Don't Dumb it Down Dangit

[ShadowBoxing]

It happens every time FOX makes a superhero movie.

Story just uttered two words I never want to hear in a description of a Galactus movie...."Ultimate Extinction". Firstly, Ultimate Extinction was horrible...there was nothing Ultimate about it. Galactus went from a world devouring shakespearian character to a bunch of mindless drones floating in space who fly off the minute their "chain is broken". Galactus may be the finest crafted villian ever. The idea of a humanoid who survives the big crunch and is jetisonned into the new universe is just brillant. His omnipitence, his parrallels to a christian God (in the fact that he sends heralds to announce his return) who is malevolent.

Also the Watcher, who reveals himself as an elder whose purpose is to observe the events of history. These are great characters whose existence begs to be on the big screen.

However FOX time and again proves they don't trust comics (which makes me wonder why the bother with Marvel at all). They did not trust the supporting cast of X-Men, they felt they needed to bank on Wolverine and Magneto when Mr Sinister, Cyclops, Rogue, Gambit, Colossus and Apocalypse are all movie worthy characters with equally (if not better) backstories. They did not trust the humorless tone of a comic like Daredevil, and felt the need to factor in scenes like the playground fight and mess around with the much better directors cut. And with Fantastic Four they did not even bother attempting one of the greatest comic book origins, Dr Doom: who ended up a dime store Green Goblin.

Now I hear UE, and I cringe.

If people can take elves and giants in Lord of the Rings (and give it an Oscar), a hokey villian plot (and yes it was over the top) in Batman Begins, direct from comic style of Sin City, the otherworldly nature of Star Wars and absurd movies like the Incredibles and Shrek than surely Galactus is no trouble.

In fact movies often do better when the transport people to a world they do not fully understand.

Look, Fantastic Four 48, 49 and 50 are all worth about 1000+ dollars a piece, that is a lot for one comic. So there must be something to it. TRUST THE COMIC FOX. These stories and characters have stood on their own for 40 years. There is a reason fans pay out the a$$ for every classic story, and it's not because they are bad, it is because they are good. Translate them please.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I don't care about the Fantasticar, but when he said Ultimate Extinction, I got sad. They are going to screw Galactus up if they do it that way. Doom and Galactus are great characters, yet they missed the mark on Doom, and now it looks like Galactus will suffer the same fate. This also hurts any movie about the Silver Surfer's origin. I hope I am wrong, but the mention of UE doesn't bode well.

 

[The Geek Vault]

I hope he just isn't pink..

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I haven't read the Ultimate version, but I don't like the sound of how Galactus is handled.

Reading Tim S's comments, it sounds like he's talking about the general production design - sets etc. - not necessarily characters (at least I hope so).

 

[Fantastic-Boy]

No.It have to be good!!!

 

[ShadowBoxing]

C'mon Fox...do it right....

 

[celldog]

Story has no business on this movie!!!!!!!!

 

[Kelly]

Story has no business on this movie!!!!!!!!

And your statement does what?...

 

[Sun_Down]

Ultimate Extinction wasn't "dumbed down", it was just a different take on the character (it is it's own continuity, after all). I'm not saying that I don't wanna see classic Galactus here, but this seems like the absolute least of our concerns when it comes to "dumbing it down".

 

[Abaddon]

bleh,just rename the movies Ultimate FF and be done.

 

[Retroman]

I've never read this Ultimate Extinction series. I'll try to pick a copy to see what all the fuss is about.

 

[Retroman]

Story has no business on this movie!!!!!!!![

Don't kill the guy before we've seen the movie.
I'll admit that the first movie was far from the home run we expected but he's directing FF2 and theres nothing you or i can do about that.

Story now has the experience under his belt of directing FF -his first real big budget flick- and he's bound to have matured as a director after that experience. He's obviously been doing his homework with the comics and it also looks like the movie is going in a new direction in terms of production design, which is always a good thing in a sequel.Lets hope the script will be a cut above the last movie.

P.S: Judge him on the director's cut dvd. The studio cut a lot of stuff from the FF1, some quite significant scenes too.

 

[GhostPoet]

It happens every time FOX makes a superhero movie.

Story just uttered two words I never want to hear in a description of a Galactus movie...."Ultimate Extinction". Firstly, Ultimate Extinction was horrible...there was nothing Ultimate about it. Galactus went from a world devouring shakespearian character to a bunch of mindless drones floating in space who fly off the minute their "chain is broken". Galactus may be the finest crafted villian ever. The idea of a humanoid who survives the big crunch and is jetisonned into the new universe is just brillant. His omnipitence, his parrallels to a christian God (in the fact that he sends heralds to announce his return) who is malevolent.

Also the Watcher, who reveals himself as an elder whose purpose is to observe the events of history. These are great characters whose existence begs to be on the big screen.

However FOX time and again proves they don't trust comics (which makes me wonder why the bother with Marvel at all). They did not trust the supporting cast of X-Men, they felt they needed to bank on Wolverine and Magneto when Mr Sinister, Cyclops, Rogue, Gambit, Colossus and Apocalypse are all movie worthy characters with equally (if not better) backstories. They did not trust the humorless tone of a comic like Daredevil, and felt the need to factor in scenes like the playground fight and mess around with the much better directors cut. And with Fantastic Four they did not even bother attempting one of the greatest comic book origins, Dr Doom: who ended up a dime store Green Goblin.

Now I hear UE, and I cringe.

If people can take elves and giants in Lord of the Rings (and give it an Oscar), a hokey villian plot (and yes it was over the top) in Batman Begins, direct from comic style of Sin City, the otherworldly nature of Star Wars and absurd movies like the Incredibles and Shrek than surely Galactus is no trouble.

In fact movies often do better when the transport people to a world they do not fully understand.

Look, Fantastic Four 48, 49 and 50 are all worth about 1000+ dollars a piece, that is a lot for one comic. So there must be something to it. TRUST THE COMIC FOX. These stories and characters have stood on their own for 40 years. There is a reason fans pay out the a$$ for every classic story, and it's not because they are bad, it is because they are good. Translate them please.

uh. The Ultimate series has been really popular so.....you know nothing :P

 

[Doctor of Doom]

Well, as unpopular as this idea might be, I wanted to offer up the opinion that... this might WORK!

Firstly I don't think Ultimate Galactus- or rather Gah Lak Tus, would be dumbing it down...

Secondly, I can see why they might choose Gah Lak Tus... he is perfectly suited to be a movie threat. The three Gah Lak Tus miniseries weren't bad because of their new take on a classic villain, they were bad because it took them four or five issues to actually bring up the idea of Gah Lak Tus, it took another four or five to find out what it was, etc, it was terribly paced... the whole thing could've been done in just one miniseries! Plus it was the writing, not the ideas, that were flawed.

Gah Lak Tus has potential, but then so does Galactus. The problem is, Galactus would require far better writing. I don't care what anyone says, a giant dude in purple and blue is not going to cut it. I mean, normally I don't like Galactus that much because it seems far too cheesy... (although I loved Mark Waid's take on him.) But Galactus CAN work if done right... I just think that Gah Lak Tus is easier to do in the movie... almost the lazy way out, but better the lazy way out than to ruin the character.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I have to say. The primary reason I picked up a few of the Ultimate comics but quickly lost interest is that - while they are well written and well drawn - I found it annoying that they took good characters and changed them all around until they were unrecognizable.

If, instead of having "VIctor Van Damn", they had a goat footed villain drawn very similarly to the one they had wearing a ratty blanket (red, blue, anything but green) and called him something else, I might have enjoyed it.

The same with Gal Ak Tus (or whatever). Why not just make a bunch of alien robot things like they did and just call them something different without trying to tie it to Galactus?

I say either use the existing characters or create your own, don't try to have it both ways.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Well i don't think it's a case of dumbing it down so much as changing it and i can see Willies point,i mean the ultimates change looks all the time while keeping some similarities but this extinction Galactus has zero in common with the original so why call it Galactus
I honestly never thought the giant purple man would make it to the screen in tact

 

[Hunter Rider]

Well, as unpopular as this idea might be, I wanted to offer up the opinion that... this might WORK!

Firstly I don't think Ultimate Galactus- or rather Gah Lak Tus, would be dumbing it down...

Secondly, I can see why they might choose Gah Lak Tus... he is perfectly suited to be a movie threat. The three Gah Lak Tus miniseries weren't bad because of their new take on a classic villain, they were bad because it took them four or five issues to actually bring up the idea of Gah Lak Tus, it took another four or five to find out what it was, etc, it was terribly paced... the whole thing could've been done in just one miniseries! Plus it was the writing, not the ideas, that were flawed.

Gah Lak Tus has potential, but then so does Galactus. The problem is, Galactus would require far better writing. I don't care what anyone says, a giant dude in purple and blue is not going to cut it. I mean, normally I don't like Galactus that much because it seems far too cheesy... (although I loved Mark Waid's take on him.) But Galactus CAN work if done right... I just think that Gah Lak Tus is easier to do in the movie... almost the lazy way out, but better the lazy way out than to ruin the character.

Good post,some excellent points,welcome to the hype

 

[Joe Rockhead]

I have to say. The primary reason I picked up a few of the Ultimate comics but quickly lost interest is that - while they are well written and well drawn - I found it annoying that they took good characters and changed them all around until they were unrecognizable.

If, instead of having "VIctor Van Damn", they had a goat footed villain drawn very similarly to the one they had wearing a ratty blanket (red, blue, anything but green) and called him something else, I might have enjoyed it.

The same with Gal Ak Tus (or whatever). Why not just make a bunch of alien robot things like they did and just call them something different without trying to tie it to Galactus?

I say either use the existing characters or create your own, don't try to have it both ways.

Ah... but the Ultimate Universe is the universe that they want the kids to embrace. That's why, for the longest time, and maybe even still, the cover price of the comics is less than that of the regular Marvel Universe... and the TPs that are issued for the Ultimate universe come out like clockwork at the end of a story arc.

What I'd like to see... at least from the comics... is the true Victor Von Doom show up and eliminate the impostor Van Damme for being a mockery of the one, true Doom.

And there's no doubt in my mind that the Galactus that shows up in the movie will be Gah Lak Tus. What are the chances that FOX would introduce an actual godlike entity from outer space when it's so much more believable to see a menacing alien race? Seriously.

It's the safe bet to go with the alien horde... it's been done successfully and unsuccessfully countless times.

I can't fault them for it... but at the same time, they shouldn't call it Galactus either.

 

[Doctor of Doom]

Good post,some excellent points,welcome to the hype

Thank you very much I hope to become a valued member Long time reader (mostly of the X3 section) but with FF2 still a good year away I figured I could join early and not get lost among the crowd

 

[Spider-Fan]

Well, as unpopular as this idea might be, I wanted to offer up the opinion that... this might WORK!

Firstly I don't think Ultimate Galactus- or rather Gah Lak Tus, would be dumbing it down...

Secondly, I can see why they might choose Gah Lak Tus... he is perfectly suited to be a movie threat. The three Gah Lak Tus miniseries weren't bad because of their new take on a classic villain, they were bad because it took them four or five issues to actually bring up the idea of Gah Lak Tus, it took another four or five to find out what it was, etc, it was terribly paced... the whole thing could've been done in just one miniseries! Plus it was the writing, not the ideas, that were flawed.

Gah Lak Tus has potential, but then so does Galactus. The problem is, Galactus would require far better writing. I don't care what anyone says, a giant dude in purple and blue is not going to cut it. I mean, normally I don't like Galactus that much because it seems far too cheesy... (although I loved Mark Waid's take on him.) But Galactus CAN work if done right... I just think that Gah Lak Tus is easier to do in the movie... almost the lazy way out, but better the lazy way out than to ruin the character.

I do believe it is dumbing it down because Galactus is a complex character, while Gah Lak Tus is not. He is a simplistic version of a complex character, so I feel this is an example of dumbing it down.

 

[Kelly]

Thank you very much I hope to become a valued member Long time reader (mostly of the X3 section) but with FF2 still a good year away I figured I could join early and not get lost among the crowd

Welcome DD....

 

[kirbyfan]

The map is already laid out for Fox, all they have to do is follow Kirby all the way and they couldn't possibly get this movie wrong!! Jack Kirby paved the way!!

 

[Malus]

The map is already laid out for Fox, all they have to do is follow Kirby all the way and they couldn't possibly get this movie wrong!! Jack Kirby paved the way!!

I'd like to know if any of those endorsing the "ultimate" version have actually read the original Galactus trilogy. Someone said "a big purple guy floating around space" didn't "do it" for them. Or the "Power Ranger villain" references I've read here and elsewhere.
Floating around space?? Power Rangers??
I think there are a lot of folks out there who've never experienced the real thing. And that's really too bad.
I wish somebody would post some panels from the real Galactus saga. All these Alex Ross paintings are great, but even they don't compare to the majesty of Kirby's work (in my opinion).

 

[Kelly]

I'd like to know if any of those endorsing the "ultimate" version have actually read the original Galactus trilogy. Someone said "a big purple guy floating around space" didn't "do it" for them. Or the "Power Ranger villain" references I've read here and elsewhere.
Floating around space?? Power Rangers??
I think there are a lot of folks out there who've never experienced the real thing. And that's really too bad.
I wish somebody would post some panels from the real Galactus saga. All these Alex Ross paintings are great, but even they don't compare to the majesty of Kirby's work (in my opinion).

Malus I respect you and all the multi-year F4 comic lovers....but none of us have experienced this ON-SCREEN....and thats what is going to count....ALSO.....the majority of that audience out there will be seeing this for the first time....they haven't experienced the comic either....its a comic, not the big screen....what will work in the comics sometimes will not work on screen...NO MATTER HOW WONDERFULLY IT WAS WRITTEN....SM in my opinion, pushed the envelope with Green Goblin.....this is FAR BIGGER...and I'm sorry, but until I see it on screen and hear the audience reaction....I'm sorry, but I do not believe that the original Galactus will work on screen....no matter how many times you tell me how wonderfully it was written....I'm not talking the writint....I'm not talking the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s....I'm talking an audience of the 21st century...and as much as I want to think that will work......sorry...but I don't.

You mentioned my Power Ranger comment....the reason I even made that comment was because I was honestly saying the first thing that I thought....unfortunately even with all of ya'lls input thats still what I see.....I believe that audience will see the same thing....and it will never leave their mind....no matter how well its written.....I didn't make that comment to be sarcastic, funny, or a jack ass....it was an honest idea....and I'm afraid it will be the same for other movie-goers...

DO I WANT TO BE WRONG....Hell yeah!.......and if I am.....YOU KNOW....that I'll be the first one here to admit it......

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I wouldn't mind some modification of the original design. I'd cover and exposed "skin" to make him more intimidating.

Imagine a cross between the original and something like this: