father, just tried to kill him. The Jackal creates a new clone, a perfect clone. The Jackal wants the real Peter Parker to believe that he's the clone, so he switches places with Peter and the clone, so Peter is waking up in the cloning chamber and the clone is waking up on the floor with a Spider-Man costume on and a needle to withdraw blood lying beside him, supposed to make the clone think that the Jackal used his blood/DNA to create a clone. That's when Kaine reappears. He sees the second clone lying on the floor with a Spider-Man costume on, and believes him to be the real Peter Parker. Kaine sees his father caressing the "real" Peter out of tenderness, which infuriates Kaine. The real Peter gets tenderness and the clone gets punishment because he's not as perfect? Kaine attacks the Jackal and wants him to make the real Peter believe that he's the clone. The Jackal, who is amused by this turn of events, agrees and puts back the second clone into the cloning chamber, with Kaine thinking it's the real Peter. The Jackal asks why Kaine wants the real Peter to believe that he's a clone. Kaine answers that the real Peter already has had a real life. Now it's someone else's turn. Why shouldn't a clone deserve something real? Considering all of this happened because of the real Peter Parker, shouldn't he then be the one to deal with the consequences? ACT I The second clone leaves New York, determined to not stay in the shadow of the real Peter Parker. The clone just wants to escape from Peter Parker, Spider-Man, and all the memories he has of a life he never lived. The clone takes a bus going nowhere, just wanting to escape. The passenger next to him is Janine, an insecure girl that hides her insecurities by talking about everything and nothing. Which gets on the clone's nerves, who just wants to be left alone. The night is a rainy one. The bus driver loses control over the bus and everybody on board panics. Everyone except the clone. He struggles with himself. One part of himself wants to use his powers and save everyone, and another part wants to bury that part knowing it's what Peter would do. The clone thinks that maybe it would actually be best if he died. No one would mourn him. Before he can make up his mind, the bus driver gains control of the bus and saves everyone. The people on the bus have to stay at a motel for the night, it's not safe to continue driving through the storm. The clone is by the bar, drinking. Janine walks up to him and sits next to him, social once again. The clone is getting more and more frustrated over Janine's babbling. She says that she's sorry that she keeps bugging him and jokingly says that he probably wishes that the bus crashed and killed them all. Stone cold, the clone answers "No. Just you." That leaves Janine shocked and sad. The clone, filled with regret and anger that he's the clone of a person who feels regret when he's done something stupid, lashes out and throws a table to the floor. He then runs out to the rain and pukes up the beer. He condemns the fact that he's the clone of someone who doesn't drink. The clone then finds Janine about to shoot her brains out. He throws himself at her and stops her. Confused, she asks why he stopped her. He was the one who wanted her to die. The clone says that he was wrong. They spend the whole night, just talking. Janine tells him that her father used to rape her and she can't leave it behind. She has left her home town, but now doesn't know what to do with her life. The clone says that makes two of them. They decide to go to the same town and try to figure out what's next for them. The clone decides to name himself Ben Reilly. Ben after his uncle, and Reilly after his aunt. ACT II Two years later. Ben and Janine are both working in a diner. They know the customers there and they are liked. Ben and Janine are friends, not a couple. Kaine (who's suffering from painful attacks from time to time because of the imperfect cloning) has tracked down Ben and shows up at the diner. Ben has no idea who he is. Kaine reveals that he was the first clone. Kaine hates the fact that Ben managed to find happiness in friends and a new life when he himself can't do the same. Kaine's life is a life of almost constant pain. Kaine has decided to share his pain and simply kill Ben. He attacks Ben and the two men have a long, brutal fight. Ben manages to hold his own in the beginning of the fight, but then Kaine gets the upper hand and starts beating the crap out of him. Due to being clever, Ben manages to escape. In this fight it's revealed to Janine and the customers that Ben has powers. Ben has on purpose tried to avoid using his powers, thinking those belong in Peter's life, not his. Kaine goes to Ben's apartment to finish the job, but he's not there. But Louise, a cop, has tracked down Kaine and is going to arrest him for the fight in the diner. Two criminals have followed Louise and wants payback for a previous encounter, so they attack her. She manages to hold her own against both of them, which leaves Kaine impressed. But when one of the criminals is about to kill Louise, Kaine steps in and saves her life. He easily knocks out the criminals. Louise is impressed by Kaine, and is also thankful for him saving her life. They find an instant attraction, and end up spending the night together. Ben's at Janine's place. She's taking care of his injuries. Ben explains what he is for her, worried that she will be repulsed that he's a clone of person with weird spider powers. But she takes it well. She has always felt like he was hiding something. She just wished that he would feel comfortable enough to tell her. She's happy that he finally did. Then she kisses him. He kisses her back. The morning after. Louise wants to know everything about Kaine, but he's not in a sharing mood. When she presses, he lashes out and leaves. He manages to track down Ben at Janine's. There he finds Ben having a meaningful talk to Janine. They talk. They laugh. They kiss. Kaine listens with curiosity. He starts thinking. Ben found happiness with a woman. Maybe Kaine can do the same. He's never tried that. He leaves Ben alone and seeks up Louise. He apologizes. They make love. The morning after, Kaine opens up about what he is and why he's so full of hatred. To open up to someone is like catharsis for Kaine. Ben and Janine goes to another town to start new again. Ben's secret powers are out in their old town, and they also want to get away from Kaine. Kaine opens up more to Louise. Then he gets one of his attacks, this one more painful than ever. His degeneration has started. It changes his face and body, leaving ugly marks all over his body and face. Louise is repulsed. Kaine seeks comfort in her, but she rejects him. He cannot understand why, he loves her. But for her, it wasn't ever love. It was just attraction, which now is gone. Once again rejected because the way he looks, just like his father did before, leaves Kaine enraged. He attacks Louise in a fit of rage and kills her. Afterward, he holds her lifeless body and cries of regret. Kaine tracks down Ben and Janine. When Ben has left, Kaine attacks Janine. He's about to kill her, when Ben shows up and saves her. Ben attacks Kaine and asks him what the hell is wrong with him. Kaine grabs Ben and throws him through a window. Kaine sees how afraid Janine is and actually feels a little ashamed. Ben comes back through the window, ready to fight. But Kaine has left. Ben decides that he has to stop Kaine once and for all. He's done running away, and he won't let Kaine hurt Janine. Even if it means that Ben has to kill him. Janine is against it, saying that Ben is not a killer. Ben argues that a version of him is a killer, another version is not, so who's to say what he is. Janine says he can't kill because it changes you. It changes everything. She reveals that she killed her father to stop him from raping her and anyone else. But she couldn't stop thinking about that she had actually killed a human being. A disgusting human being, but a human being nonetheless. Everything became too much for her and she decided to end her life. But Ben saved her, in every way. Janine thinks they should run again, because Ben fighting Kaine is a no-win scenario. Either he becomes a killer or he is killed. But Ben won't spend a life running and always looking over his shoulder. He knows he can't beat Kaine as Ben Reilly. Or as Peter Parker. But maybe he can beat him as something else. He digs out his old web shooters, creates webbing and a special impact webbing, while Janine creates a costume. The Scarlet Spider costume. ACT III Ben, in costume, meets up with Kaine, who also wears a costume now. The classic Kaine costume. Kaine wears it to cover up his shameful marks all over his body. The two clones fight each other, both looking to finish this forever. It's an even fight, where Ben makes good use of his webbing. But then Kaine's starting to get the upper hand. Kaine reveals why he hates Ben so much. He reveals that Ben is the original Peter Parker, and that Kaine's father rejected Kaine and tried to kill him because he wasn't a perfect copy of Peter. Ben, shocked and enraged that Kaine took his life from him and that all of his doubts, self-loathing and pain were for nothing, attacks Kaine with everything he has. Ben brutally beats down Kaine. He's about to deliver the final punch to kill Kaine, when a phrase suddenly shows up in Ben's head and leaves his mouth: "With great power comes great responsibility." A surprised Ben reflects and realizes what he's actually about to do. He puts down his fists, which leaves Kaine confused. Ben says that it's over. Kaine argues that he will hunt him down again. Ben tells him to go for it. He can take it. He has before and can do it a hundred times again. Ben wonders if Kaine can do the same. Ben leaves an uncertain Kaine to himself. Ben arrives home to a waiting Janine. He collapses in her arms, and they hold each other. Janine asks him if he's alright. He says that he will be. They share a smile.
BLACK WIDOW: RED ROOM After the events of Avengers 4, Natasha retired from the superhero game, got a job with a network security firm, met a fella, got married in a private ceremony and bought a house in the suburbs. She is thriving in her new environment. She is a star at work and the neighborhood kids ask her to show off her acrobatic skills whenever a ball gets stuck on a neighbor's roof. She helps her husband to open jars and enjoys spending quiet evenings together. They discuss adopting a child, but they are concerned with disrupting their lives. Her perfect life is disrupted when a Chechnyan client asks Natasha to assists with problems. The person who traditionally handles this issue has been murdered along with her husband. Her daughter, a pre teen award winning gymnast ismissing. Natasha finds out that 5 other girls around the same age have been taken from lands once part of the USSR - a diver, a figure skater, another gymnast and two ballerinas. The children were removed from their homes and their parents were murdered. Her former trainer has resurrected the Red Room program. Under the guise of consulting for her company Nat must travel to Russia and save the girls. Nat travels throughout the land and uses old contacts to track down the info along with the assistance of her old SHIELD colleagues (Coulsen?). She eventually finds out that the program has been resurrected to hire them out as terrorists. The final confrontation involves a battle with a younger, stronger opponent who Nat once trained, Yelena Belova. Nat must use her wits to survive and she is bailed out by the intervention of the six young girls she freed. Nat takes the girls with her back to America and along with her husband adopts the girls that were rescued. A post credit scene shows them playing with Clints kids on the Barton farm.
How would I do Adam Strange? Spoiler A character known as a B lister at best in the pantheon of DC Comics Adam Strange none the less has his fans and there is great potential for a live action adaptation in my mind. Adam is a human archaeologist that found himself transported to the exotic world of Rann where he is enlisted by it's greatest mind Sardath as a hero and romances Sardath's daughter Alanna. While his stories are full of Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon "gee-whiz" styled sci fi fantasy elements, Adam as a character is really always been a thinking man's hero. Less about fisticuffs and more about using quick thinking and scientific knowledge to solve problems and get out of hairy situations. I think that you could go with either a period piece, taking place in the 1950's or modern day. While both have their positives I can see the negatives as well. If period, taking place in the late 1950's then I would not go crazy on the period signifiers as it were. So, no making Adam a "hep cat" talking teen or the like. If modern, well... None of the usual go to elements like making Adam a pop culture spouting "bro". For myself I would prefer a modern set film. In my mind Adam is an intellectual hero in the mold of Indiana Jones. I would have it that Adam is a field archaeologist that also writes books in the GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL mold. Adam is an expert on the rise and fall of civilizations. He's been all over the world, operating in war zones and places far from anything we would call a city. Set in the current DCEU as the film opens we see Adam leading a team to investigate a find that is anomalous to most of known history. In a strife ridden South American country there has recently been discovered a find from the Pre-Columbian era that defies the archaeological record. Evidence of aspects of both the local Mayan/Incan influenced society but also things which call to mind Egyptian influences. Adam is shown to be someone already used to coming up with novel solutions to problems as his team treks to the site as well as being an able negotiator as they come into contact with corrupt law enforcement/Military but rebels and drug cartels. Strange is smart but not really arrogant. He is actually good natured and his work has given him a perspective on life which is based on humility and a great respect for knowledge and the fleeting quality of life. He lives for new experiences and discovery. One member of his team is a scientist with an expertise in Archaeological Astronomy, plotting the position of stars as ancient cultures knew them. He tells that Adam that currently they will have a clearer alignment with Alpha Centauri much as when it is estimated that this find was built long ago. This scientist also tells Adam that through his satellite phone he is in contact with friends at observatories around the world and NASA who are currently buzzing with strange radiation phenomena that appear to be bombarding the Southern hemisphere. Somehow Adam always makes deal and comes out on top or finds a unique way to get his team what they need as they make their way through the rough tropical terrain. Both with the gift of gab but also with a surprising ability to "MacGyver" logistical solutions, Adam makes his way to the site. One late afternoon on hunch Adam by himself investigates what he finds to be an unseen entrance and soon through his doggedness finds an unopened chamber which leads to a mountain top "temple" with symbols that show all sorts of differnt "gods", winged hawk gods, reptilian gods, and on and on. These would correspond to various known aliens from the world of DC comics. Looking out from a vantage point of the mountain's peak Adam knows he's discovered something special. He looks up to the sky at dusk and takes a deep breath... And then notices the obviously unnaturally colored display of light headed to his precise location. He turns around and sees the entire chamber he is in shake and as it does so the material encrusted upon the walls and floor begin to be shook off and cracks appear which show gleaming metallic material underneath as well as lights and energy sparking from all over Just as Adam is about to run towards the exit the entire room dematerializes and we see from Adam's point of view a cascade of light and images which indicate a trip across the void of space. Adam blacks out. When he wakes gasping for air he is on what bears a similar look to an Earth radio telescope dish like the one in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He and the room he was in has been transported to somewhere else and as he looks up he sees an alien sky and looks around to take in the rest of the alien landscape he is in now. Thus Adam ends up on Rann and becomes embroiled in a cosmic adventure. I would go against the more modern interpretations where Adam was actually brought to Rann on purpose as a breeding stud by Sardath to jump start the gene pool of Rann. No, I would make it that Sardath was looking for artifacts to help his society against invaders from various worlds. I would keep the genetic and cultural stagnation aspects of Rann though. This gives Adam something to contribute still but doesn't paint his allies in a nefarious light. In this version Rann was a once highly advanced society and hub of galactic technology and cultural interaction. It's own star had become unstable and so it's scientists had used their greatest technological advancement hundreds of years ago the Zeta beam, to transport their whole planet into a new solar system, the Polaris system, on the opposite side of the planet Thanagar from the twin suns there. Unfortunately the Thanagarians were in a period of despotic conquest and their system was in the middle of a great war of survival. Various space faring races soon plundered Rann, attacked swiftly and brutally and now the remaining Rannians live in hiding on their own world. This all occurred when Sardath was a young man, centuries ago (This would go to the Rannians having problems breeding and the cultural stagnation as they had engineered themselves to have centuries long life spans at the cost of fertility). Hoping to repel both the Thanagarians and the various enemies of their empire from the planet who seek to use it as a base against the Hawkmen, he had used one of the large Zeta beam stations which had been part of the system to teleport the planet to it's current location to find detritus from a world he knew that Thanagarians had visited in antiquity in hopes of finding something to defeat them, as he feels duty bound to try and turn the tide since he himself was the creator of the Zeta beam which in his mind was responsible for the destruction of the Rannian culture. Alanna would be Sardath's loyal daughter. No damsel in distress I would make her the protector of her aged father and one of the current generation of Rannians who never knew peace. As such she grew up in world of conflict and scarcity. Still she is a true believer in her father's mission and was raised by him to respect the old ways of Rann as it a was a beacon of enlightenment in the universe. Strange becomes entangled in the story as the Zeta Beam stations are his only way home. Thus he is forced to take a stand with Sardath and Alanna to help them with their own mission so he can go home. Among the skills he brings to the table we see him almost at home again negotiating with various factions that normally would not work together as the trio attempt to bring the old Zeta system back online to take Rann out of the Thanagarian sphere of influence and return it to it's original location since the period of solar instability had passed in the Rann home solar system. The main threat to their mission is a functionary of the Thanagarian empire, a veteran commander of Thanagarian forces and the leader of a mercenary band of a hodge podge of various aliens looking to plunder the scientific resources left on the planet led by one Kanjar Ro, who was responsible for the death of Sardath's late wife. For Strange I see someone youthful but not exactly "young". Between 30 and 40 but with a boyishness to them. The actor would also have to be able to project intelligence more than say, machismo. A quit wit would also help. I would for sure go with the more modern version of the outfit with the holographic displays, force fields ect. Perhaps a James Franco or Dan Stevens type for Strange. For Alanna I would like to see a female lead in the Alicia Vikander, Rooney Mara mold. For Sardath I think perhaps Iain Glen or Sean Bean, something like that. Use make up to really sell the advanced age. For the Thanagarian Commander I see a Clive Owen or Daniel Craig type. For Kanjar Ro, Ben Whishaw or Cillian Murphy in that wheelhouse.
In giving the "How would you do it?" take for the Fantastic Four I left out two huge elements... Which I will rectify right now. So... How would I do Doctor Doom and the origin of the Fantastic Four Spoiler 1. Doctor Doom A lot of FF fans chafe and cringe at the fact that film makers seem to be hesitant at adapting Doom as the majestic monarch and genius he is with all the flamboyance and over the topness we all know from the comics. I can understand the reticence to a certain degree, but in the end... larger than life and over the top villains is not anything new to films of all stripes and if anything it fits even more into the world of super hero films. Even Christopher Nolan's supposed "real world" films contain secret societies and a mastermind villain that has a purple suit, war paint and a punk rock aesthetic. I get keeping Doom a bit grounded but that is a relative thing in a world where radiation turns men into living rubber bands. So if I had to handle Doom on film today I would start with the idea that he is a well known but also paradoxically secretive figure. Up until the point his full villain goes on display fighting against the Four, I would say the rest of the world finds him an ambiguous figure though he has his fair share of adherents. In my estimation this is because Victor Von Doom would have been a person on the world stage that has the history and standing of Che, Mandela or Mao. "Injured" in an accident that seemed to involve equally famous scientist Reed Richards, Von Doom apparently discharged himself from the hospital shortly after being admitted. Subsequently the records from his admission have gone missing with the nurses and doctors that were there to treat him all mysteriously dying in the years after. It's widely assumed Doom suffered some kind of severe facial disfigurement. About a year later Von Doom becomes a public figure fighting against the despotic regime in control of his home nation of Latveria. Without his comic armor and wearing a simple mask with only a small slits for eye holes, Doom became the "face" of the opposition, at first peaceful but also eventually it's military commander. Doom spoke out against the oppression of the Roma of his country and the lack of government supported education and services for all Latverians. In this he had much of the sympathy and ear of the world. Thus his standing as a pop culture figure of righteous aggression against the powerful to some. An avatar of what he liked to promote as the prideful character of the Latverians Doom refused all outside aide form other countries both when he was simply the peaceful coordinator of the various dissident movements of Latveria, but also once the fighting began. Instead, Von Doom took his forces to the mountains, the ancestral home of his Romani family, and created from scratch an underground industrial complex which outfitted his troops with weapons and equipment. Eventually Doom's forces win and he of course is proclaimed Supreme President or some such aggrandized title. Claiming the need to lick the nations wounds and bind her together Doom institutes a closed border policy. Shortly after Doom fakes an attempt on his life, video of which makes it's way to the outside world. Dated about three years before Tony Stark's famous escape from the Ten Rings it seems after this "attempt" on his life Doom began to wear his own powered armor. He tries to cultivate his own aura as a "super hero" of his land to mixed results. Soon after other nations tread carefully against Latveria. Slowly it's been coming out that Doom's rule is despotic in it's own way, even if he has seemingly wiped out poverty in his country. Fear of Doom's loyal troops and stories of hyper advanced technology trickle in and make most leaders uncertain of how to proceed when dealing with Doom. Doom buys off too much prying into his country and the rumored human rights abuse by producing highly lucrative exotic materials in small quantities for export. 2. The Origin of the FF It's these exotic materials that will eventually connect Doom to the FF. Reed Richards is a smart man. He's supposed to be a genius of incredible intellect. So... Why was there no radiation shielding in his space craft in the original comics? This has been a point covered again and again with differing rationales in the books. For a film I would first of all assume Reed would have such shielding in place. In fact I would have it that Reed, a highly public figure of science and engineering would be attempting to create low cost space travel. Either directly referencing the X-Prize Foundation or making due with a fictional equivalent. I would make it more than just a simple launch and return but a race. Reed to show his faith in his engineering, creation and pilot, publicizes that he is bringing his fiancee and her brother along for the ride. After all, this is about creating practical space travel for all, right? Thus we now have somewhat of a reason to have two non-aeronautical individuals on board the craft. Reed built the ship with his team but did the lions share of construction with Ben, valuing Ben's test pilot input. As an added degree of difficulty the contest's date happens to coincide with an oncoming burst of naturally occurring radiation along the route of the race as it heads towards the finish. On the day of the race Reed's ship under Ben's control aces it's time and smokes the competition. As it approaches it's final flight path home though the radiation wave hits and instead of reacting as Reed designed it to the ship begins to fall apart, and the occupants are all exposed to the radiation. Luckily Reed has ultra redundant safety features not even in the original plans for the craft and they are saved arriving on land... Of course we know what happens next. They each received powers yadda yadda. What I would have would be that initially unknown to Reed the ship's materials were tampered with. From the source, as Reed's design called for certain cutting edge meta-materials only produced in Latveria. Doom of course was trying to kill Richards, and we learn eventually the reasons: Reed's calculations on the experiment (which also seemed to Reed to have some kind of irrational occult influences) Doom was running at the laboratory complex where they were studying (think someplace like the complex built by CERN, the Large Hadron Collider) were correct. The experiment blew up in Doom's face, though safety measures Reed installed actually saved their lives and resulted in Doom getting only the most minor of scars on one side of his face. And thus the reasons Doom hid his face during the Latverian revolution and why the doctors and nurses that looked him over after the accident had to die. Doom is brilliant, driven, a master of both science and the occult... And a bat guano crazy sociopath. In this version though this need for petty revenge brings about the one force that can counter him. In terms of performer that could handle this and make it all work, the brilliance, the presence, the fragile yet bombastic ego... I honestly don't know.
By the way... Great to see enthusiasm for sharing the passions for these characters and for wanting to see them adapted on screen. I will say this... This isn't necessarily what I consider a "Fan Fiction" thread. Please don't be offended but try to keep things in more general outline of events and characters and the tone or vibe, going into some detail of course but not necessarily writing out the nuts and bolts of a 15 film cycle you have in your heads. Just saying. Might I suggest also using the spoiler tag function to keep the posts an images at a size that's more manageable?
A complete, total, and utter reboot of the Superman film series. Retell the origin story, linearly, and base it on all the best aspects of all the comic book versions. Make the movie bright, shiny, and optimistic, and make the costume RED, YELLOW, and BLUE. I'm a traditionalist.
I know I said not to go crazy with details but that's pretty light on specifics and pretty vague. What aspects of the comics? What do you mean by optimistic etc? This isn't a challenge to your take, it's asking what you mean in a more precise way? Is your take simply in opposition to what you dislike about the DCEU? That too is just vague. Put some meat on dem small bones sir/madam.
Time to wrap this one up... Spoiler SUPERMAN & THE LEGION: THE FINAL CRISIS A few more years after witnessing Ferro Lad's sacrifice, Clark Kent is now comfortably settled into his dual role as the Daily Planet's star foreign correspondent and the world's greatest superhero - things have been on a marked upturn for him, certainly: in addition to now being in a full-fledged relationship with Lois Lane (who is fully aware of his dual identity, having figured it out for herself some time before), the Super-family has now been joined by his adoptive cousin Kara, whom he found in cryo-stasis (with the aid of the Kandorians) on the frozen wastelands of Krypton's sister planet Argo... In short, it's a helluva time for this thing to come stomping through Metropolis' Centennial Park seemingly out of nowhere... But upon his and Kara's arrival on the scene, Clark quickly determines the giant robot is in fact Querl's handiwork, a diversion necessary to get Clark's attention as quickly as possible so as to summon him back to the 31st century yet again. He insists Kara stay put, but the temporal displacement field has already been triggered by Clark's biology, so to the future they both go - but something is terribly wrong in the Metropolis of the 31st century worse yet, somehow ol' Sol has been turned into a RED sun, its rays intensified in such a way that they slowly but surely begin to cancel out the yellow solar radiation stored in Clark and Kara's bodies; even worse than that, the cousins are greeted with outright hostility the second Clark is recognized on the street, and he ends up being shot in the shoulder. Fortunately, some of his fellow Legionnaires arrive on the scene to bail the duo out, whereupon they fill Clark and Kara in on what has happened. And what has happened is the intervention of a being with near-unlimited temporal control... ...who has helped facilitate the arrival into their world of the man Clark might have become had it not been for the Legion's intervention... As a result of a subsequent rampage across the cosmos, the United Planets secretly replicated and weaponized Sun Boy's powers to change Earth's solar radiation output as a deterrent against Kal-El Prime, as the grimdark armor-wearer calls himself (the armor preserving his powers under Earth's now-red sun). It's all part of the plan by the Time Trapper to extend his control of time into alternate realities, by turning Kal-El Prime's rage loose on various realities where his counterparts have had rosier existences; but as it turns out, somebody else has become privy to the Trapper's antics, and he is not pleased The Monitor blames the Legion, though, for inadvertently creating this situation through their own interference in the past. He has permitted this final time-grab as a means of correcting the situation in the here-&-now of the 31st century, but once the Trapper and his pet Superjerk have been neutralized and the Kal-El of this world sent back to his rightful time, the Monitor will take the Legion's time-tech with him as he goes and render its functions impossible to be duplicated, preventing any further chronal hijinks. Kara's a little put out that she doesn't rate a name-drop by the Monitor, but as he responds pretty bluntly, she's fated not to have much of a place in history anyway Thus ensues a feverish fight to maintain the increasingly-fragile space-time continuum and prevent the Trapper from irreparably fracturing multiple realities into each other, while Clark - and secretly Querl, who finds himself having gone soft for her, despite the admonitions of teammate Dream Girl - contends with the notion that Kara must die in order for the heroes to succeed in preserving history. Meanwhile, with the UP mobilizing to bear down on Earth in a desperate last-ditch effort to destroy Kal-El Prime that may end up costing countless lives in the process, Sun Boy spearheads a mission to infiltrate and destroy the UP's orbital solar conversion station, which puts him into conflict with the delusionial-to-the-point-of-being-easily-manipulated scientist-mentor responsible for his powers in the first place, Dr. Zaxton Regulus... ... For tone, we start off light and dip into some really dark stuff - a sort of reversal of the first film - with Metropolis in ruins and the spectre of Supergirl's impending (or is it?) death hanging over the second half of the picture. And as much as I find the whole Dark Superman bit overdone to the point of inducing nausea lately, in this case it'd be necessary to the story since the Superman of this world's timeline is not a grimdark figure and has only a Legion Flight Ring to protect him from his counterpart's onslaught...AND this distinction admittedly serves a more pointed purpose than that. To wit: it's not the fact that he has powers that makes him Superman (look at General Zod) - it's the person using them. This is a man who is willing to stand up and fight even with his own super-abilities comparatively depleted against someone who has to wear an armor suit while his own powers are still at a fairly optimum level. If this at all feels to you like it's supposed to be the Superman who first became a pop-culture icon to begin with nearly eight decades ago vs. the Superman that his corporate masters have repeatedly tried and failed ("making him relevant", my eye) to turn him into for the past three of those decades, well, give yourself a gold star. Again, while Querl gets to have more moments in this one we'd largely focus on other Legionnaires again, this time primarily Dirk and Nura. Lois again doesn't have a big part and the rest of the Super-Family are similiarly absent this time to give more focus on Clark and Kara as newly-reunited kin now facing the unthinkable. Kara wouldn't be real big on the whole dying thing, either, but it becomes clear in her character that no matter how (understandably) terrified she is at that prospect, she's an El - she's not gonna cut & run when the moment of truth finally arrives. Also, her place in the story and how it plays out would be structured a little better than it was on JLU, at least so that her ultimate fate (hint, hint) again doesn't feel quite as tacky. Of course, story-wise what we have here is a mix-&-match from a couple of Crises - Infinite Earths as well as Final - with a bit of Johns' "Superman & The Legion" arc from Action a few years back and a few touches of the DCAU tossed in for good measure. For a time I was tempted to consider throwing in a climactic battle between Kal-El Prime and whatever live-action Supermen are still around (Dean Cain would probably need a little digital de-aging/body double assist for that to work), but that would probably be more trouble than it's worth above and beyond whatever fans would have thought of certain Superman actors and their previous performances. HOWEVER...depending on whether he'd be amenable to it in the first place, I would have no problem whatsoever with giving Michael Keaton a stipple-and-stretch and some mo-capped armor for a cameo as Grumpy Old Batman just for the sheer giggles of it. ...and that's when I'd call it a trilogy and let it be someone else's problem after that.
How would I do J'onn J'onzz, The Martian Manhunter? Spoiler A character that until very recently did not get a lot of exposure to the audience outside of the comic book faithful, J'onn J'onzz has been fighting evil in one form or another (literally) since making his debut in 1955. In the comics a founding member of the JLA J'onn has just now been showcased in all his glory on the CW Supergirl, as well as been in Smallville and of course the never broadcast JL 90's pilot. But in these live action adaptations J'onn has been a supporting character and I think as a character that is short changing him and the potential inherent in such a powerful and versatile super hero. I think that J'onn, as much as I would like to see him on the big screen is actually a better fit for TV, cable or streaming. So with that in mind, here is how I would do a Martian Manhunter live action series (With some animated flashbacks ). 1. The Set Up- For starters I would have the first season of the show based in the 1950's era that spawned J'onn. Were I to have my druthers this would for sure be linked to the DC universe in films which was started with MAN OF STEEL. J'onn arrives on Earth amid an onslaught of images that we can barely decipher. Alien faces, language, vistas and above all... Fire. Then suddenly we are in the presence of a older human man. The man turns around and his look is that of fear and awe until it gives way to physical pain and the man collapses. This is Dr. Saul Erdel and his experiment is what has dragged J'onn through space, and eventually we learn as the first season progresses, time, into the laboratory space Erdel has in the facility in the top secret base known as Area 51 in Nevada. What the audience learns eventually is that Erdel used alien technology he had reverse engineered from the space vehicle which crashed in New Mexico in Roswell. Only those aliens were not from Zeta Reticuli... They were from Mars. And they were of the White Martian race. Erdel's experiment was based off of what he could glean from the technology from the damaged vehicle and this is what brought J'onn to Earth though at this time he is not aware of the part White Martians played in his arrival. Before Erdel dies he and J'onn share a moment of psychic bonding giving J'onn a limited amount of information about the planet he is on and of English as a language. J'onn hides the body and escapes the base by using his mind powers to project the image of Erdel. Weakened by the transportation to Earth his shape shifting and other physical powers are stunted and will take time to manifest themselves, so he hops on a train whose destination is Chicago and rests. Finally he arrives in Chicago and his powers are starting to come back. He takes the form of a vagrant and is of course mistreated by many until he is assisted by a driven police detective named John Jones. Given a meal and a sympathetic ear by the detective John thinks he has found the beating heart of human goodness when a hail of gunfire ends the life of the detective. J'onn communes psychically with Jones just as he did Erdel and learns Jones is a good cop and that Jones and his partner are about to bring evidence to Federal investigators about the police with ties to organized crime in Chicago. Jones' last thoughts are about his partner Bradley and Bradley's wife and newborn child. As Jones passes J'onn decides to go to his home and secure the evidence that Jones had but finds it missing amid Jones' ransacked apartmet. Through J'onn's travel to Chicago we learn through flashbacks, which will be a common occurrence in the show in animated form, that he was a member of his race's law enforcement and protection service. Now J'onn feels he may have a duty to seek justice for this human counterpart. J'onn assumes the identity of Det. Jones and thus the first season is set in motion. J'onn attempts to finish the work that Jones started but must tread a fine line as he has to do this all on the down low and not reveal his existence to the wider world. Threaded through that will be a conspiracy of White Martians to kill off the populace of Earth, as in flashbacks we get the full story spread throughout the season of how J'onn's brother Malefic conspired with radical White Martian extremists to eradicate the Greens. J'onn failed to stop them on Mars, though the weapon they unleashed ended up ripping apart the Martian atmosphere and eventually killing all life on the surface via a planet wide inferno. There were suvivors though and they arrived on Earth in 1947. The White Martian conspiracy would be the background arc and J'onn's time fighting crime and trying to bring Jones' killers to justice would be the foreground arc. 2. J'onn J'onzz the character- In presenting the character of J'onn it's important to stress that despite an overlap of powers with Superman he is in so many ways a different character. For one, while many point to Superman as an example of the immigrant's story of coming to a new land J'onn does so as a fully formed adult. Superman was raised by humans in the American culture. For all the talk of his alien nature logically he thinks and feels as we do, but his heritage comes through in his physical powers. J'onn is a true outsider. This should be made clear in the stories the show tells. I see J'onn as a sort of wizened zen sage type on the one hand but also a righteous warrior on the other. J'onn in this version was both a philosopher and a Martian peacekeeper (translated as best as can be into English as the word "Manhunter"). J'onn is rightfully afraid of the consequences to both himself and humanity if his secret ever is revealed but he's also not exactly judgmental about us as a race. He has his moments of disgust or bafflement at our actions as both individuals and as a species, but he also has a perspective that is above all that as well and is sort of a zen like chagrin at us. Through the flashbacks to J'onn's life with his wife M'ryah and daughter on Mars we learn about the specifics of his people's culture, a culture of shape changers who use duality as a starting point to most of their view of existence. As a race of telepaths they also have huge wells of compassion and acceptance as feelings and thoughts, even deep dark ones, are evident in some way to each other. J'onn also knows that his own world had a brutal and bloody past, one it ultimately did not overcome as that past is what ended up destroying the idyllic civilization he was transported away from. On the show J'onn would have multiple native forms. First would be the true "inner" form, the physical form Martians maintained when in their homes or with their families. This would be the most "alien" of his forms but only rarely seen on the show though in animated flashbacks we would see it much more. This is the form J'onn takes while sleeping, which he does in the same lotus style position levitating as he does when awake but in deep meditation. Thin and with an almost stereotypical "alien" look and no "clothing" this is J'onn at his most serene and calm. This was the primordial form of the Martians when they first emerged as a thinking sentient race. The next form would be in line with the more modern design of J'onn from the comics. This would be J'onn when going out on "missions" so to speak. This was the form the Martians held when in contact with others outside of their family or with other alien races. Finally there would be a powered up "battle" form. This would be like J'onn's Super Saiyan form if you will. A cross between the two previous version with greater mass. It's a form J'onn adapts when he absolutely must us overwhelming power, both physically, but also psychically. Now of course this requires some CGI. I think it also requires some deft acting. J'onn needs to be played by someone that can project great intellect but beyond that great wisdom, along with wells of compassion and righteous anger. What is important to point out with this version is this... This actor is playing the alien form(s) of J'onn only. This person will play J'onn in these base forms. When J'onn is in the identity of Det. John Jones that will be a totally separate actor. I really dislike the idea that the Manhunter needs to "moon" the audience as well as the people around him in universe by looking similar in both forms. No. He is a perfect shape shifter. As such whenever J'onn assumes a new form, and I put it that he would assume all types of forms through the series, it's of course with a different actor playing J'onn in that new form. This would provide for possibly fun or funny guest starring opportunities. In any case the dramatic load of the show would be shared between two performers: Alien J'onn and the human form John. Given that J'onn is working to keep a low profile, despite all his powers I think keeping insanely over the top examples of what the can do to workable minimum is a must. That's not to say that there won't be episodes where he can and will cut loose don't happen. It's just that from a story and production standpoint it makes sense to keep that under wraps most of the time. Make this a more character based style of storytelling, at least, especially in the initial season. 3. Season One ending and beyond- I see that first season jumping back and forth between the story of J'onn learning and accepting American and the wider world's culture as he tries to bring the killers of Det. Jones to justice and protect Bradley and his family (who would eventually learn the truth of what J'onn really is) and J'onn learning of a conspiracy by the White Martians (we don't learn until later seasons that Malefic is still alive) to colonize Earth. J'onn learns that he's not the only refugee or resident alien on Earth and finds out about a loose confederation of peaceful alien individuals who call the planet home as well. J'onn's reaction to American culture in the 1950's would play a big part in the show. Both the ideals we as a country publicly proclaimed to believe in, but also of course the reality behind that facade. This would be a sci fi/fantasy married to a pseudo noir in many ways, with occasional flare ups of big action. Along with meeting other aliens on Earth J'onn would also team with other characters from the 1950's era of DC comics like the Challengers Of The Unknown for one or two episodes. I would see the season length as being no less than ten but no more than 13. It would range over some fairly long times too with some jumps between episodes possibly covering months, up to a year until we reach 1960. In the end of season one J'onn confronts the White Martian conspiracy but in doing so the Jones identity "dies". This would be the set up for the next season where J'onn adopts a new identity during the decade of the 1960's. And so on each season until the show is cancelled or ideally until it reaches the "present" which I suppose would be J'onn seeing the dawn of the modern world super heroes in the public eye. Each season J'onn's cover ID is changed, perhaps he even has multiple ones. Thus the show can explore all sorts of issues relevant to the time each season takes place in, with a great variety of performers that can play J'onn when incognito. Man, woman, white, black ect., J'onn as a character can experience it all and the show can explore American culture. Think of it as kinda like Mad Men but for the alien super hero set. Each season a new decade until the final one which I think would be a personal showdown between J'onn and his brothr Malefic. Also there are chances to do guest star episodes that feature DC characters in the context of the time they first appeared. Given that this would be about J'onn keeping under the radar as well as the obvious lack of characters as Batman or Flash being able to be used, instead there would be more off the beaten track guest stars like The Demon, Spectre, Hawk and Dove ect.
I believe this gem belongs in here... http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?p=35079967#post35079967
Given the current Disney/Fox news I think this thread has relevance again. How would you do the FF and associated characters and the X-Men and their associated characters in the MCU? Spare no details fanboys and fangirls.
I agree with this !!! Not feeling the dreary depressing Zack Snyder version. I get the updated version, thats fine...But Snyder did a traditional comic-book batman to the tee...But for some reason , he wanted to updated Superman.
For the Fantastic Four, I've said it before, I'll say it again: Don't give them an origin story before their adventure. Make their origin story *the adventure*. They don't get powers, come home, whine about not being normal, than finally step up to the plate. They get powers, and then *continue* with their first adventure. They never Reject The Call, because they weren't "normal people" to begin with and never wanted to be anyway. Gaining powers is just a cool new twist for them, except perhaps for Ben due to the side effects. As for the X-Men. . . less like Singer, more like Deadpool. Massive deemphasis on the anti-mutant bigotry. Which is to say, if the world is always 10 seconds away from genocide, you have failed as creators. There are far more possible X-Men plots than "Normal people hate mutants", and there are far more possible Mutant Prejudice/Relations plots than "The government/humanity at large decides to kill all the mutants".
Here's my pitch for a new Superman trilogy Superman directed by Matthew Vaughn A fun, fresh but quintessential Superman experience that emphasises Superman interacting with the regular people of Metropolis most of all. Almost the entire movie would take place in Metropolis, shrunken and captured by Brainiac. Jimmy Olsen (Dave Franco), Cat Grant (Kate McKinnon), Metallo (Karl Urban), Sam Lane (Ron Pearlman) and Lex Luthor are your supporting cast. The film ends with Superman finding a frozen Kara in Brainiac's ship. Reign of the Supermen directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts or George Miller A ridiculous over-the-top Mad Max / Thor Ragnarok tale featuring a bearded dragon-riding Superman, Lobo, and several members of the supporting cast from the previous movie. With Superman missing, the story combines Reign of the Supermen with Warworld. The Last Son directed by J.A. Bayona Heavily inspired by All-Star Superman. A sweet, sometimes sad, but mostly hopeful tale of Superman's last days on Earth. Lois and Lex both get to experience what it's like to be Superman, and the film ends with Superman turning into energy and saving the sun. This is the Logan of the Superman franchise, the Oscar contender. ------ Then after this trilogy, we take a little break from Superman, as the next we see of Clark is when he's just a boy in a Legion of Super Heroes franchise, heavily inspired by the cartoon. It's Harry Potter + X-Men + Star Trek.
I'd make A trilogy of Batman films like Horror movies where Batman is the Monster from the perspective of the cops, Villains and citizens of Gotham. After the first film, As each movie progresses, Batman becomes less horrifying and more humanized as the stories/films goes on. The third movie would end with Batman being recognized as a Hero instead of a Monster. This would lead to a 4th movie which would be an adaptation of Arkham Asylumn: A serious House on Serious Earth. Where Batman would actually be the star of the story and alot like Keaton's Batman. I'd Also Make a Series of 5 or 6 Hulk films with a similar formula but maybe reversed. The Hulk is already an established but terrifying hero that everybody becomes afraid of which ultimately leads to an adaptation of World War Hulk. This is the tone I'm Going for:
Not sure I'd pick Stannis, but yeah. Whoever plays Doom needs to be the kind of actor who can do a good medieval king, because at heart, that is what Doom is.
MCU X-Men Go with the premise that Xavier's school has operated in secret for some time, protecting and covering up the existence of mutants. Picking an X-Men team is always going to be an unforgiving task. But I've made a few choices for my version, namely that the focus should be on the birth of a new generation of heroes. Anyway, here's the characters I chose to spotlight: Spoiler The X-Men - I picked six main heroes, based on the icons people most want to see and the ideal combination of power-sets, personalities and diversity. I'm missing a "tank", though. Cyclops (Chris Pine): Field leader, the all-star hero and tactician that we've yet to see on the big screen, fiercely devoted to his surrogate father, Xavier Jean Grey (Blake Lively): With Scott, if not already married Confident in her powers, she offers an empathetic perspective in the interpersonal areas Scott struggles with Storm: Powerful and independent, she and Scott butt heads, but Scott has learned to stay out of her way. Iceman (Chris Colfer): Openly and confidently gay, Bobby is the fun-loving jokester, and livens up the team Blink (Alia Shawkat): Brash and unpredictable, Scott's biggest headache. The team needed transportation, and as much as I love Nightcrawler, I decided to keep him out for now. We've seen more of him, and his personality overlaps with Bobby. Rictor (Carlos PenaVega): Nervous, emotionally closed off, in a relationship with Bobby, who struggles to get him to open up. Rictor is a new hero we haven't seen before, is Hispanic, and brings a unique powerset to the table School Staff - Professor Xavier (Denzel Washington): Loving "patriarch" of the X-Family, but privately reserved and secretive with his past, hiding shades of moral ambiguity Dr. Hank McCoy (Leslie Odom Jr.): Blue, furry, and with a razor sharp wit. Heads the school's science division, studying powers and designing new tech. Forge (Adam Beach): Gruff, his own man, builds all the team's tech Jubilee (Kelly Marie Tran): Full of enthusiasm, tasked with supervising the students Havoc (Dacre Montgomery): Desperate to prove himself as good as his brother but kept off field duty until he learns to control his power. Until then, he's stuck as a "glorified babysitter" Students Quentin Quire (Finn Wolfhard): Rebel without a cause. Knows he gives his teachers nightmares and loves it. Jean personally trains him and but struggles to get him to achieve any sense of drive or purpose in life Oya (Sennia Nanua): Faithful and frightened. The newest addition. She has grown to fear her powers and would rather be cured than trained. Armor (Piper Corda): The oldest student, but one who has yet to find her place. A future leader who must first unleash her inner self. Gentle: Shy and nervous, struggles to balance the peace he desires with the rage trapped within Anole: A short fuse and a massive chip on his shoulder. Anole is also a genius, but his precocious behavior sees him banned from Beast's labs Mercury: The most innocent of the team, just wishes everyone could be friends and get along. And story wise Spoiler -Obviously we have to deal with Magneto eventually. But I want to avoid him as a primary antagonist, and this time explore more of the inner workings of his movement. Pair him with his daughter Polaris (Setting up romance with Havoc) Anyway, here's my franchise layout: The X-Men: Villains: Black Tom and Juggernaut. Introduce the new heroes. Havoc and the students embark on a haphazard treasure hunt to find the Cyttotark Crystal, hidden away within a mystical jungle (The Savage Land) Also seeking the gem are Polaris and mercenaries Cassidy & Marco. Once Marko gets their first and becomes the Juggernaut, the students must be saved by the field team. The events of the movie reveal the existence of mutants to the world. The X-Men: MurderWorldVillain: Arcade. This time it is the students turn to save the grown-ups, when Cyclops' team is captured on a mission to shut-down a mutant arena run by Arcade on the sentient island of Krakoa. The students recieve help in the mission from Arcade's star contestant: Wolverine. The movie ends with Havoc staying behind with Polaris and the Brotherhood as Magneto takes command of Krakoa and reveals the living weapon trapped within: Vulcan. Wolverine: Villain: Omega Red and Weapon X. Logan struggles to adjust to a new family he doesn't know if he wants to be a part of. Along with his self-proclaimed apprentice Armor, he seeks out the ruins of his past, as the ruins of Weapon X have been uncovered and reactivated. Also introduces Fantomex. Jean Grey: Villain: Mr. Sinister. Focus on Jean and Scott as they deal with Sinister and his agents (Including Gambit and Rogue) X-Men: Deadly Genesis: Villains: The Brotherhood and Vulcan. As the world convenes to address the "mutant problem", Magneto begins to make a power play. Havoc is shocked to discover the truth about his oldest brother and the original X-Men team. The students, meanwhile, are graduated, and stand alongside their heroes to protect the very people who hate and fear them when Krakoa attacks a major conference. Vulcan inevitably becomes unhinged, and turns on both sides of mutants and humans, only wanting to destroy Xavier. Scott's faith in his mentor is shattered by the truth but, believing the dream is greater than the man who spoke it, still sacrifices himself to banish Vulcan to distant space. Xavier takes a self-imposed exile, Jean takes his seat as leader, Magneto is imprisoned, and a new team of X-Men is christened in the wake of Vulcan's devastation. Marvel: War of Kings: After Vulcan usurps the Shi'Ar throne, Havoc, Polaris, and select other X-Men are brought by Alex's long-lost father to help stop a war that threatens to tear apart the fabric of space and time.