Count me as someone excited for this film... if it is worth my time. I'm a great big Jack Kirby fan and as a kid I loved the Fantastic Four and in my life I've suffered through two bad iterations and a Roger Corman oddity. This should work but never does. I loved the announcement artwork they unveiled today and it filled me with a great spirit to see. Of the cast I'm quite fond of Ebon Moss-Bacarach (finally a Jew with a hot temper and striking blue eyes cast as Ben Grimm!) and Vanessa Kirby (finally a knockout blonde cast as Sue Storm!). I'd be very excited to hear what Christophe Beck could bring to the Fantastic Four but I think Michael Giacchino's score for The Incredibles is a good F4 soundtrack to read to. We shall see what becomes of this but with that state of the genre and the MCU franchise this thing better shine bright like a goddamn diamond.
I think it's going to be corny. Disney doesn't know how not to.
My favorite run was John Byrne's. When he left FF, so did I.
Comic books are corny, it's true. The real magic in a successful Superhero genre picture is balancing that inherent childish corniness against sincerity, pathos, and strong characterization. Comics are undoubtedly a visual medium, so as much as great panelling will entice the reader to move their eyes at a specific pace to take in the story, so should a Superhero picture's sense of visual awareness of action and dynamic momentum of these larger than life characters. It's not as a simple as "Disney makes em corny," and has more to do with the talents on the page, behind the camera, and on display.
It's not as a simple as "Disney makes em corny," and has more to do with the talents on the page, behind the camera, and on display.
Yes and no. It is as simple as that, and yes, it has to do with whomever or whoever is at the helm. That's why we have corny and campy, and on the other face of the coin we get gritty and noirish. On either or both sides, we get a degree of the fantastical.
I predict it will more likely than not be a corny movie. The image they released speaks volumes. It looks like a Christmas card in February. It's the equivalent of the funny pin-up after the conclusion of the main story, next to the letters page. If that image is supposed to hint at the tone of the film (which is going to be a retro piece), that means they're bound to produce another VFX-intensive, character cutout-driven template movie.
Finally, a Thing that looks like his comic book counterpart. The fact that Roger Corman was the closest to nailing the comic book look instead of the two big-budgeted movies was just bleh.
I predict it will more likely than not be a corny movie. The image they released speaks volumes. It looks like a Christmas card in February. It's the equivalent of the funny pin-up after the conclusion of the main story, next to the letters page. If that image is supposed to hint at the tone of the film (which is going to be a retro piece), that means they're bound to produce another VFX-intensive, character cutout-driven template movie.
I'm not sure how you gather that final statement from the Valentine's Day tribute art they unveiled (Christmas card?!). You seem to unknowingly give it a grand compliment by relating it to something you'd actually see in a comic book! The tone of the artwork suggests romance and family, a retro futurist aesthetic, and sincerity. We can assume from standard MCU fare that it will indeed be VFX-laden laden junk like you suggest. Unless it isn't, which we'll have no way of knowing until it actually is released.
Maybe Ludwig Göransson can come up with something special for the F4. Maybe Giacchino if he's in his creative mode. Getting John Williams would be really something special but only if they're serious about making this a great movie.
You seem to unknowingly give it a grand compliment by relating it to something you'd actually see in a comic book!
Ha! Only it'd be actual line art, not Live Trace.
Artist Wes Burt has a nice little Cleveland Institute of Art alumni profile where you can see him working and his processes. Unfortunately we live in an age of these artists working on digital canvases so you'll have to get over your predisposition in assuming how a contracted artist completes their work but it's always good to understand what new tools and technologies exist and could possibly help your own artistic endeavors. He also has done a few design talks regarding breaking into the industry for concept work in TV, film, and video games.
Unfortunately we live in an age of these artists working on digital canvases so you'll have to get over your predisposition in assuming how a contracted artist completes their work
It isn't a recent development. Brian Bolland hasn't created a cover on vellum in decades, but nobody can tell one way or the other because he's a master illustrator.
"As, more and more, comic colourists were using Photoshop and other computery things to colour my work I found their effects were swamping my line-work. I thought I should learn the computer (I'd never owned one) and do it myself. Dave Gibbons introduced me to Photoshop. I spent a lot of money in 1997 buying piles of Apple Mac machinery that was a complete mystery to me. I spent months hating it.
...After 10 months, and with much help from Dave and Angus [McKie], I was finally able to produce an Invisibles cover in Photoshop. I was able to colour line art that I'd produced in the conventional way on paper - but gradually, I found it easy, with a Wacom tablet and pen, to edit the line layer and eventually to draw everything from pencil rough, through finished pencil to finished ink line and then the colour. Moreover, all of these stages melded into one another. There was also no rule that stated you can't incorporate elements of photography into the work. That reached its zenith for me with some of my later Invisibles work. Since late '97 every piece of work for print by me has been digital. Much to the annoyance of artwork collectors. I still, though, consider my work in Photoshop to be the process that leads up to the printed copy. I'm not one for digital-only comics."
Michael Giacchino to Score Marvel Studios’ ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’
Michael Giacchino (Up, Lost, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Ratatouille) is set to compose the music for Marvel Studios’ upcoming feature The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The film is directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision, The Great) and stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Susan Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, as well as Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal / Silver Surfer and Ralph Ineson as Galactus. John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne & Paul Walter Hauser are also starring. Kevin Feige (Avengers: Endgame, Black Panther) is producing the project. Giacchino’s theme for the title characters and Galactus appeared to have been previewed this past Thursday during a drone show at Comic-Con (check out the video below). The composer has previously scored numerous movies for Marvel, including all MCU Spider-Man films, Doctor Strange, Thor: Love and Thunder (with Nami Melumad) and the special presentation Werewolf by Night, which he also directed. He also composed the Marvel Studios Fanfare, which is currently being used to open all MCU projects. The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released in theaters nationwide on July 25, 2025.
P.S. To the four color Fantastic Four fans among us: I highly recommend two new F4 books that should be readily available. Walter Mosley's The Thing: Next Big Thing (art by Tom Reilly) chronicles the Thing's new romances and clobberin' adventures in a stunning solo series. And then Alex Ross' Fantastic Four: Full Circle which Ross writes, illustrates, and fully paints this swinging psychedelia expansion to the old Lee/Kirby F4 story "This Man... This Monster." My only wish is that it has been printed with blacklight responsive ink because the color work from Ross' palette is just gorgeous and evocative. Brilliant panel layouts and splash pages too.
P.S. Somewhat off topic, but if you haven't read (and seen!) Tradd Moore's Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise, I highly recommend this Treasury edition. The incredible psychedelic art alone is worth the price, but the story is a mind-melter, WAY out there. Great stuff. https://www.amazon.com/DOCTOR-STRANGE-FALL-SUNRISE-TREASURY/dp/1302950762
I remember Roll Out The Barrel from the Ottman ones, and I have zero memory of the Beltrami one* (and I have that on CD, bought for the princely sum of £2). I wonder what Michael-G and his team will come up with.
