Fantastic Four reborn! - Part 2

[Thread Manager]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]347471[/split]

 

[highguard]

I expect an announcment from Fox any day now. In any case....and in honor Of Johnathan Spencer Storm, the Human Torch.

...... an edited repost of my tribute in the comic book forum.....



Well, it is the end of an era. So I should say something on these boards that I peruse and enjoy so much. Today I think I will add my two cents on the death of the Human Torch. Heroes are a rare thing in this world. The guy lauded by the president at a recent memorial as a hero put his life on the line to save the life of a shooting victim instead of running to safety. He was not the only one to run to help but he lived, others died. That is what heroes do despite the possible mortal outcomes. Everyday men and women in the armed services, policemen, firemen, and others risk life and limb to save others, they too are heroes. They are the bravest, selfless souls who bring cheer and inspiration to so many of us.

And so we come to the idea of Super Heroes, as spider man often recalls, with great power must come great responsibility. I loved the idea of super heroes from the time I was a child. I loved the Fantastic Four, loved their bright blue costumes, their family dynamic, the squabbles and the heart warming banter found in every family. Reed and Sue were the adults and if truth be told Johnny and Ben were the children even before there was Franklyn and Valeria. At times they were reckless, immature, thoughtless and annoying and yet we all loved them so. This was a true family, the first family of comics.

As I grew older Reed Richards became more of a favorite with me, but when I was a kid the human torch was my hero. His powers were bright and flashy and visually stunning. I still thrill to the awesome visuals of the torch provided by Jack "King" Kirby, big John Buscema, Rich Buckler, George Perez and even John Byrne whose style grew on me and who can forget Joltin Joe Sinnot the inker supreme. These guys brought me much joy in their portrayal of my childhood hero. I also am humbled by the care these writers brought to these characters, Stan the man Lee and Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Byrne, Claremont, and now I must add Johnathan Hickman to the list of greats.

I think Mr Hickman did not show the final stand because obviously it leaves us with some hope and that is a stunning achievment for a writer of fiction. Some writers are hacks, because they have not taken the time to see the potential of what they have but I now see a glimmer of what Mr Hickman is trying to do. Many complained about the pace of his book but I begin to see a possible masterpiece. He knows the death is but a tease, that the hope of this story is yet to be told, that people want to be inspired, to hope to dream. For many kids that is what comic books were, a vehicle to take us away to magical places, hopeful lives, and heroic people.


It seemed fitting that Johnny would stare at a billion to one odds and shout his defiance into the black abyss before him. I hope for the day when Mr Hickman will show us the true extent of his battle with the bugs. The last page was black, but the Human Torch was always about fire and light, Johnny was never the hero that spider man was, or Iron Man or Thor my current favorite hero but his potential is undeniable.

He is the man child with the fearless heart who always ran off before thinking to the oft consternation of Reed or Sue, the guy with the power of the sun who could fry the flesh off of wolverine without breaking a sweat if he really wanted to. The guy that possibly could take out a billion enemies on one continent. As a child these were the questions I had, why don't they show his true power, the power of the sun, the flame, the fire. Well given what I suspect Mr Hickman is about to do, maybe we will get to see Johnny Storm in all his blazing glory. I hope you survived Johnny, and I thank you Mr Hickman because I suspect that by the time you are done with this story, the Fantastic Four will have changed, and the Human Torch will finally take his place among the greats.

So thank you Mr Hickman for making us and others who may not have grown up with this character care about what happens next.

We are waiting Johnny Storm, find your way back home to your family.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I think Planet of The apes proved the technology is there. That was a completely CGI character that was on screen for most of the movie with more emotion and physical interaction than most human actors and the character was completely believable.

And because that character was based on a Chimpanzee - which is a real animal that we know and therefore can detect even slight imperfections - and because it was done on a relatively modest budget, I'm convinced that, with the right people, A CGI Thing could work.

 

[Airwings]

They have to make the suits look more like the ones from the comic books. They did it in the 1994 film.

 

[MarvelComix85]

THE FANTASTIC FOUR

Mister Fantastic - Alexis Denisoff
Invisible Woman - Jennifer Morrison
Human Torch - Travis van Winkle
Thing - Ben Affleck

VILLAINS

Attuma - Karel Roden
Annihilus - Keith Szarabajka
Blastaar - Fred Tatasciore
Boris - William Morgan Shephard
Diablo - Frankie G
Doctor Doom - Richard Armitage
Dorrek VII - Leonard Nimoy
Galactus - Michael Dorn
Gorgon - Ryan Hurst
Gustav Hauptman - Jared Harris
Klaw - Mads Mikkelsen
Krang - Karl Urban
Mad Thinker - Oliver Platt
Maximus the Mad - Dominic West
Mole Man - Paul Giamatti
Power Skrull - Derek Mears (performer)/Christopher Judge (voice)
Puppet Master - Bob Hoskins
Sandman - John Cena
S'Byll - Katey Sagal
Super Skrull - Doug Jones (performer)/Steve Blum (voice)
Trapster - Wade Williams
Wizard - Gary Oldman

ALLIES

Anelle - Shannyn Sossamon
Alicia Masters - Kristin Wiig
Black Bolt - Ryan Gosling
Black Panther - Lance Gross
Crystal - Isabel Lucas
Dorma - Alexa Davalos
Karnak the Shatterer - Temuera Morrison
Medusa - Bridget Regan
Namor - Eric Bana
Namorita - Laura Vandervoort
She-Hulk - Lake Bell
Silver Surfer - Doug Jones (performer)/Billy Cruddup (voice)
Spider-Man - Adam Brody
T'Chaka - Djimon Hounsou
Triton - Jason Statham

 

[Zap]

Depending on what villain we see in the movie, CGI could work for a lot of the movie. The costumes in the first and second movies gave off a little CGI vibe that could easily be rendered to make them look more like the comics; still modern looking but a hint of synthetic, 60s type would work well I think.

 

[bubbadoom]

WHY would anyone suggest creating the FF's costumes via CGI?

 

[marcvader]

GL fan?

 

[Zap]

GL fan?

Hell, no. Wasn't suggesting it for the costumes necessarily, but rather a lot of the action scenes and backgrounds, particularly when they take place in space.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

I think Planet of The apes proved the technology is there. That was a completely CGI character that was on screen for most of the movie with more emotion and physical interaction than most human actors and the character was completely believable.

And because that character was based on a Chimpanzee - which is a real animal that we know and therefore can detect even slight imperfections - and because it was done on a relatively modest budget, I'm convinced that, with the right people, A CGI Thing could work.

he actually probably be one of the easier character to CG....

the hardest things to get right in CG is usually realistic/natural looking, skin and hair (which,the Thing, has neither).... another being realistic/natural body movement/facial expressions, which is where motion capture would come in.... the other major remaining issue in cg is the eyes (what people offend call "dead eyes") so, That I think would have to be the main focus, and would be the hardiest part, in terms of letting the actor show throw... but, from what I hear, raise of the planet of the apes, really showed that this can be done...

so, ya, I am all for the mo-cap/CGI, Thing
(but, it would still require a solid preference, not just a voice over, but, a good over all preference, to pull it off)

 

[MarvelComix85]

Anyone care to comment on my cast?

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

he actually probably be one of the easier character to CG....

the hardest things to get right in CG is usually realistic/natural looking, skin and hair (which,the Thing, has neither).... another being realistic/natural body movement/facial expressions, which is where motion capture would come in.... the other major remaining issue in cg is the eyes (what people offend call "dead eyes") so, That I think would have to be the main focus, and would be the hardiest part, in terms of letting the actor show throw... but, from what I hear, raise of the planet of the apes, really showed that this can be done...

so, ya, I am all for the mo-cap/CGI, Thing
(but, it would still require a solid preference, not just a voice over, but, a good over all preference, to pull it off)

I agree. At the very least, I'd love to see a test by a top-notch effects house just to see what's possible.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Anyone care to comment on my cast?

Frankly, when I saw Ben Affleck for the Thing, I wasn't sure if you were joking.

I feel that Alex Denisoff is too old, but I like Oliver Platt as the Mad Thinker and Paul Giamatti as Mole-man. Michael Dorn might be interesting as Galactus and I LOVE Gary Oldman as Wizard.

I'm not up on actors names to comment much on most of the others.

Ben Affleck? No. Sorry, but just no.

 

[terry78]

I know in the books Grimm's eyes are like a bright steely blue, but if they go with CG they should probably just make the eyes kind of a light blue as that eye color can come off kinda cartoonish.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

^ just reading your sig... an you know what, ironically, Kinnear, is one the names I've playing around with in my head for a possible, Reed...

 

[Jordacar]

If they can cast a blue-eyed actor (who also happens to be perfect for Ben), I'm sure they could figure out a way to put his eyes on a CG Thing

 

[bubbadoom]

For Davie Jones in the Pirates films they used the actor's eyes and mouth and replaced the rest, so I would say that's the easy part with a digital Thing...

 

[Eddie Dean]

Frankly, when I saw Ben Affleck for the Thing, I wasn't sure if you were joking.

I feel that Alex Denisoff is too old, but I like Oliver Platt as the Mad Thinker and Paul Giamatti as Mole-man. Michael Dorn might be interesting as Galactus and I LOVE Gary Oldman as Wizard.

I'm not up on actors names to comment much on most of the others.

Ben Affleck? No. Sorry, but just no.

The biggest problem with Affleck as The Thing is that we can't have one of the world's most famous Bostonians play the quintessentially New York Ben Grimm.

 

[MarvelComix85]

Frankly, when I saw Ben Affleck for the Thing, I wasn't sure if you were joking.

I feel that Alex Denisoff is too old, but I like Oliver Platt as the Mad Thinker and Paul Giamatti as Mole-man. Michael Dorn might be interesting as Galactus and I LOVE Gary Oldman as Wizard.

I'm not up on actors names to comment much on most of the others.

Ben Affleck? No. Sorry, but just no.

Well, Ben Affleck does look like Ben Grimm pre-transformation. And didn't someone on the previous Fantastic Four thread say that Mr. Fantastic is supposed to be middle-aged?

 

[HR-PUFF&STUFF]

in the comics ben reed and victor are late 30s to early 40s. now if you want to go a bit younger and have them early 30s don't see why not.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Well, Ben Affleck does look like Ben Grimm pre-transformation. And didn't someone on the previous Fantastic Four thread say that Mr. Fantastic is supposed to be middle-aged?

I don't see it.

But physical appearance is the least of my concerns. Affleck's personality is all wrong and I've never seen him play a role remotely close to Ben Grimm.

As for Reed, I'd like to see someone around 30. Denisoff is 45 now which would likely put him near 50 by the time the first film is done and well beyond 50 by the third film.

 

[MarvelComix85]

All right, here's some choices for Ben Grimm:
- Jeffrey Donovan
- Jeffrey Donovan
- Jeremy Sisto
- Jon Hamm
- Mark Wahlberg

 

[HR-PUFF&STUFF]

David Boreanaz is my pick for ben

 

[Eddie Dean]

Domenick Lombardozzi and that's not up for debate.

 

[MarvelComix85]

David Boreanaz is my pick for ben

Hey, pretty solid pick, man! t: