Tag: Thing

  • They’re Back. And So Am I.

    Face Front has been inactive for a while. The Fantastic Four have been gone for longer. Today, we’re both back.

    So if we reach back in time to my previous article (The Fate of the Fantastic 4), we’ll see that Marvel’s been pretending for a long time that the Fantastic 4 don’t exist. Well, maybe it’s the Marvel/Fox deal, maybe it’s Marvel’s biggest and latest relaunch this summer, but whatever the reason, I can honestly say, in my best T’Challa voice: I don’t care.

    The First Family of Marvel is back! Written by Slott… (more on him later in a later post). But hey! Art by Pichelli! Her work with Bendis (RIP. Not him, his Marvel career) on Miles is nothing short of ultimate! Honestly, it’s good to see the 4 back where they belong. Reed, Johnny, Ben, and Sue clobber and flame on once again! Now, hopefully, we might start to see them in the likes of Future Fight and Contest of Champions. They could show up in an episode or two of Avengers Assemble! Or, and here’s the big one, they could end up in the MCU!

    Only time will tell, it’s very early and they just announced this, but I’m excited. I haven’t been buying as many comics as I want lately, but I will definitely be buying this title! At least to stop it from getting cancelled again if anything! Anyway, enough from me. Check out this interview between good ‘ol Agent M and C.B. Ceulski for more details!

  • The ONLY Way to Bring the Fantastic 4 into the MCU

    Alright, we’ve all heard the news. In an unprecedented move that shall be known simply as “The Acquisition”, Disney has purchased Fox! There’s a lot to go along with that, but this is a Marvel Blog, and we’re going to talk about what that means for Marvel: X-Men and Fantastic 4 coming back to the MCU!

    So a lot of people are worried about Deadpool being rated R and no more Logan-like movies, but that’s utterly ridiculous, Disney’s not gonna mess with something that works. Deadpool’s his own thing, they’ll keep it that way, he doesn’t have a lot to do with the rest of the Marvel Universe anyhow (unless he’s killing them, that is). Also, people are acting like Wolverine simply cannot be done PG-13 when it worked that way for 17 years. Logan was a good movie, and we’ll always have it, but would you rather ten more Logan movies, or Hulk vs. Wolverine? If your answer wasn’t Hulk vs. Wolverine, then… dang I don’t know what to tell you, you must not be a fan of awesomeness. Point is, if we get a PG-13 Wolverine, but the tradeoff is Cyclops and Rogue and the rest done right for a change, then I’m all in. But personally, the X-Men is an afterthought for me, because I’m focused on the guys that have the potential to change the MCU forever: The Fantastic 4.

    A while ago I asked if you guys wanted to hear my pitch for an MCU Fantastic 4 movie, and assumed the answer would be no. Now, I’m giving you no choice! Yay! So, here it is, pass this on to Feige people, because if you’re going to bring the Fantastic 4 into the MCU, this is the only, I repeat, the ONLY way to do it!

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    Introducing…

     Marvel’s Fantastic 4: Journey Home

    In 2007, a group of scientists, known to the world as the “Fantastic 4” due to their breakthrough discoveries in space science, took a test shuttle into space. The crew of Fantastic 4 included Reed Richards, middle-aged genius and leader of the expedition, Sue Storm and her brother Johnny, the numbers girl and the engineer, Ben Grim, the pilot, and their A.I, H.E.R.B.I.E. The course was set, the mission was to take no longer than a month, but something went wrong. The ship had been sabotaged, and the last thing the four see is a prerecorded message from a disfigured man, shrouded in shadow, blaming Reed for his misfortune. He claims that their demise is penance for Reed’s sins, and the Fantastic 4 are swallowed into a cosmic storm.

    13 or so years later, the ship emerges, but no time has passed for the four, and before they can come to, their ship is abducted. Reed awakens in a stasis tube, and smashes his way out only to find that he’s stretchy! He sees Johnny suffering on fire in another tube, and frees him, but the fire does not burn him! They notice an empty tube, and another tube full of rocks, but cannot find Sue or Ben. Suddenly, the rocks speak, and have eyes! He calls to Reed, and they free Ben, horrified by what he has become. The empty tube also speaks, with Susan’s voice, but nothing is there. They open it up to find she is invisible! They’re in a strange lab, with technology that is clearly alien. Disrobed and in undergarments, they grab blue colored jumpsuits to cover themselves, which are branded with an alien symbol that Johnny comments “Looks like a 4 to me”. With that, they begin to explore their new environment.

    “The subjects have escaped!” The four find themselves face to face with… a Skrull! They discover what they can do as they battle their way to the hangar, where H.E.R.B.I.E. gives them the 411 and informs them of all the components they’ll need to repair the ship and begin their journey home through a black hole that’s closing soon! As the Fantastic 4 sneak about the city-sized Skrull Mothership in search of the pieces to repair their ship, the Skrulls use the information they gathered studying the four to combine into one big, large Super Skrull. His first field test: Destroy the escaped prisoners.

    The Fantastic 4 gather all but one of the components, and have a short window before the black hole leading to Earth closes. They make it to the last component to find it being guarded by Commander K’lrt, the Super Skrull. After an epic battle, the four prevail, and make it back just in time to repair their ship and get through the black hole! They make it back to Earth, where the world celebrates the triumphant return of the long lost Fantastic 4!

    News of the four’s return spreads, to the crater in Eastern Europe that was Sokovia, where a new land has been built upon its ashes: Welcome to Latveria. Their Prime Minister, the same disfigured man from before, watches the screen, hidden in shadow, seething at the smiles upon the faces of his enemies. He abhors that he miscalculated, and swears that he shall not make the same mistake twice. The man swears, that Victor von Doom shall have his revenge. He is summoned by a servant to finalize the paperwork cementing Latveria as a new country. Before exiting the room, covers his face with a metal mask, and pulls the hood of his royal garb over his head.

    Post credits: The black hole the Fantastic 4 used to return to Earth re-opens, and enter- The Silver Surfer!

    “I have found a new world.” He says. On the other end of the black hole, the Skrull Mothership is destroyed, and the shadow of Galactus looms above.

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    Epic, right! So it may not be the only way to bring the Fantastic 4 to the MCU, but I think it’s pretty darn good! Either way, I’m sure you all have opinions. So let’s hear them! How can we get the four back in the fold? Or the X-Men for that matter! Comment below, and I’ll see you in the Multiverse true believers!

  • Fate of the Fantastic 4

    Let’s begin by watching the video below:

     

    I watch this and I shed a tear. There they are. The Fantastic 4 at their best. Johnny showboating and acting a fool, Reed analyzing the situation, Ben itching to fight and Sue keeping the team together with her levelheadedness. Zooming around the city in the Fantasticar and chasing down their greatest nemesis, Dr. Doom.  So what happened? Why has Marvel’s first family of super heroes been pushed into myth and legend?

    I believe (in my own conspiracy theory sort of way) that the big Secret Wars event Marvel had back in 2015 existed for three reasons:

    • Bring about the end of the Ultimate Universe.
    • Bring Miles into the 616 continuity (because, logic).
    • Officially put an end to the Fantastic 4.

     

    At its heart, Secret Wars was about Mr. Fantastic’s final battle with Dr. Doom. Doom, who made Johnny into the sun, Sue his wife and turned poor Ben into a wall, as a means to finally conquer his greatest foes. I believe that Marvel was giving the Fantastic 4 their last hurrah, a farewell in the form of a cataclysmic, universe-changing, 9-issue event. In the end, Doom admitted (verbally, and very reluctantly) that Reed Richards was indeed smarter than him, and Reed fixed Doom’s disfigured face. Now Reed and Sue are off remaking the universe with their kids, Ben’s in Guardians of the Galaxy, Johnny is with the Inhumans, Doom is Iron Man and the Baxter Building is Parker Industries’ main base of operations. Seems like a queue for a ‘The End’ title card if I’ve ever seen one.

    I don’t know about you, but considering everything, to me this is just sad. The Fantastic 4 were more or less Marvel’s first comic book (Cap and Submariner aside), and they ushered in many of Marvel’s greatest characters and stories: Black Panther, Inhumans, Galactus, Silver Surfer, Skrulls, and more! Spider-Man, Marvel’s most popular hero, had the FF on the front cover of his first issue (Not Amazing Fantasy #15, but the actual Amazing Spider-Man #1)! The Fantastic 4 have a long, rich comic book history, and now it’s as if none of it ever existed.

    Now, you all know as well as I do that 20th Century Fox has the rights to produce Fantastic 4 movies, not Marvel Studios. You all also know as well as I do that this is the most probable reason that the FF are getting the shaft. Just to be clear, I’m not here to point fingers or name names. It makes sense that Marvel is focusing all of the toys and games and theme park rides on the Avengers and other MCU heroes raking in millions of dollars for the company in merchandising. That’s not a problem. What is a problem is the fact that if Marvel were a search engine, and you typed in ‘Fantastic 4’, it would bring up a screen saying ‘No results found’ and ‘Did you mean The Avengers?’

    Let’s go over an example from the game I got the video from, Marvel Heroes (great game by the way). I’ve been playing since the beta in 2013, so it’s pretty easy for me to recognize when they make changes to the game. Luckily, this game was launched before the cleansing of the FF began, so they all made it into the game as playable characters. But as time goes on, I can see the where they have made active efforts to remove the Fantastic 4. For instance, later in the game you get to the Helicarrier, where Nick Fury discovers that Doctor Doom is behind everything, and he tells you to go talk to Sue Storm about Latveria. Once you do, she gives you a nice little history lesson on the Fantastic 4 and their run ins with Doom in the past. Now when you approach Nick Fury at this point in the game, he tells you to go talk to Silver Sable. And she give you no relevant information on Latveria. And where Reed Richards stood ready to craft materials for you is now Hank Pym. And I have now recently discovered that, unless you previously owned them, the Fantastic 4 are no longer able to acquire as playable characters. Like, what? Why would they go and do that? That’s not leaving the FF out, that is full on removing and replacing them.

    Look as hard as you wish, you won’t find the Fantastic 4 anywhere. Their comic book is cancelled, so unless it’s in the pages of another hero’s book, they won’t be found in the comics. Where are they in games like Future Fight and Contest of Champions? Absent, and I’ll bet a million to one they don’t show up in Lego Marvel 2 or MvC Infinite either. The Marvel animation? I saw the Thing in one episode each of Avengers Assemble and Ultimate Spider-Man, and all four of them in the opening sequence of one episode of Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. Mind you, this is out of 4 seasons of Spider-Man, 3 seasons of Avengers, 2 seasons of Hulk, and 2 seasons of Guardians of the Galaxy. Early on in these shows, auxiliary FF characters such as Dr. Doom and Galactus would show up a little more often, but definitely not anymore. How about toys? Not one iota. Now recently enough, Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line just put out a Sue Storm figure with H.E.R.B.I.E included and rumors of a Human Torch on the way. And on the topic of progress,  there is a Thing and Human Torch comic coming up with Marvel Legacy, which I think is great, but is it a sign of tides turning? While I always remain hopeful, it’s hard to be optimistic.

    But through all this, there’s one thing that’s got me confused: The X-Men are making a comeback. They’ve got about 50 new comic series on the shelves, Marvel Legends left and right (found 90’s Cyclops at Comic Con, he’s the best!), and they just showed up in Future Fight while they’ve been in Contest of Champions and Marvel Heroes from the start. And while absent from animation, they’ve got Legion and The Gifted on the live action side of television. Not long ago, the X-Men were in the same sinking ship as the Fantastic 4, but I guess Bobby froze the water and they ice skated to safety. What’s the difference? Why do the X-Men get to come back but the Fantastic 4 are still lost in the Negative Zone of Marvel marketing?

    I realize not many people liked the first two Fantastic 4 movies (I did, but hey, that’s me). I also realize that pretty much no one liked the reboot (I didn’t either, but hey, that’s me… and everyone else). I would like to think I speak for all of us when I say we want them in the MCU. (Wanna hear my premise for an MCU Fantastic 4 movie? No? Okay…) But with 20th Century Fox somehow still thinking they can revive a franchise that they’ve dug a grave for and buried, then dug up and buried again, there’s little chance of that happening. I know they’re a movie studio, and they want to make money, but it just upsets me that no one over there cares about what they’re doing to these characters. The Fantastic 4, heroes that Marvel in days of old would display loud and proud on the front cover of every comic, now pushed into the dark recesses of the Marvel Universe.

    Listen guys, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. The Fantastic 4 are gone. For good? Who knows. But for now, most definitely. I can’t help but look up at that video, and flip through the old comics, and wonder why Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic 4, met such an unceremonious end. Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Thing, and the Human Torch, four real heroes that have been cast out and forgotten. I don’t want to accept it, and I’m sure you guys are holding out hope as well. But for now, and for the foreseeable future, it’s flame off for the Fantastic 4. So let us bid them farewell, and hope with all of our hearts that, one day, they make a safe journey home.