FF 2: Bigger, Badder, Silver?
IGN investigates the storyline for
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
by
Scott Collura
October 23, 2006 - Though 20th Century Fox's
Fantastic Four didn't prove to be as huge a hit as some of the other superhero movies out there these days, it did perform well enough for the studio to greenlight a sequel. And not only that, but said sequel is to be released this coming summer only two years after the first film hit! Of course, even before that greenlight happened, fans have been trying to predict what the next adventure of Marvel's first family will be about, and while much of the film's plot remains a mystery, it is possible to connect the dots of what
is known so far and thereby piece together the movie's larger storyline and how it relates to the original comic book on which it is based.
It's no secret that the
new film has been dubbed
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, a title which makes plain Fox's standard operating procedure when it comes to its superhero movies. Like the
X-Men sequels before it, this new
film will not only continue the adventures of the titular super-powered adventurers (in this case Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm), but it will also introduce us to a new character from the comics, the cosmic Silver Surfer. Whether the debut of the Surfer means simply more action figures and Happy Meal merchandising opportunities for Fox, or perhaps a spin-off film for the character eventually (a la the studio's
Elektra, which had its roots in
Daredevil), remains to be seen, but the fact is that fans couldn't be happier at the notion of the Surfer's arrival.
Tim Story, the director of the first
FF and its sequel, has been maintaining a MySpace blog for several months now which has offered many tantalizing tidbits about the coming film, including the following about who or what will play the Surfer.
"The question that I keep getting asked too many times... Doug Jones or no Doug Jones. Here's the lowdown. Doug has been working on a number of things regarding the Surfer. In order for the presence of the CGI SS to appear and move real, we need someone to perfect movement and provide a base, to which [visual effects house] WETA can do their thing.
The Silver Surfer's look just continues to get better. We're trying [tests] on the wake that his board will leave and we're starting to really get into the look of his eyes. Classic Surfer looks from the comic. I think you will all enjoy it.
Trust me digital is the way to go with this. You can't do this stuff for real."
[SIZE=-2]Marvel Comics[/SIZE]
There was, of course, no question that the Surfer would have to be achieved through CGI means, and the addition of Jones to the cast (albeit in an Andy Serkis/Gollum kind of way) has been seen as a positive move as well as the actor has had experience with comic book and genre projects in the past (he played Abe Sapien in
Hellboy, for example). In a conversation with this reporter at Comic-Con in July, Jones revealed that the film version of the Surfer will tie into the comics version.
"I own in my possession now volumes one through 18 of the Silver Surfer [comic], which is a great character," says Jones. "He inspires me, actually. I really love this character. He's a reluctant bad guy for starters, who sees the light when he gets to Earth to herald as a consumable planet for his big bad boss Galactus. The Fantastic Four kind of convince him that humanity is worth saving and that Earth isn't so bad and they actually get through his rough exterior truly a rough exterior dipped in silver to get to his heart. So the layers of this character are delicious to me."
Jones sums up the Surfer's origin pretty well, at least so far as it went down in the original
Fantastic Four comic books where he first appeared ("The Coming of Galactus" story in issues #48-50). But comic book fans know that there is more than one way to eat a planet, especially these days when multiple universes based on the Marvel characters have come and gone. Take for instance the popular Ultimate universe, which provided a different spin on the character of Galactus. Traditionally portrayed as a giant with a big purple helmet who would stand around in midtown Manhattan issuing threats to the FF, that rather cartoonish imagery seems likely to be supplanted by the more "realistic" Ultimate version of Galactus in the film.
"I'm going to use some looks that have been inspired from more recent comics, like in
The Ultimate Extinction and a little from the
Ultimate Fantastic Four series," says Story in his blog.
Ultimate Extinction was the last third of the
Ultimate Galactus storyline, which explained that in the Ultimate universe many Silver Surfer-type creatures exist, all of whom serve as advance scouts for the huge creature named Gah Lak Tus. Not simply a big guy in purple, Gah Lak Tus is a hive mind made up of countless robots. Still, this swarm version of Galactus shares the original's basic goal: to devour the universe's planets. Who knows, perhaps Story and his team will choose to depict a combination of the two types of Galactus in the film an immense horde that manifests itself psychically as a 20-story-tall human-type guy who we mere mortals can understand, maybe? (Purple helmet not required, please.)
At any rate,
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer will not
only be about the chrome one and his master. For one thing, we will all be attending a wedding when the film opens on June 15, 2007, as recently leaked photos from the shoot have made abundantly clear. Star Jessica Alba hinted about this plot thread to IGN last year when she said of her character and Ioan Gruffudd's Reed Richards, "I think they need to get married. I know what the first 20 minutes of the movie are gonna be. It's really cool. They're getting married. Maybe I'm giving away too much, but yeah." More recently, however, she told
USA Today the following about the sequel: "My character, Susan Storm, has another love triangle." So who exactly is the Invisible Girl marrying in those unofficial pics that are all over the Web?
If
Fantastic Four Annual #3, first published in 1965, is any indication, Sue will of course marry Reed. And in the comic version of the wedding, many superhero guests show up for the nuptials, including the original X-Men,
the Avengers, Spider-Man, and virtually every other major Marvel character that existed up until that time. So what's to keep Fox from having some super cameos at the movie wedding? They did, after all, place a photo of
X2 villain William Stryker in Dr. Doom's office in the first
FF film (look closely), while
X2 in turn briefly referenced Franklin Richards, the (future) son of Reed and Sue. Well, assuming Fox wants to avoid any lawsuits, the studio
could feature the X-Men as guests at the wedding, since they do currently have the film rights to those characters. Daredevil and Elektra might show up as well (though hopefully not in the persons of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner), but legally speaking, Spider-Man and the Avengers' presence would not be required, and neither would Ghost Rider's, the Hulk's, Nick Fury's, and most of the other Marvel heroes. The studios that hold their movie rights can still send gifts if they'd like.
[SIZE=-2]Marvel Comics[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
Marvels #2[/SIZE]
Doctor Doom, the baddie in the first film and the ultimate adversary of the FF, is likely not invited to the wedding, though he most certainly will be back for the new film
much to our heroes' chagrin, no doubt. Story, however, is psyched to bring old Victor back.
"Trust me, Doom will be a badass and have some stuff closer to the comics [than in the first film]," reveals the director. "There will be the plotting and the fighting and technology. He's just as smart as Reed, or as he would say, smarter, and I'm going to represent that in the movie big time. [Actor Julian McMahon] is onboard and wants to have just as much fun in making him 'that villain' we all know and love, or should I say hate. He's not going to just shoot beams of power this time. He goes toe to toe with a really big surprise."
Hmmm. A really big surprise? Could that be that Doom somehow tricks the Silver Surfer into giving him his cosmic powers? There have been several instances of the character making such power-grabs over the years (he took Ben Grimm's powers
away in the first film, you'll remember), and in fact the villain did acquire the Surfer's powers in
Fantastic Four #57 (and Galactus' powers in
Secret Wars!). Might the good Doctor have something similar in store for film audiences come this summer?
Or are the filmmakers referencing Marvel' short-lived "Heroes Reborn" universe from 10 years ago, which saw Doctor Doom actually taking on a heroic role as he attempted to stop Galactus' rampage (a universe, by the way, which is getting revisited by Marvel next month with the anniversary series
Onslaught Reborn)? That storyline featured multiple heralds arriving on Earth with Galactus, not just the Silver Surfer, which could go some way to explaining the presence of Frankie Raye (played by model Beau Garrett) in the new film's cast. In the comics, Raye was a girlfriend of Johnny Storm's who became the new herald of Galactus known as Nova when the world-devourer returned to Earth (in
FF #244). No one associated with the production of the film has publicly commented on whether or not Nova will come to be in the new movie, but even if we don't get multiple heralds like in "Heroes Reborn," this casting would seem at the very least to give us a hint as to how
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer will likely end: With the Surfer electing to stay on Earth after having defeated Galactus alongside the FF, and with Nova departing for the cosmos with her new master, replacing the Surfer in the process and leaving him to pursue his own series of films for Fox in the coming years (box office receipts permitting, of course).
And that's all just the tip of the Galactus-iceberg, for we haven't even touched on whether or not the all-important, all-seeing Watcher will show up in this film, or how the Thing's girlfriend Alicia Masters (who is thought to have an expanded role this time out) will play into the story. Will H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot or the Yancy Street Gang be making appearances? Those questions will all have to wait. Perhaps we will revisit this topic in the near future after we've gleaned some more info from our sources, but in the meantime, clobber us with your e-mails as to what
you think the new
Fantastic Four movie will be about!
Funny she talks about Clooney. For a long time he was a lead candidate to play Reed Richards.
t:
