When I first heard about the Fantastic Four reboot/remake, I was hesitant. The earlier movies are, yes, totally cheesy and were made in the time before superhero movies became the amazingly epic things they are now, but they're fun. And I totally dug the casting (even though Chris Evans is way better as Captain America.) The casting choices for the new movie—Miles Teller as Reed Richards, Kate Mara as Sue Storm, Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm and Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm/The Thing—are very interesting, and very young. (Perhaps I'm just getting old?)
After watching this trailer, however, I'm actually really intrigued. And, before I get too judgy, I always have to remember how I felt about Chris Evans' casting as Cap (i.e., not on board), and how completely wrong I was.
Thoughts?
Also of note:
- David Tennant has been cast in Netflix/Marvel's A.K.A. Jessica Jones as Kilgrave, a villain who, in the comics, "uses his mind control powers early in his criminal career to force a woman to become his wife." (He's also purple.) Questionable morals aside, I'm excited to see David in a villain role.
- The cast of the female-centric Ghostbusters reboot has been announced: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon are rumored to have nabbed the top roles.
I'm excited to see David in a villain role too. I enjoyed seeing him as Barty Crouch Jr. in Order of the Phoenix (he just didn't get much screen time)-so I looking forward to seeing him in a bigger villain role.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for A.K.A. Jessica Jones! I'm still eh on the Ghostbusters reboot. I'll admit, seeing Kristen Wiig as a ghostbuster will be awesome, but that's all I'm excited for.
ReplyDeleteHaha , my first impression of the new Fantastic Four cast was also that it is very young. I'm still on the fence about it.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought upon seeing the trailer was that the cast for Fantastic Four was super young. I don't know the lore, but how old are they supposed to be in the comics?
ReplyDeleteI'm also super skeptical of Ghostbusters...I think an all female reboot has the potential to be awesome, but (maybe I'm just a cynic) I feel like all the characters are just going to be pigeon-holed into awful stereotypes. The Traveling Geek Show had a post about it, and I think it was spot on with the fears of what this movie could be. In case you want to peruse --> https://travellinggeekshow.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/an-open-letter-to-paul-feig-and-ghostbusters-3/
A young cast and that big structure in the desert screams 'Ultimate Fantastic Four' where in the group is pulled together by a government-ish program for off the scale child geniuses. Ben is Reeds childhood friend, not a genius. The structure is an N-Zone teleporter and the plot device that gives the kids (late teens/early 20s by the time it happens) their powers. I don't know how much the movie will keep to that but the collected graphic novel is worth it if you're curious as are most of the early Ultimate line. This is the same source that gave us the Samuel L. Jackson version of Nick Fury.
ReplyDeleteI am nervous about the purple man to be honest. All of the teasers on it have read as "He's kind of a jerk." I don't think any writeup I've seen has really done justice to how squicky the purple man is. This isn't fun "cluck like a chicken/zombie minion" style mind control and honestly, even assuming David Tennant will knock it out of the park, I don't know if I want to see him go there.
I'm definitely intrigued after seeing the trailer. Like most people, I wasn't a fan of the earlier movies, so this looks like a potential improvement despite the young cast. They are young, aren't they? What I'm really on the fence about, though, is an all female Ghostbusters. Part of me really just hates the idea of this reboot.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you read these posts of mine and add context. (Really and truly, thank you.) Knowing that they're not just throwing something together for the new movie and looking for young actors just because makes me feel better.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I definitely downplayed Purple Man's nastiness. (I read the Wikipedia article on him.) It'll be interesting to see how far they go. I mean, it's Netflix, so I'm pretty sure they're willing and able to go there.
They're 27 (Teller and Jordan), 28 (Bell) and 31 (Mara). So not too young. I guess Reed's grey streaks (even though he gets them in the accident) always made me think he was older. And Michael Chicklis was definitely not younger than 30 when he played The Thing.
ReplyDeleteI hope they treat the Ghostbusters as a new movie in the series, not a reboot. I could totally see the ladies being a separate team, but not taking the place of the original guys. I haven't read enough about it to know what they'll do, though.
Based on Bill's (Mister Wonderlan) comment, it looks like they're basing the plot of the movie off of the Ultimate comics, in which they're young. So that makes me feel better.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for linking that post. I totally agree!
One of the other comments (Mister Wonderlan's) explains why they might be so young. If they're not doing it just for kicks, it makes me feel better.
ReplyDeleteI think Paul Feig (the director) needs to be careful how he does it, sure. But I'd hate to think all of those smart women would be involved in something that dumbed them down or turned them into stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteI just hope he doesn't go too far into the actual Purple Man role—reading the Wikipedia article made me realize that he is not a nice guy. But at the same time, I think he'd be amazing at a real and true villain? I'm torn.
ReplyDeleteOh, me too!
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