The FFINO ZONE

[Kahran Ramsus]

That's why I said Thing was going to be the character I'm most looking forward too. If this movie is going to be awful, I would much prefer it to be awful in an entertaining way (like a Batman & Robin) as opposed to just being boring. At least then we can have some fun laughing at the film. Between the SyFy original VFX, lack of pants, and horrible voice, the Thing could be the character that takes us there. Kind of like Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin.

 

[Zarex]

Ben isnt real. He can be as emotionally confident as the writer wants him to be. Yall want him to be embarrassed about something that no longer has any baring in his life. Yall want him to cover up to hide from others that he doesnt have genitals that he couldnt use anyways.

If anything Trank has given us a more confident pragmatic and logical Ben who realizes the reality of his situation, and doesnt let the opinions of others bother him.

So Trank's given us a character that bears zero resemblance, both pre- and post transformation, to one of the greatest characters in the history of the medium of comics?

Fant4stic!

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

That's why I said Thing was going to be the character I'm most looking forward too. If this movie is going to be awful, I would much prefer it to be awful in an entertaining way (like a Batman & Robin) as opposed to just being boring. At least then we can have some fun laughing at the film. Between the SyFy original VFX, lack of pants, and horrible voice, the Thing could be the character that takes us there. Kind of like Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin.

Unfortunately (from my perspective as someone who would like to see my favorite character finally done right) I think it is that bad. Not just the voice and lack of pants, but the very unnatural looking, cartoonish CGI will, I believe, lead to audiences finding the Thing to be laugh-out-loud funny.

But I also think Batman and Robin was different. Everybody involved in that understood, on some level, that they were doing something over-the-top and intentionally cartoonish. It just didn't work for audiences the way the director intended.

But this film actually believes itself to be grounded, gritty and serious. That's going to make it all the more laughable.

 

[wobbly]

Ben isnt real. He can be as emotionally confident as the writer wants him to be. Yall want him to be embarrassed about something that no longer has any baring in his life. Yall want him to cover up to hide from others that he doesnt have genitals that he couldnt use anyways.

I'd rather they just don't go there one way or another. I don't need or want to know what his transformed genitals look like. And in the 50 years of comics they have touched upon him certainly being able to procreate without the need the need to show us the equipment by which this feat could be achieved. For this movie they are deliberately drawing attention to a complete lack of said equipment...and for what good reason?

Comics ben has been mutated, not castrated. This dude is a ken doll.

Ben isn't Robocop ffs.

Consider this: There have been and are real people in the world who have deformities so far beyond the norm that (from a logical pov) the idea of any vanity would seem to be a bit pointless. They still wear clothes regardless.

If anything Trank has given us a more confident pragmatic and logical Ben who realizes the reality of his situation, and doesnt let the opinions of others bother him.

This is along the lines of Kinberg thinking Ben being a small dude bullied by his big brothers makes him more interesting than a college football athlete, test pilot, hard as nails but with a heart of gold from being raised in a rough neighborhood etc.

Ben's confidence has always been an issue for him: Sometimes he will be fine, sometimes not (in the past it would often depend on how well things were going with Alicia....bit of a non starter here...). He has always tried to integrate regardless. Wearing his trunks or leggings/boots for the team or out sized civvies when not. He has never strutted about buck naked.

And Ben Grimm logical? Get thee back to the reborn thread....

 

[wobbly]

Another TV spot out with the Thing talking, and again no voice modulation. Looks like they are really planning to use Bell's real voice.

[YT]Jfw8Zk9HnCY[/YT]

"It's what I do"....My god, they ripped that off from the Stargate parody epsiode!! (the one where they are making an utterly cheesy tv show based on the 'real' teams adventures...that's the 'catchphrase' for the Jack stand in).

 

[MadVillainy]

Im hoping...hoping that this is just a case of weird marketing and that they arent just using Bell's voice for the Thing.

You know how sometimes with commercials they edit and splice dialogue into different scenes. That's what IM hoping for with this whole Thing talking...thing.

I mean this doesnt look good to me, but they cant be that stupid

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Ben's confidence has always been an issue for him: Sometimes he will be fine, sometimes not (in the past it would often depend on how well things were going with Alicia....bit of a non starter here...). He has always tried to integrate regardless. Wearing his trunks or leggings/boots for the team or out sized civvies when not. He has never strutted about buck naked.

And Ben Grimm logical? Get thee back to the reborn thread....

I've always seen Ben's personality as a reflection of his physical state. On the surface, his jokes and personality make him appear tough, but we all see through that and recognize that underneath his gruffness, he's sensitive and emotional.

If it were me, I'd love being the Thing. I'd strut down the streets of NYC greeting my admirers and giving the finger to anyone who didn't like me.

But that's me, not Ben, and those of us who love the character love him for what he is - not for something lightweights like Trank and Kinberg might think seems 'better'.

 

[Dark Raven]

Can Bell do humor? Ben should be one of the wittiest comic book characters only surpassed by a few like Spidey.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Unfortunately (from my perspective as someone who would like to see my favorite character finally done right) I think it is that bad. Not just the voice and lack of pants, but the very unnatural looking, cartoonish CGI will, I believe, lead to audiences finding the Thing to be laugh-out-loud funny.

But I also think Batman and Robin was different. Everybody involved in that understood, on some level, that they were doing something over-the-top and intentionally cartoonish. It just didn't work for audiences the way the director intended.

But this film actually believes itself to be grounded, gritty and serious. That's going to make it all the more laughable.

Oh, I'm sure it will be little consolation for the fans of the character. I'd much rather it be done right, and I really feel sorry for the diehard fans of Fantastic Four.

But if it is going to be a train crash, I at least hope it is a BIG train crash. And as you say, that is actually supposed to be taken seriously makes the fact that the Thing is so hilariously awful even more amusing. This film is a joke. Only people are laughing at it, instead of with it.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Some recent talk about FF toys got me thinking about the old Toy Biz toys I used to buy at Toys R Us (Spider-man, FF & Iron Man). I found a link (I don't think it has all of them because there's no Mr. Fantastic there), but it's pretty cool nonetheless. http://www.cmdstore.com/fafoanse.html

I need to pull my box out of the basement to see all the ones that I have. I don't think I have any of the Inhumans (they must have come out after I stopped visiting Toy R Us), but I definitely remember having 3 of the 4 FF (the Invisible Woman was only a clear figure. personally I thought they should have the clear figure included with a regular figure of her as her "prop"), Doom, 1 of the 2 Silver Surfers, Super Skrull, Blastaar, Dragon Man, Attuma (I'm pretty sure). Don't remember if I have Namor or Psycho Man. I do have a big Galactus which isn't pictured. And I think I have Thanos, which also isn't picture. Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to dig out my box!

While searching, I saw some other figures like Wizard, so I think I'm going to have to track them down to add to my collection.

I just checked, and it looks like I have everything they show plus some things like Gorgon, She-Hulk, Thanos and a few others. I don't see a Wizard, but I didn't pull everything down. I remember at the time buying everything I could find, and I think I found just about everything there was, but I can't say for sure. Maybe over the weekend I'll pull everything down and take a look.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I see a Black-Bolt and Anihilus, it looks like She-Hulk wasn't part of the FF set, but part of a Hulk series.

 

[Flint Marko]

I understand how there might be some debate over the merits of the FFINO's characterization of the Thing, I'm sure there will be folks here and elsewhere that will like his portrayal and connect to the character on some level. But I don't see anyone defending how the character looks, moves, and most importantly, speaks. He is aesthetically revolting. That alone will keep a good deal of the audience from connecting with the character, I think.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

So Trank was obviously one of those kids who never had any fun.

That is rather apparent. I kind of feel bad about it actually.

 

[Crimz]

Just saw the clip with Ben speaking... His voice is absolutely horrible.

 

[ThePhantasm]

becoming a giant rock monster:

- makes you between 6 - 10 ft. tall (depending on the scene)
- makes you lose your junk
- your voice is not affected at all though

 

[ernesth100]

I laughed so hard when I heard his voice. He sounds like Michelangelo from Ninja Turtles.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

That is rather apparent. I kind of feel bad about it actually.

I laughed when I wrote that post but you have a point. When you think about it really, it's totally sad.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I laughed when I wrote that post but you have a point. When you think about it really, it's totally sad.

He was clearly the subject of bullying and general harassment. I still think he is a jackass, but we should probably afford him a bit of sympathy.

 

[Quasar]

I see a Black-Bolt and Anihilus, it looks like She-Hulk wasn't part of the FF set, but part of a Hulk series.

Ok, so I pulled 'em out. From FF series I have Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch, Firelord, Triton, Gorgon, Super Skrull, Dragon Man, Annihilus, Blastaar, Thanos, Terrax, Namor, Attuma, Dr. Doom, Galactus & Silver Surfer. So I actually did have a couple of Inhumans and Namor, but no Psycho Man or Wizard as I thought (and Black Bolt either)

From Spider-man series I have Spider-man (duh), Kingpin, Rhino, Green Goblin, Kraven, Lizard, Prowler, Scorpion, Carnage, Doc Ock, Chameleon and Mysterio.

From the Iron Man series I have Iron Man, War Machine, Mandarin, Hawkeye, Dreadnaught, Crimson Dynamo, Blacklash, Grey Gargoyle.

I also have Dr. Strange, Silver Samurai and Warstar. Dr. Strange may be from the Iron Man series. Unfortunately they are not in their original packaging

 

[Kanon]

Another TV spot out with the Thing talking, and again no voice modulation. Looks like they are really planning to use Bell's real voice.

[YT]Jfw8Zk9HnCY[/YT]

Whoa, I thought at this point, the movie would stabilize and stop getting worse...

It keeps going lower and lower, it has no limits!

 

[Quasar]

And you just know they're keeping the worst stuff out of the marketing!!!

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

And you just know they're keeping the worst stuff out of the marketing!!!

That's a scary thought.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Are my eyes deceiving me? Is that who I think it is in the trailer?

 

[justanotherguy]

who do you think it is?

 

[Orba]

And you just know they're keeping the worst stuff out of the marketing!!!

I'm still trying to understand what their plan is with the marketing, like what are those weird posters they do supposed to be about? The ones which have a boring photos of a few of the team doing nothing with a motivational line stuck over the top.