The Rumor Mill: Got A Rumor? Post It Here!

[Retroman]

Comic writer Mark Millar (Ultimate FF, Ultimate X-Men etc.) posted the following on his official message board.

From Millarworld:

Feb 7 2007, 09:49 AM

I hereby predict that FF2 is going to be really good. I've seen little bits of it and word of mouth around the office is that the script is great. Don Payne wrote some great Simpsons episodes and the Marvel West guys were telling me some great bits with Johnny, etc. Just totally in character and genuinely funny. I've got a good feeling about this.

MM

Feb 7 2007, 09:59 AM

I never trust directors who say the next one will be better as the first had to set everything up. Star Wars, Raiders, Superman, The Godfather and Jaws set everything up and they're my top five movies. They can be great too. But I digress... I'm not convinced by Tim Story directing action, but everything I'm hearing is really good. One of the studio guys saw a rough cut last week and said he loved it so fingers crossed.

PS Totally agreed on keeping this light. FF ain't X-Men. Was talking to Hitchy about this yesterday and we both agreed that Spielberg in his prime would have done an amazing FF. That's the exact tone... funny when it should be funny, scary when it should be scary and aimed at a very general audience.

Source: http://forums.millarworld.tv/index.php?showtopic=68104

 

[zer00]

Cool. When Mark is done screwing my sister I'll ask him for further comments.



oh I don't have a sister

 

[Retroman]

lol

 

[Casius--J]

lol o....k...

Back to topic, sounds promising, i just wanna see this film already!!

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

*crosses fingers*

Let's hope. I think the fundamentals for a great story are there...but the execution is so key. I've heard others say that Payne's script is really good, so I'm trying to remain positive about this.

 

[Malus]

*crosses fingers*

Let's hope. I think the fundamentals for a great story are there...but the execution is so key. I've heard others say that Payne's script is really good, so I'm trying to remain positive about this.

Yes; at the moment Don payne is the main reason I have hope for this film. If it turns out wretched, I doubt it will be Payne's fault.

 

[Spider - Man]

Millar is a moron. Remeber when he "knew for a fact" and bet $1000 that Jim Caviezel was playing Superman? Mark, stop trying to pretend you know what you're talking about and pour another shot of whiskey in your bloodshot eye!

Not that I think he's wrong...even a broken clock is still right twice a day!

 

[Kelly]

Who's Mark Millar????????? t:

 

[Iron Maiden]

Mark Millar is one of Joe Quesada's golden boys. He is one of the main architects of the "Civil War" cross over that split up the FF and turned Reed into a puppet of the government who created a clone of Thor that killed Goliath, one of the superheroes that was questioning the Superhero Registration Act. Reed also created a prison in the Negative Zone for any other heroes hapless enough to disagree. One of them attempted suicide while incarcerated. He did Ok on the recent Ultimate FF but not liking the Bendis/Millar collabration on this Civil War mess.

 

[Kelly]

Mark Millar is one of Joe Quesada's golden boys. He is one of the main architects of the "Civil War" cross over that split up the FF and turned Reed into a puppet of the government who created a clone of Thor that killed Goliath, one of the superheroes that was questioning the Superhero Registration Act. He did Ok on the recent Ultimate FF but not liking the Bendis/Millar collabration on this Civil War mess.

I know who he is....hence the *grin* and *wink*....lol

I haven't read the Civil War arc yet, waiting for it to come out in a TPB....

 

[Fantastic-Boy]

Amazing news!

 

[Noir]

Cool. When Mark is done screwing my sister I'll ask him for further comments.



oh I don't have a sister

He is screwing yours too?

 

[Dragon]

I hereby predict that FF2 is going to be really good. I've seen little bits of it and word of mouth around the office is that the script is great. Don Payne wrote some great Simpsons episodes and the Marvel West guys were telling me some great bits with Johnny, etc. Just totally in character and genuinely funny. I've got a good feeling about this.

PS Totally agreed on keeping this light. FF ain't X-Men.

See, it's quotes like this that tick me off and make it clear how many people don't get the source material.
Likening the FF more to the Simpsons than the X-men is about as stupid as can be. And moreover, once again, pretty boy Johnny is the focus of the movie. Yeah. This one'll be a classic

 

[Spade]

Mark Millar approving of any current Marvel movie does not give me hope. It downright scares me. I expect nothing less than Reed acting like the complete antithesis of himself and to see an army of Chris Evans clones all controlled by Robert Downey Jr. in any script he approves of.

 

[Sun_Down]

I don't give a damn, I like Mark Millar. His run on Ult. X-Men is what got me back into comics after 10+ years. On a scale of 1-10, my hope for this movie was at about a 2.5, now I'm up to about a 5.1

Likening the FF more to the Simpsons than the X-men is about as stupid as can be. And moreover, once again, pretty boy Johnny is the focus of the movie. Yeah. This one'll be a classic

And that's not what he said at all. Seriously, did you only read the words "Simpsons" and "X-Men" and just fill in the rest on your own?

 

[Kelly]

See, it's quotes like this that tick me off and make it clear how many people don't get the source material.
Likening the FF more to the Simpsons than the X-men is about as stupid as can be. And moreover, once again, pretty boy Johnny is the focus of the movie. Yeah. This one'll be a classic

You do realize that the Simpsons is built on family dynamics. Yes, sometimes silly, sometimes funny, but at its base....family. So much so, that several psychology classes actually use this book as required reading. You should read it, its very interesting.

http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Si...ef=sr_1_7/002-6070836-2321633?ie=UTF8&s=books

Last time I looked, a major part of the Fantastic Four was family, so even if he did compare it to the Fantastic Four, which he did not.....but if he did?.....so what? both are based on family....just because one has a more serious tone to it doesn't mean that someone who wrote for an award winning family comedy couldn't write a good script for a comic book family as well....

http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Si...ef=sr_1_7/002-6070836-2321633?ie=UTF8&s=books

 

[Iron Maiden]

You probably wouldn't know this but about 3 or 4 years ago there was quite a controversy about the direction the FF comic was going to take back when Bill Jemas was the head man at Marvel Comics. Joe Q. was EIC but Bill Jemas took a very hands on approach to the comic book side of the company, so much so that he had FF writer Mark Waid removed because he didn't want to turn the title into a comic about a goofy family of superheroes with a cranky neighbor. And when news of that broke, it caused an uproar among comic book fans and literally brought down the server at Newsarama . In a show of support, even artist Mike Wieringo took himself off the book. Eventually, Jemas had to rethink his position and the creative team was reinstated and Waid finished off his Authoritative Action arc as planned.

From 2003:

In confirming his firing, Waid told Newsarama, "I wish I'd had a longer run, and I'll admit I was surprised at being so abruptly fired. A few weeks ago, Bill [Jemas] phoned and tried to convince me to jettison our high-adventure approach and everything else we've been doing in favor of making the FF a wacky suburban dramedy where Reed's a nutty professor who creates amazing but impractical inventions, Sue's the office-temp breadwinner, the cranky neighbor is their new 'arch-enemy,' etc."

Eventually, this idea was tweaked to drop the comedic overtones and changed into Marvel Knights "4", which was recently cancelled due to declining sales.

I am not saying that comedic elements don't belong in the FF. I think the part that some of us older fans don't like about Mark Millar's remark about the FF vs X-Men is that it appears to me as if he is saying that only the X-Men are "serious", and only making note of the hijinks scripted for Johnny. I hope that I am being overly cautious but I feel that as long as they have decided to jump ahead to the Surfer-Galactus-Doom arc, I would hope that means that Fox is taking the FF seriously. It was storytelling like this on an epic scale that makes it a one of comics major milestones. Unless you were around back then I suppose it might be hard to understand just how groundbreaking it was for a humble 12 cent monthly comic book.

 

[Kelly]

You probably wouldn't know this but about 3 or 4 years ago there was quite a controversy about the direction the FF comic was going to take back when Bill Jemas was the head man at Marvel Comics. Joe Q. was EIC but Bill Jemas took a very hands on approach to the comic book side of the company, so much so that he had FF writer Mark Waid removed because he didn't want to turn the title into a comic about a goofy family of superheroes with a cranky neighbor. And when news of that broke, it caused an uproar among comic book fans and literally brought down the server at Newsarama . In a show of support, even artist Mike Wieringo took himself off the book. Eventually, Jemas had to rethink his position and the creative team was reinstated and Waid finished off his Authoritative Action arc as planned.

From 2003:



Eventually, this idea was tweaked to drop the comedic overtones and changed into Marvel Knights "4", which was recently cancelled due to declining sales.

I am not saying that comedic elements don't belong in the FF. I think the part that some of us older fans don't like about Mark Millar's remark about the FF vs X-Men is that it appears to me as if he is saying that only the X-Men are "serious", and only making note of the hijinks scripted for Johnny. I hope that I am being overly cautious but I feel that as long as they have decided to jump ahead to the Surfer-Galactus-Doom arc, I would hope that means that Fox is taking the FF seriously. It was storytelling like this on an epic scale that makes it a one of comics major milestones. Unless you were around back then I suppose it might be hard to understand just how groundbreaking it was for a humble 12 cent monthly comic book.

The first actual arc that I read....would have made a great base for a movie to build from....

Yes, that was my favorite of the comics......I loved the family dynamics and attention to characterization....

My comparison to the Simpsons, really had nothing to do with the comedic tone of the series.....but more the family dynamic....which is what the Psychology of the Simpsons focuses on as well....

And that was also the reason I enjoyed the MK issues more than any of the others....

 

[Killgore]

You need to read Mark Millar's interviews where he talks about writing Fantastic Four proper in the future. After reading that, he loves FF more than you do, and I cannot wait to read his run.

 

[Kelly]

You need to read Mark Millar's interviews where he talks about writing Fantastic Four proper in the future. After reading that, he loves FF more than you do, and I cannot wait to read his run.

Quote someone please....

If you are talking to me.....all I can say is......you could very well be right.....I don't think my short time with this comic could be characterized as a love relationship....but I have enjoyed them.

 

[Dragon]

And that's not what he said at all. Seriously, did you only read the words "Simpsons" and "X-Men" and just fill in the rest on your own?

He said the script was probably good because Don Payne's written a number of great Simpsons episodes.

He said the FF are not the X-men. So they should go "light".

Thus- Simpsons have more in common with the FF than X-men according to this boob.

Even though we're dealing with a storyline that involves the end of the world.

Maybe you should learn to read between the lines.

 

[Dragon]

You do realize that the Simpsons is built on family dynamics. Yes, sometimes silly, sometimes funny, but at its base....family. So much so, that several psychology classes actually use this book as required reading. You should read it, its very interesting.

http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Si...ef=sr_1_7/002-6070836-2321633?ie=UTF8&s=books

Last time I looked, a major part of the Fantastic Four was family, so even if he did compare it to the Fantastic Four, which he did not.....but if he did?.....so what? both are based on family....just because one has a more serious tone to it doesn't mean that someone who wrote for an award winning family comedy couldn't write a good script for a comic book family as well....

http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Si...ef=sr_1_7/002-6070836-2321633?ie=UTF8&s=books

The Godfather and Sopranos are based on family dynamics. Leave it to Beaver is based on family dynamics. Friends is on family dynamics. Star Trek is based on family dynamics. Lethal Weapon is based on family dynamics.

Merely being based the concept of family doesn't link the two. And no- I'm not saying that if someone writes a comedy they can't write a drama. Writer William Peter Blatty wrote comedies and muscials for Blake Edwards before churning out a little family novel/screenplay called The Exorcist.

My point is that Millar's inside info compares Payne's writing work on FF to the Simpsons, which is not an appropriate comparison. And the FF is every bit as serious as the X-men- despite there being some moments of comic relief. The X-men have them as well. As for the focus on Johnny- Johnny's moments in FF1 were kind of funny. They were also vapid and pointless, and certainly not based on "family dynamic".

 

[Malus]

Don Payne did write some great Simpsons episodes, and while the material is decidely different I can totally understand how a former Simpsons writer might be the perfect choice to script a great FF movie, while maybe not being the guy you want to write the next X-Men.

Movie X-Men is most certainly darker than the movie FF.
I don't even like to think of the FF film as taking place in the same "reality" as X-Men III. Too depressing.

 

[Advanced Dark]

Great find Retro. I haven't seen one piece about this film that's negative. From the set pics, the teaser, and the interviews. Everything is positive so far no matter what the source.

 

[MattC]

Thanks Retro, great to hear more people praising Don's script.