ben grimm/the thing

Fan Casting: MCU Fantastic Four

~ Alyxwrites ~ Leave a comment

Image result for marvel's fantastic 4

So, I read that at Comic Con, Marvel Studios (MCU) is going to introduce the Fantastic Four in their universe. I think that’s awesome because maybe this time, the first family of  Marvel will get the chance to have a successful film outing.

I don’t know everything about these characters. I only know what I know from the movies, the one particular animated show and what I’ve researched. I like them all and I think it’s important for each character to have their moment to shine. I’ve never seen the original film but the 2004 films with Chris Evans and Jessica Alba were fun and I quite enjoyed the 2015 reboot. I know a lot of people hate that one but I like it. Read my review for it here. I’m not going to go into so much description about each person but get right into the casting. I know everyone wants John Krasinski and Emily Blunt to play Reed and Sue and that’s cool but I don’t think I really want them to play these roles. Same with Zac Efron, I wouldn’t be mad but I don’t really dig it.

Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic

So, we’ve had Miles Teller and Ioan Grufffudd play Reed. They were both origin stories which is fine. I liked both actors in their roles but they were playing Reed at different places in their lives but were kind of similar. I mean, they’re both unassuming and a bit awkward. Honestly, thinking about them both now, while I don’t mind them, Reed was kind of boring and didn’t have a lot of development lol. Let’s not do that anymore. He shouldn’t be boring.

Reed is an intellectual who would rather to examine foes and negotiate instead of fighting. He can get caught up in the scientific implications of a problem that he forgets the problem. Reed is likable, pleasant and extremely passionate about his family and those he cares about. But he can also develop intense depression and be very self-deprecating. He is very much a humanitarian who will do what he can to prevent the suffering an intellectual being.

Top Choice: Patrick Wilson

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"Space Station 76" Premiere - 2014 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival

I think Patrick Wilson would be great as Reed! First, he’s such a good actor and so dynamic, I’ve used this word a lot lately lol. Reed is the leader of his group and is the smartest man in the Marvel universe. He seems like someone would actually say that his intelligence is more important that his abilities. I also think because stretching powers can come off so silly, that Wilson would be able to find the balance. Patrick Wilson is charming and likable when his character is meant to be likable (because he can also be a horrible person too lol) and Reed’s obsessive nature could be explored as well. Not to mention, any moment where he feels like he’s failed and develops deep depression, I think he would be great at all of this. Plus, I think he would have really nice chemistry with either of my choices for Sue Storm.

Honorable Mentions: I don’t have any right now. Leave your choices for Reed in the comments!

Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman

So, in the past we’ve had Jessica Alba as Sue, which even then I thought was weird. I mean, she wasn’t bad but miscast. I mean, if you have to put so much makeup on her to make her skin lighter, that’s a problem, especially in the second one. Sheesh. Kate Mara also had great potential as did the movie but we know how that went.

So, I have two picks for Sue but they’re going to be for different reasons. I’ll try to explain lol.

Top Choice: Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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So, before you freak out and give me outrage, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is such a good actress. I need her to get a role that would propel her further into the spotlight and Marvel has done that for a lot of their actors. Sure, some might have smaller roles than others, but even the smaller roles, still manage to get a lot more movies, even if they’re “indies”. I recently saw Fast Color and she was so good in that. So, Gugu is 37 but she can register a bit younger than that depending on what kind of point in their lives they want to portray the FF. Either way, I think she would be a great choice. She’s in a healthy middle when it comes to not being that much younger than Wilson as Reed (there’s a 10-year difference but he also can register younger) and she would nail any and all emotional moments for Sue. She’d be strong because I think Sue is a strong character but her powers are also really strong, interesting and should be portrayed as such. No more of that “I can’t hold this for much longer!” when she literally just put up the barrier or whatever lol. I also think she’d be a great older sister for BOTH of my younger Johnny Storm picks AND she’d be great standing BESIDE Patrick Wilson’s Reed. She’s so dynamic on screen that thinking about it right now just makes me want her to be cast RIGHT NOW. Plus, definitely just let her keep her curls.

Kristen Bell

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I definitely want Gugu Mbatha-Raw more but I wanted to also choose an older Johnny and I think with my older Johnny choice; Kristen Bell works better for that. Plus, I love her and I think she hasn’t really had the chance to really have a role that would get her a lot of attention. Sure, she was Anna in Frozenbut that was a voice over so it’s not really the same effect. I think having her play Sue will allow her to not only be in a Marvel film which would already make her even more of a household name, but she gets to have powers! I can totally see her being motherly but still a sister, because I didn’t like when she was scolding Johnny in the 2004 versions, like girl calm down lol. I can even see her being a bit awkward but cool around Reed, I think Kristen could play it either way. Not to mention, I think she could be pretty badass if you let her and she’ll have great chemistry with Patrick Wilson.

Honorable Mentions: Aja Naomi King, Rosamund Pike, Alice Eve, Allison Brie (a friend suggested her and I like it lol), Rachel McAdams (let’s forget about her being in Dr. Strange)

Johnny Storm/The Human Torch

Both Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan were fine in this role as well. Evans clearly had fun in the role because Johnny being a ladies man, a bit roguish and a rebel works for him, which is funny because being the everyman, and strait-laced like Steve, also works for him. MBJ was the best in his movie, I don’t care what anyone says, but his Johnny was very underwritten and underused. Man, I want to rewrite that movie. You can read How I Would Fix: Fantastic Four.

Top Choice: Jacob Latimore (mostly) OR Ross Lynch

Okay, so listen up. Johnny can go either way in terms how old he is. When I was first casting this, I got comfortable with Kristen Bell as Sue that when I found my “older” choice for Johnny, I put away the idea of him being a bit younger because I thought I was done. BUT I kept thinking about Gugu and then I thought, well I thought MBJ was really good as Johnny in Fant4stic and it was a mistake that they didn’t make Sue black as well without doing much with it. I mean, I get what they were trying to do but it was a disservice.

So I thought of Jacob Latimore and I really want him to be a superhero lol because he was so good in Sleight. So, I said “well, if I made the Storms black, then I’d want Gugu and Jacob, they’re 13 years apart which is fine and it’d be great!” Jacob would have great chemistry with Gugu, no matter which way he’s played because she could either try to be all motherly (which is kind of what Alba did just nagging) or be like his cool and smart big sister who knows how to put him in his place if need be, without the nagging and that’d work better with Latimore’s Johnny. In terms of his personality, he’s usually the first one to jump into a situation, trying to fix things that got messed up (probably by him lol). He’s adventurous, spirited, impulsive and all of these other “flashy” personality types, I think Jacob Latimore would have fun in this role. I haven’t quite seen him play a role with this kind of personality but he seems like a likable person and I’ve always found Johnny likable no matter his iteration. Also, whenever there’s a more emotional moment for him, he could pull that off too. Not to mention, I’d think he’d be so smooth and cool and look awesome as The Human Torch. Let’s make it happen!

As for Ross Lynch, my friend Karina suggested him if Gugu played Sue and he could be her half-brother. I liked this idea and so I’m putting it here. Plus, she brought up the idea of Johnny being closer in age to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker since there’s no one his age in the MCU he can relate to, who is also a superhero. Plus, plus, I really like Ross Lynch and while he is on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as Harvey Kinkle, I would like to see him put forth in a way that the MCU can do. He’s also a very good actor, because I was blown away at him in My Friend Dahmer but he can also play the goofy, impulsive, maybe a little hotheaded guy because his Austin character was a bit like that. Even his Brady character had some of those tendencies. I think Ross Lynch would do great and also look great with the Human Torch look.

Karina mentioning that she liked the idea of Johnny being younger and then suggesting Ross Lynch, validated my choice in Jacob Latimore since Holland, Latimore and Lynch are all 23 and have a younger look about them. This doesn’t mean that they have to be the same age since as of Far From Home, Peter is 16. Johnny could be older. Plus, considering the whole thing with the Snap, perhaps Johnny didn’t get snapped and got the chance to grow up a bit? Who knows, but I wouldn’t make him that much older than Peter either way. It’s important for Peter to find someone he could be friends with in his superhero world, especially someone like Johnny who might just understand what Peter is going through thanks to the end credits (I won’t spoil). Besides, by time they bring Johnny into the MCU for real, Peter could have graduated high school lol.

Jeremy Sumpter

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This version of Johnny Storm is for Kristen Bell’s Sue Storm. Jeremy Sumpter hasn’t been that known for years. I mostly remember him from Peter Pan, which is amazing by the way, but I think he would be so good in this role! Not only does he look like he could be Kristen Bell’s young brother, but he has a youthful energy and look to him and he’s very handsome. He could be a ladies man if they go that route for Johnny. If not, that’s cool, but he could also do that hothead personality as well. Also, this could really propel him back into the spotlight because he’s so likable and I think he could really do it.

 

Honorable Mention: Glen Powell, Zac Efron, Dacre Montgomery, Taron Egerton, Nick Robinson, Dave Franco, Algee Smith (For Raw’s Johnny) 

Ben Grimm/The Thing

So, Ben always seems to get a little less attention than the others, I mean Jamie Bell was wasted and while I enjoyed 2015’s Fant4stic, he was very underwritten and underused. I mean, his entire background and usefulness was just ugh. His design in the 2015 movie was fine, I know everyone clowned him because he wasn’t wearing pants but whatever lol, he’s a rock mass. Michael Chiklis who played in the 2004 version, was fine as Ben as well, he annoyed me a lot of the time though, he whined too much. He was better in the sequel.

Ben had a tough life which shaped into a scrappy street kid. There’s a million ways to play his background, to show how it shaped him as an adult and so on. You could even throw in about his brother dying in a gang fight and how easily Ben idolizes people. I definitely think it’s important that it’s shown that Ben and Reed have been friends since college or at least since they were young men. Ben was always supportive of Reed even though they are vastly different. Ben does serve in the Marine Corps as a Test Pilot or at least skilled enough to fly a craft. Which makes sense for why Reed would include him on their expedition SO HE CAN FLY THE CRAFT. He’s also Jewish and I think it’d be nice to maintain that.

Top Choice: Chris Sullivan

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Ben is hard to cast because he has to be able to stand out as a human but then stand out when he’s The Thing. This actor would have to pull double duty. I always have a little hard time casting for Ben because I want someone who not only looks like they could be friends with Reed, especially since they’re so different, but he also has to have nice interactions with Johnny and Sue on different levels. Karina suggested Chris Sullivan who was Benny on Stranger Things and is also on This Is Us, which I don’t watch but his short-lived moment on Stranger Things was so impactful! Justice for Benny!! But I think he fits my group so well, both of my groups. He looks like he would be great friends with Patrick Wilson as Reed, be the strong silent type, who keeps Reed from falling too obsessively into things. I can see him forming a nice relationship with Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Sue (same with Bell) and then having a playful but caring brotherly relationship with Johnny (all three of them lol). I think he works so well that while I have Honorable Mentions, and I kept thinking of other actors, he was the only one who kept coming to the forefront.

Honorable Mention: David Harbour, John Cena (I’m so serious lol), Terry Crews (I keep seeing it and I’m down for it lol).

Victor Von Doom/Dr. Doom

So, we had Julian McMahon and Toby Kebbell as Victor and honestly, they both were good casting choices but the interpretations for them were not that great and they of course were very different. So different. McMahon’s Victor was a businessman, smooth, a bit cruel and always calculative but I never thought he was nearly as smart as Reed where he can challenge him. I always see him be considered as the smartest villain in Marvel comics and I didn’t get that. I mean, I don’t know, he’s very campy… but I guess that movie is campy lol. As for Kebbell, his characterization was okay but then it went off the rails in the latter half of the film. Whew lol.

So, they always portray Victor with getting powers from the cosmic cloud and all that or that he goes with the group on their expedition and somehow gets powers and none of that is true. I think it would be beneficial to go back to the idea that Reed, Ben and Victor all went to school together and there was an immediate enemy relationship. Follow the comics a bit more. The entire scarring ordeal, building his armor and all that. His powers come from the armor. I mean, he’s smart, so let’s go that angle.

Top Choice: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

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Yess Jamie Lannister. It was down to him and Viggo Mortensen but I ended up choosing Nikolaj because he’s closer in age. But I think he’d do sooo well in this role! Firstly, I don’t imagine seeing them in college first, at least I don’t think we’d have too, but I can imagine him having that grudge against Patrick Wilson’s Reed. I don’t think there was really a thing with him and Sue and we don’t really need that again. But I can imagine him using that for him, using his statue, his good looks or whatever, for his advantage. Nikolaj really does vulnerability well so with his scarred face, or even if they don’t do that, he would be able to handle that. He would also kill any angry outbursts and he has a lot of experience with action thanks to Game of Thrones so he would kill that. I think that’s important to maintain. He would kill it. I want to see him play Victor.

Honorable Mentions: Brian Cranston, Luke Evans, Viggo Mortensen, Armie Hammer.

I’m not going to get into other castings, like their kids or other villains because that’s a lot of work. Besides, these are the people that we’re used to seeing and they’re the ones who’d take center stage. I mean I know Victor is a villain but he definitely should be around quite a bit. I mean, like how Loki always was but make sure he’s a presence as both Victor Von Doom but also Dr. Doom.

I didn’t mind the younger versions of the characters they wanted to try in the 2015 version. I think it had a lot of potential but it just fell apart in second half of the film. If they went that version again, that’s cool, and that definitely makes room for both Ross Lynch and Jacob Latimore as a younger Johnny.

In the end, Patrick Wilson (Reed), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Sue), Chris Sullivan (Ben) and Jacob Latimore (Johnny), with Ross Lynch as an alternate lol, would be a great Fantastic Four with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau rounding us out as Victor. Man, y’all this would be good.

The Story

I don’t want to see them as kids, I don’t really want to see Ben and Reed in college and since my Johnny is younger, I don’t want to see teenage Sue and child Johnny. The origin should start when they get ready to go on this expedition. It’s of course unauthorized and Reed is smart and wants to do his own thing anyway.

Maybe we really do explore more of the multiverse and the Fantastic Four comes from another world? Perhaps it’s not even an origin story, maybe they treat it like Spider-Man and they already have their powers. Maybe they’re already established on their Earth as heroes? Or maybe they’ve been hiding ever since they got their powers, which would answer why we haven’t heard anything about them in the MCU, other than legal reasons lol.

I think there are many ways they could go with Marvel’s first family. I just hope that if we do get another origin, which we don’t really need, that it’s approached in a different way, something we haven’t seen before. If it’s not an origin, that’s awesome, but let’s make sure we handle the story and characters with care.

This is my Fan Casting for the MCU’s Fantastic Four. It would allow for a bit of diversity with the Storms and just to see actors we haven’t seen in the MCU.

What are your thoughts on my fan cast for the MCU’s Fantastic Four? Who are your picks for these characters and why?

Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

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How I Would Fix: Fantastic Four (2015)

~ Alyxwrites ~ 2 Comments
Ways Fant4stic Could Have Been Better
If you read my movie review, it would be understandable why I felt the way I do. If you haven’t read it, then click here otherwise you’ll be spoiled. My plan for this piece is to offer alternatives, better ones, to what actually happened in the film. I think these alternatives would have made the movie better.

 

“It’s Clobberin’ Time”.
What they did: In the film, Ben’s older brother is a bully and uses this line before he starts to beat him up. Now, I understand what they were trying to do, they wanted Ben to take something with personal negative connotations and flip it around. To have Ben use it himself would show that he no longer is afraid to hear that phrase and that he wouldn’t be stopped anymore. I mean, I get it, but weird.
What they should have done: Instead of using his brother’s catchphrase, it would have held more weight if Ben was into old comic books, or old action shows where the hero would use the phrase before fighting but Ben would never say it because, he never felt he was strong enough to actually use it the way the heroes would. Who could he fight and win against? Maybe he even tried to use it against his brother, or some other bully, or maybe he tried to protect Reed from getting beat up and said it, and they both ended up getting beat up. It could have been all of these things that led him to joining the Air Force, or taking boxing lessons (or something) so he could feel worthy enough to use it and fight back. That way, when he finally says it to the villain of the film, it would be a triumph for Ben.
Ben’s Inter-Dimensional Traveling Involvement.
What they did: Ben Grimm is Reed’s best friend, but the audience doesn’t get to know him, or connect him with Pre-Thing. He’s helped Reed build his small version of the dimension machine but couldn’t go to the Baxter Institute because he’s not smart like Reed. However, when Victor, Reed and Johnny decide to go anyway, Ben is called because Reed doesn’t want to go without him. Victor and Johnny have no problem with this.
What they should have done: In the comics, Ben joined the Air Force and became a skilled fighter pilot, test pilot and astronaut. Since they were young in the film, he didn’t have to be “skilled” just yet unless he was a natural, but instead of staying home and doing whatever it was he was doing in the film, he could have done this. So all the while, Reed is updating him about his progress, Ben would be doing the same. Sending photos of his first test plane, sending pictures of his awards, it would have been nice. So instead of building the machine to look the way it did, maybe it could have been a ship that someone would need to actually drive since they don’t really know the foundation of the other dimension. It would be smarter to have a vehicle that wouldn’t touch the ground until they deemed it safe. This would have allowed Ben an actual reason to be there. Since they snuck and travelled, Reed could have called Ben because he’s an actual test pilot, this also would have allowed Sue to be present, instead of Ben just taking her place because Sue SHOULD have gone.
Victor Doom going to “Planet Zero”.
What they did: I was actually fine with his characterization in the movie with being a younger guy. The oldest out of the group but still young. He was cynical, had feelings for Sue and seemingly smarter than Reed but Reed’s intelligence also made him extremely jealous. He gets left behind on the planet, his “space suit” is fused to his body and he’s granted powers similar to the energy on the planet. He later tries to destroy earth with vague and stupid motivations.
What they should have done: Dr. Storm still could have gone to him to get him to help, Victor could still have feelings for Sue, but whatever he looks at Reed’s work, he still could have tried to correct him but Reed would humbly say “Oh no, see this is what I meant…” because no matter what Victor is NOT smarter than Reed Richards. He could also be jealous due to Reed’s intelligence as well as his ease with Sue and how she has warmed up to him. So, when they’re told they can’t go to Planet Zero, they still go and if Victor has to go, then it should still happen the way it did. He touches the green energy, is grossly burned and still left behind. However, instead of having powers from the energy, he manages to find a way to escape on his own. Perhaps the monks he learns his mystic powers from could have found a way to save him he doesn’t show up again until the second movie and even then he’s not the main villain.
OR
Instead of him actually going, he could have done what Sue did, try to talk to Dr. Storm and the other people who wanted to keep them from going so he’s left out of the whole getting powers thing, which allows Sue to go instead. Now he’s really jealous because they all went, even Ben, an outsider, go to go and he didn’t and they all got powers even with them being locked in a military base. So he disappears to be with the monks or something.
The Storm Family/Adoption.
What they did: Nothing. They didn’t explore this dynamic at all outside of them seeming to not be on good terms all of the time. Johnny seemed angry at his father, he and Sue don’t seem to always talk to each other especially considering the lines when Sue goes to where Johnny is working on something (that’s not machinery) and she says “Hey!” “Hey…” “I got to say… it’s nice having you here.” “Yeah, well don’t get used to it, I’m only here to get my car back.” She nods slowly as he never turned to look at her, and she goes to leave and he says “It’s nice seeing you too”. It’s never talked about. We also don’t know who’s the oldest, Sue is more mature and it seems like she’s the oldest considering the way she and Johnny talked to each other at times but again… not explored.
What they should have done: Personally, I would have preferred a flashback instead of exposition because there’s a lot already but it should have been explored. After’s Johnny’s mother died in a car accident, his father throws himself into his work ignoring Johnny to a point where he took to being reckless, getting into trouble at school even though he is very smart. Dr. Storm had a best friend who had a daughter who was also smart. Susan. Her father/mother was also a single parent and something happened to them causing Dr. Storm to taking her in being that he was trusted by her parent. He brings her home and eventually officially adopts her and she and Johnny are opposites. He’s loud, she’s quiet, he likes being around lots of people and she is a loner, he likes cars and building things, she likes music and patterns. She connects with their father in a way that he couldn’t with Johnny which of course makes him jealous. So Johnny retreats into building whatever it is he likes to build. Susan watches him build something and she helps him perfect it using science creating a mutual respect between them. She tries to help him stay focused on school and everything but Dr. Storm still hasn’t connected with Johnny in the way he has with Sue which does not extinguish Johnny’s anger towards his father. This is not perfect, but it’s a way they could have let us know what the problem was in the Storm family.
Johnny’s Involvement/Introduction:
What they did: Just like Ben, you could almost remove Johnny because his reasons for joining the team was forced. We first see or hear about Johnny because he’s car racing, he gets into a car accident, breaking his arm (I guess, I mean it’s in a sling but they don’t really say what happened) and his dad has to come and get him. Due to his recklessness (lol) his dad tells him he can’t get his car back and he has to help them at the lab, Johnny says he built the car with his own hands and when Dr. Storm brings him to the lab, he says he can build anything. We haven’t really seen that though.
What they should have done: Johnny should have definitely been involved, but his introduction should have been better. If they wanted us to see him doing something “reckless” or do something with his hands to help solidify that part of him, then they should have shown him actually working on the car, like it was shown in the trailer, maybe he tried to add an adjustment to help him win, something he knew could be dangerous but he wanted to win to get the money, or something, so we’re all like “ooo, this should be good”, he still spins out and crashes. Instead of suddenly cutting away to the hospital, we should have seen him go “whoo hooo!” and then pan away from the car and hear him mumble “ow” and then cut to the hospital. I mean, something more than what we got. Since he’s a hothead, we should have seen him get into an argument with another driver before the race, something more than him just being angry with his family showing us his temper. It also didn’t seem like he and Victor had a great previous relationship, Johnny joked about it but I wish we could have seen something that showed they didn’t care for each other. Victor sees him too immature and Johnny thinks he’s too high and mighty. Definitely seems like a dynamic that should have been explored.
The Plot/Storyline.
What they did: Basically they did a time jump and that ruined everything. Once that happened, I knew the movie was about to go downhill. After they return with their powers, Reed wakes up with his limbs stretched out and he’s asking about the others, eventually he freaks out and they sedate him. Switch to Sue and she’s shifting in and out of invisibility still unconscious. Johnny wakes up next and not only does he seem freaked out seeing these flames around him, it seems like it kind of hurts… and without trying he releases a fire blast and his father seems extremely distraught to see his entire body enflamed. When we see Ben, he’s stuck in a large rock mass and has to break out of it and all rock body (kind of cool), Reed sees this as he escapes through the air vents and he promises Ben he would help but he runs away and BAM 1 Year Later.
What they should have done: Instead of the year jump, they should have allowed us to see them in that year time frame. In fact, the last two acts of the movie should have been in that year time frame. So, instead of moving to when we see Reed wake up, we should have seen them and their blown up lab discovered. Dr. Storm finds Sue and he can feel her but he can’t see her as she is shifting in and out of her space suit (as she would have gone with them). They would hear Ben screaming for Reed, after he’s passed out from seeing his legs trapped under rock and that he was stretching and find that Ben is trapped inside rock. Dr. Storm would become aware that the table on fire is in fact his son and that his clothes are burning. That would allow us to see how other people reacted to finding them like that, I’m sure their first thoughts were not to take them away to a military base and study them. Maybe their second thought. Once they’re at the base, we should see tests being run, how they try to dig Ben out of the rock, slowly chipping away at it, how they can’t even get close to Johnny without him blasting unconsciously at them, or that they can’t even see Sue because she’s shifting in and out of visibility. Maybe Dr. Storm could have been trying to see them as they’ve been in the base but they wouldn’t let him due to it no longer being his problem so he spends his time trying to get inside to see them.
When Reed finally wakes up, maybe a few weeks later, that’s when things start getting interesting.
The Villain:
What they did: They made Victor Doom a villain for no reason at all. When they get back to Planet Zero, they find him and he’s all weird and stuff, and then he just starts killing people and trying to destroy the world because Planet Zero is now his home and then he’s defeated in a very lame and stupid way.
What they should have done: Honestly, they could have done so much more building him up to be a villain, a villain for another movie. We already see him as being cynical and not liking being told what to do when it comes to his opinions and science. We see him being jealous towards Reed, pining after Susan AND they could have had him and Johnny bump heads, as I said before, and Ben would just straight up not trust him as Ben wouldn’t. Reed wouldn’t say anything because Victor is older and smart but Ben would really dislike him. All of that would help make Victor more of a villain, and when he comes back in one of the sequels, he would be vengeful due to being left behind and that no one came looking for him (at least in the first movie).
The villain in this movie should have been the military, or the government or someone who would want to exploit them for their powers. To manipulate them into thinking they’re helping when they’re being used. Of course, as to not offend, it didn’t need to be a straight up villain but people who thought they were doing the right thing because they do not understand what they are now.
Sue’s Involvement/Introduction/Powers.
What they did: Crapped all over her. She’s not that interesting to begin with, she has a thing for patterns and music and apparently is very smart. She seems independent with a good relationship with her dad and a rocky one with her brother. She never even interacted with her Ben. She stays behind to chase after her dad about not letting them go, tries to help them by manually overriding the reentry and is blasted by the field that brings that back. I mean I get how she got her powers but such a cop out. Then she basically is a quiet voice, she seems to be less learned with her powers compared to Johnny and Ben and she dislikes seeing Johnny being so willing to work with the government. She believes they’re using him (which I was glad for her being the smart one lol) and then that’s about it. In the fight, she’s kind of useless, like they all were so meh.
What they should have done: She should have been feisty first of all, give her a personality and allow the audience to actually connect with her. Have her always listening to music or something, have her have a rapport with everyone, witty conversations. Show a relationship with her and her father and her brother. He may feel some way about her but how she does feel about him at this moment? We see a little bit of conversations between them “What happened to your arm?” “What?” “Were you racing again?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about” stuff like that was good, there should have been more. She can still make the suits but she should have gone with them, she would be the one who could read the signs, tell them when things are unstable as that was her job. Like how Ben was pelted with rocks and Johnny was caught on fire, there could have been a strange cloud that shot lightening through her glass window (if we stick with the pod idea) or something to indicate she was affected. When she’s actually learning to use her power, show that it’s hard to control but that it’s strong and when she’s fighting, she should surprise everyone by kicking ass because even though she doesn’t like being locked up and tested, she’s learning on her own.
So these are just a few things they should have done instead, it would have made the movie stronger, more interesting and cohesive. I still don’t think the movie was bad, it had loads of potential but it was wasted on trying to make it “dark” but it got lost in everything. They could have still made it darker and grittier, but they didn’t handle that well. These characters are interesting, seeing younger versions of them would have been even more interesting as they don’t all have it figured out yet but we can see the potential in them of what they would become later. Characters should have been developed, story should have been thought out more… honestly, I should have been involved lol.
I hope you enjoyed this piece. Please, I would love to read comments, agreements, disagreements, your thoughts on what should have happened. Lastly, I’m writing a “fanfiction” type piece for this as well, just you can see in more detail, how I was rewriting this movie in my head.
Keep an eye out for more!

Ways Fantastic Four (2015) Could Have Been Better

~ Alyxwrites ~ Leave a comment

Ways Fant4stic Could Have Been Better

If you read my movie review, it would be understandable why I felt the way I do. If you haven’t read it, then click here otherwise you’ll be spoiled. My plan for this piece is to offer alternatives, better ones, to what actually happened in the film. I think these alternatives would have made the movie better.
“It’s Clobberin’ Time”.
What they did: In the film, Ben’s older brother is a bully and uses this line before he starts to beat him up. Now, I understand what they were trying to do, they wanted Ben to take something with personal negative connotations and flip it around. To have Ben use it himself would show that he no longer is afraid to hear that phrase and that he wouldn’t be stopped anymore. I mean, I get it, but weird.
What they should have done: Instead of using his brother’s catchphrase, it would have held more weight if Ben was into old comic books, or old action shows where the hero would use the phrase before fighting but Ben would never say it because, he never felt he was strong enough to actually use it the way the heroes would. Who could he fight and win against? Maybe he even tried to use it against his brother, or some other bully, or maybe he tried to protect Reed from getting beat up and said it, and they both ended up getting beat up. It could have been all of these things that led him to joining the Air Force, or taking boxing lessons (or something) so he could feel worthy enough to use it and fight back. That way, when he finally says it to the villain of the film, it would be a triumph for Ben. 
Ben’s Inter-Dimensional Traveling Involvement.
 What they did: Ben Grimm is Reed’s best friend, but the audience doesn’t get to know him, or connect him with Pre-Thing. He’s helped Reed build his small version of the dimension machine but couldn’t go to the Baxter Institute because he’s not smart like Reed. However, when Victor, Reed and Johnny decide to go anyway, Ben is called because Reed doesn’t want to go without him. Victor and Johnny have no problem with this.
What they should have done: In the comics, Ben joined the Air Force and became a skilled fighter pilot, test pilot and astronaut. Since they were young in the film, he didn’t have to be “skilled” just yet unless he was a natural, but instead of staying home and doing whatever it was he was doing in the film, he could have done this. So all the while, Reed is updating him about his progress, Ben would be doing the same. Sending photos of his first test plane, sending pictures of his awards, it would have been nice. So instead of building the machine to look the way it did, maybe it could have been a ship that someone would need to actually drive since they don’t really know the foundation of the other dimension. It would be smarter to have a vehicle that wouldn’t touch the ground until they deemed it safe. This would have allowed Ben an actual reason to be there. Since they snuck and travelled, Reed could have called Ben because he’s an actual test pilot, this also would have allowed Sue to be present, instead of Ben just taking her place because Sue SHOULD have gone.
Victor Doom going to “Planet Zero”.
What they did: I was actually fine with his characterization in the movie with being a younger guy. The oldest out of the group but still young. He was cynical, had feelings for Sue and seemingly smarter than Reed but Reed’s intelligence also made him extremely jealous. He gets left behind on the planet, his “space suit” is fused to his body and he’s granted powers similar to the energy on the planet. He later tries to destroy earth with vague and stupid motivations.
What they should have done: Dr. Storm still could have gone to him to get him to help, Victor could still have feelings for Sue, but whatever he looks at Reed’s work, he still could have tried to correct him but Reed would humbly say “Oh no, see this is what I meant…” because no matter what Victor is NOT smarter than Reed Richards. He could also be jealous due to Reed’s intelligence as well as his ease with Sue and how she has warmed up to him. So, when they’re told they can’t go to Planet Zero, they still go and if Victor has to go, then it should still happen the way it did. He touches the green energy, is grossly burned and still left behind. However, instead of having powers from the energy, he manages to find a way to escape on his own. Perhaps the monks he learns his mystic powers from could have found a way to save him he doesn’t show up again until the second movie and even then he’s not the main villain.
 OR
Instead of him actually going, he could have done what Sue did, try to talk to Dr. Storm and the other people who wanted to keep them from going so he’s left out of the whole getting powers thing, which allows Sue to go instead. Now he’s really jealous because they all went, even Ben, an outsider, go to go and he didn’t and they all got powers even with them being locked in a military base. So he disappears to be with the monks or something.
The Storm Family/Adoption.
What they did: Nothing. They didn’t explore this dynamic at all outside of them seeming to not be on good terms all of the time. Johnny seemed angry at his father, he and Sue don’t seem to always talk to each other especially considering the lines when Sue goes to where Johnny is working on something (that’s not machinery) and she says “Hey!” “Hey…” “I got to say… it’s nice having you here.” “Yeah, well don’t get used to it, I’m only here to get my car back.” She nods slowly as he never turned to look at her, and she goes to leave and he says “It’s nice seeing you too”. It’s never talked about. We also don’t know who’s the oldest, Sue is more mature and it seems like she’s the oldest considering the way she and Johnny talked to each other at times but again… not explored.
What they should have done: Personally, I would have preferred a flashback instead of exposition because there’s a lot already but it should have been explored. After’s Johnny’s mother died in a car accident, his father throws himself into his work ignoring Johnny to a point where he took to being reckless, getting into trouble at school even though he is very smart. Dr. Storm had a best friend who had a daughter who was also smart. Susan. Her father/mother was also a single parent and something happened to them causing Dr. Storm to taking her in being that he was trusted by her parent. He brings her home and eventually officially adopts her and she and Johnny are opposites. He’s loud, she’s quiet, he likes being around lots of people and she is a loner, he likes cars and building things, she likes music and patterns. She connects with their father in a way that he couldn’t with Johnny which of course makes him jealous. So Johnny retreats into building whatever it is he likes to build. Susan watches him build something and she helps him perfect it using science creating a mutual respect between them. She tries to help him stay focused on school and everything but Dr. Storm still hasn’t connected with Johnny in the way he has with Sue which does not extinguish Johnny’s anger towards his father. This is not perfect, but it’s a way they could have let us know what the problem was in the Storm family.
Johnny’s Involvement/Introduction:
What they did: Just like Ben, you could almost remove Johnny because his reasons for joining the team was forced. We first see or hear about Johnny because he’s car racing, he gets into a car accident, breaking his arm (I guess, I mean it’s in a sling but they don’t really say what happened) and his dad has to come and get him. Due to his recklessness (lol) his dad tells him he can’t get his car back and he has to help them at the lab, Johnny says he built the car with his own hands and when Dr. Storm brings him to the lab, he says he can build anything. We haven’t really seen that though.
What they should have done: Johnny should have definitely been involved, but his introduction should have been better. If they wanted us to see him doing something “reckless” or do something with his hands to help solidify that part of him, then they should have shown him actually working on the car, like it was shown in the trailer, maybe he tried to add an adjustment to help him win, something he knew could be dangerous but he wanted to win to get the money, or something, so we’re all like “ooo, this should be good”, he still spins out and crashes. Instead of suddenly cutting away to the hospital, we should have seen him go “whoo hooo!” and then pan away from the car and hear him mumble “ow” and then cut to the hospital. I mean, something more than what we got. Since he’s a hothead, we should have seen him get into an argument with another driver before the race, something more than him just being angry with his family showing us his temper. It also didn’t seem like he and Victor had a great previous relationship, Johnny joked about it but I wish we could have seen something that showed they didn’t care for each other. Victor sees him too immature and Johnny thinks he’s too high and mighty. Definitely seems like a dynamic that should have been explored.
The Plot/Storyline.
What they did: Basically they did a time jump and that ruined everything. Once that happened, I knew the movie was about to go downhill. After they return with their powers, Reed wakes up with his limbs stretched out and he’s asking about the others, eventually he freaks out and they sedate him. Switch to Sue and she’s shifting in and out of invisibility still unconscious. Johnny wakes up next and not only does he seem freaked out seeing these flames around him, it seems like it kind of hurts… and without trying he releases a fire blast and his father seems extremely distraught to see his entire body enflamed. When we see Ben, he’s stuck in a large rock mass and has to break out of it and all rock body (kind of cool), Reed sees this as he escapes through the air vents and he promises Ben he would help but he runs away and BAM 1 Year Later.
What they should have done: Instead of the year jump, they should have allowed us to see them in that year time frame. In fact, the last two acts of the movie should have been in that year time frame. So, instead of moving to when we see Reed wake up, we should have seen them and their blown up lab discovered. Dr. Storm finds Sue and he can feel her but he can’t see her as she is shifting in and out of her space suit (as she would have gone with them). They would hear Ben screaming for Reed, after he’s passed out from seeing his legs trapped under rock and that he was stretching and find that Ben is trapped inside rock. Dr. Storm would become aware that the table on fire is in fact his son and that his clothes are burning. That would allow us to see how other people reacted to finding them like that, I’m sure their first thoughts were not to take them away to a military base and study them. Maybe their second thought. Once they’re at the base, we should see tests being run, how they try to dig Ben out of the rock, slowly chipping away at it, how they can’t even get close to Johnny without him blasting unconsciously at them, or that they can’t even see Sue because she’s shifting in and out of visibility. Maybe Dr. Storm could have been trying to see them as they’ve been in the base but they wouldn’t let him due to it no longer being his problem so he spends his time trying to get inside to see them.
When Reed finally wakes up, maybe a few weeks later, that’s when things start getting interesting.
The Villain:
What they did: They made Victor Doom a villain for no reason at all. When they get back to Planet Zero, they find him and he’s all weird and stuff, and then he just starts killing people and trying to destroy the world because Planet Zero is now his home and then he’s defeated in a very lame and stupid way.
What they should have done: Honestly, they could have done so much more building him up to be a villain, a villain for another movie. We already see him as being cynical and not liking being told what to do when it comes to his opinions and science. We see him being jealous towards Reed, pining after Susan AND they could have had him and Johnny bump heads, as I said before, and Ben would just straight up not trust him as Ben wouldn’t. Reed wouldn’t say anything because Victor is older and smart but Ben would really dislike him. All of that would help make Victor more of a villain, and when he comes back in one of the sequels, he would be vengeful due to being left behind and that no one came looking for him (at least in the first movie).
The villain in this movie should have been the military, or the government or someone who would want to exploit them for their powers. To manipulate them into thinking they’re helping when they’re being used. Of course, as to not offend, it didn’t need to be a straight up villain but people who thought they were doing the right thing because they do not understand what they are now.
Sue’s Involvement/Introduction/Powers.
What they did: Crapped all over her. She’s not that interesting to begin with, she has a thing for patterns and music and apparently is very smart. She seems independent with a good relationship with her dad and a rocky one with her brother. She never even interacted with her Ben. She stays behind to chase after her dad about not letting them go, tries to help them by manually overriding the reentry and is blasted by the field that brings that back. I mean I get how she got her powers but such a cop out. Then she basically is a quiet voice, she seems to be less learned with her powers compared to Johnny and Ben and she dislikes seeing Johnny being so willing to work with the government. She believes they’re using him (which I was glad for her being the smart one lol) and then that’s about it. In the fight, she’s kind of useless, like they all were so meh.
 What they should have done: She should have been feisty first of all, give her a personality and allow the audience to actually connect with her. Have her always listening to music or something, have her have a rapport with everyone, witty conversations. Show a relationship with her and her father and her brother. He may feel some way about her but how she does feel about him at this moment? We see a little bit of conversations between them “What happened to your arm?” “What?” “Were you racing again?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about” stuff like that was good, there should have been more. She can still make the suits but she should have gone with them, she would be the one who could read the signs, tell them when things are unstable as that was her job. Like how Ben was pelted with rocks and Johnny was caught on fire, there could have been a strange cloud that shot lightening through her glass window (if we stick with the pod idea) or something to indicate she was affected. When she’s actually learning to use her power, show that it’s hard to control but that it’s strong and when she’s fighting, she should surprise everyone by kicking ass because even though she doesn’t like being locked up and tested, she’s learning on her own.
So these are just a few things they should have done instead, it would have made the movie stronger, more interesting and cohesive. I still don’t think the movie was bad, it had loads of potential but it was wasted on trying to make it “dark” but it got lost in everything. They could have still made it darker and grittier, but they didn’t handle that well. These characters are interesting, seeing younger versions of them would have been even more interesting as they don’t all have it figured out yet but we can see the potential in them of what they would become later. Characters should have been developed, story should have been thought out more… honestly, I should have been involved lol.
I hope you enjoyed this piece. Please, I would love to read comments, agreements, disagreements, your thoughts on what should have happened. Lastly, I’m writing a “fanfiction” type piece for this as well, just you can see in more detail, how I was rewriting this movie in my head.
Keep an eye out for more!