Fantastic Four (2015)

[MPeriolat]

Originally Posted by Galactus

WTF!!! NO! NO! NO!

Disney sue their ass now and get the rights back.

Right now, much as we may wish them to, the time is not right. Fox can still make changes to the movie, including reshooting, to bring it in line. We have to wait for August 2015 to know for sure.

But let there be no doubt, IF Faux Four really does take such huge liberties with the characters and stories to where it could violate copyright law, I would expect there to be a lawsuit. And don't kid yourself - Disney is the company that perpetually persuades the U.S. Congress to grant extensions to the Copyright Act expiration date so Mickey Mouse does not fall into public use.

They. Will. Sue. IF it as bad as it appears on the surface. But this would be the Mouse versus Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp. We could be here for quite a while.

[Snikt]

Originally Posted by MPeriolat

Right now, much as we may wish them to, the time is not right. Fox can still make changes to the movie, including reshooting, to bring it in line. We have to wait for August 2015 to know for sure.

But let there be no doubt, IF Faux Four really does take such huge liberties with the characters and stories to where it could violate copyright law, I would expect there to be a lawsuit. And don't kid yourself - Disney is the company that perpetually persuades the U.S. Congress to grant extensions to the Copyright Act expiration date so Mickey Mouse does not fall into public use.

They. Will. Sue. IF it as bad as it appears on the surface. But this would be the Mouse versus Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp. We could be here for quite a while.

I doubt there'll be a lawsuit. I'm betting Marvel/Disney already signed off on the script for this film. And I'm sure they've seen footage of the film.

They know if it sucks, Fox will probably give the rights back to them. If it doesn't suck, it'll make $ and Marvel will get a % of that $.

Really, it's a Win/Win for Marvel.

I'm hoping the film will be good...just for the sake of being a good film (although I'm not enthusiastic it will be). I don't care which Studio makes a Marvel films (Marvel, Fox, Sony) as long as it's a good film.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by MPeriolat

Right now, much as we may wish them to, the time is not right. Fox can still make changes to the movie, including reshooting, to bring it in line. We have to wait for August 2015 to know for sure.

But let there be no doubt, IF Faux Four really does take such huge liberties with the characters and stories to where it could violate copyright law, I would expect there to be a lawsuit. And don't kid yourself - Disney is the company that perpetually persuades the U.S. Congress to grant extensions to the Copyright Act expiration date so Mickey Mouse does not fall into public use.

They. Will. Sue. IF it as bad as it appears on the surface. But this would be the Mouse versus Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp. We could be here for quite a while.

That's absurd. As long as Fox owns the characters and their associated ephemera to use on-screen then they're violating nothing in legal terms, as they can (and surely will) do as they please within the bounds of their rights. If that means rebooting their origins (which we know Fox can cover because of the first FF film) then Disney or Marvel or whoever can't do a goddamned thing about it. Marvel don't care anyway, they've cut off the merch lines and even the FF funnybooks themselves, so why would they give a **** about what Fox do with the property?

As said above, the only way the rights will revert back any time soon is if the reboot flops and Fox start tentative talks with Marvel, just as Sony are reported to have done with Spidey because they're DESPERATE for some of that MCU magic to rub off on them. But I think a cold day in hell would occur before Fox start anything with Marvel, especially because they've got the successful X-Men franchise to fall back on.

[MPeriolat]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

Contrarily to Spiderman, which is pretty much an iconic but isolated wonder, FF has some of the greatest Villains of the entire Marvel - verse.

Galactus
Silver Surfer
Namor
Annihilus
Skrulls (& Super Skrull by extension) - That one stung when they had to use the Chitori instead
Kang (not sure if he his in the Avengers roster or the FF one)

And of course Doom.

It could be said that the roster has 2 out of 4 of Marvel's greatest Villains of all time (Galactus & Doom, the other two being Magneto and Thanos).

I know Spidey is iconic for Marvel, but I'd rather a million times that they'd get FF back honestly. At least I think they can work with Sony to some extent. Looks like bridges are being burned every day between Marvel and Fox these days...

I'd like a world where you have a 3 year rotation between Avengers, FF and GotG (or another team like Inhumans or West Coast Avengers per example).

Only thing wrong with your list is Namor and Kang. Namor was created before FF and last I heard, Universal had those individual rights. They may have reverted by now, but either way, Namor is safe.

Kang is one of those characters that is gray, same with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. I truly am not sure where he falls, maybe the studios aren't. Would explain why we have not seen him.

The bottom line is, at least from a story perspective, FF has more value to Marvel than Spidey does. So Sony can wheel and deal if they wish while Fox gets to sit back, relax and squeeze every last drop from the lemon every seven years while Marvel stews and the fans cry out in pain.

[SymbioticFunction]

Even if Marvel/Disney got the rights back, there probably wouldn't be another FF movie for years. The property would be tainted by 2 rather lacklustre, recent movie adaptations and this latest version (which genuinely does sound like a complete and utter disaster). Another FF film would be a hell of a tough sell to the average cinema-goer. Best you could probably hope for is cameo appearances by some of the characters. I'm not even sure that the company would be in any great hurry to release another Spiderman film if they were to re-acquire the full rights to the character.

[Geoff D]

The ironic thing is it could turn out to be a good film in and of itself, it just won't have much to do with the FF.

[MPeriolat]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

That's absurd. As long as Fox owns the characters and their associated ephemera to use on-screen then they're violating nothing in legal terms, as they can (and surely will) do as they please within the bounds of their rights. If that means rebooting their origins (which we know Fox can cover because of the first FF film) then Disney or Marvel or whoever can't do a goddamned thing about it. Marvel don't care anyway, they've cut off the merch lines and even the FF funnybooks themselves, so why would they give a **** about what Fox do with the property?

As said above, the only way the rights will revert back any time soon is if the reboot flops and Fox start tentative talks with Marvel, just as Sony are reported to have done with Spidey because they're DESPERATE for some of that MCU magic to rub off on them. But I think a cold day in hell would occur before Fox start anything with Marvel.

To answer the question about why they would care, it's because it is something they (Marvel) could use if they wanted to, and to possibly great success since they seem to have a golden touch right now. Plus, Marvel created the franchise and only let the rights go when they were near bankruptcy back in the late 90s. Trust me, they care.

I must confess a bit of ignorance on the details on how Fox got the rights to FF. We sure they need script approval from Marvel? Why go to what is essentially competition to ask if you can make a movie?

[Geoff D]

They 'care' enough to operate a scorched earth policy regarding pretty much anything FF related. I know that they want all their characters back, but they're doing such a great job with what they've got that they simply don't need Spidey, X-Men and the FF right now.

If X-Men had gone down the gurgler like Spidey has and how FF may do, then Marvel may well have considered launching some sort of aggressive buyout or whatever because three failing properties may have been too much for them to bear. But DOFP smashed it and essentially relaunched the X-Men cinematic franchise, so that ain't going anywhere and Spidey may be back sooner rather than later anyway if Sony produce another clunker, so it's not worth the legal bills just to get the FF back.

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The ironic thing is it could turn out to be a good film in and of itself, it just won't have much to do with the FF.

Unlike most folks, I was quite underwhelmed by Chronicle so am wondering how this will turn out. I honestly can't wait to see the trailer - the curiosity factor is huge. It's like staring at an especially bad traffic accident. Moving so far away from the source material is quite a bold move (also probably immensely stupid and utterly misguided). I hope that the general public really likes the look of it since they're obviously not gonna get much support from existing fans of the franchise.

btw I haven't seen a forthcoming comic adaptation so reviled since Catwoman and we all know how that turned out.

[Astro Zombie]

I hope this turns out like a real-life Tropic Thunder, where everything goes horribly wrong and it ends up being one of the best films of the year. That'd be even funnier.

[Elandyll]

Not sure the latest leak is real at all, but the more we go the more it feels like there was a Chronicle 2 project ready to go and they asked Trank to fit the FF in there.

[djakrse]

Originally Posted by Astro Zombie

I hope this turns out like a real-life Tropic Thunder, where everything goes horribly wrong and it ends up being one of the best films of the year. That'd be even funnier.

No way, then Fox would laugh their @$$es off all the way to the bank, and we're all back to square one. Total failure, that'd be the real knee-slapper.

[thegoat]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Unlike most folks, I was quite underwhelmed by Chronicle so am wondering how this will turn out. I honestly can't wait to see the trailer - the curiosity factor is huge. It's like staring at an especially bad traffic accident. Moving so far away from the source material is quite a bold move (also probably immensely stupid and utterly misguided). I hope that the general public really likes the look of it since they're obviously not gonna get much support from existing fans of the franchise.

btw I haven't seen a forthcoming comic adaptation so reviled since Catwoman and we all know how that turned out.

The good news for Fox is that a lot of fans will go just out of curiosity, so they can focus on enticing the general public. The bad news for Fox is that the internet happened, so those curious fans can (and likely will) unanimously trash the film and sway public opinion so far one wat that Jar Jar will seem universally beloved.

[SymbioticFunction]

Had better be a good trailer.

[Spirit Zero]

I'm not even sure Marvel can help this franchise now. There are lots of things happening in the comicbook world and these characters just don't cut the mustard if you ask me. The villains are great but the Four are pretty lame in my opinion.

Especially when you look at superhero teams like Guardians and Avengers now...I just can't see how this team can compare no matter who makes the film. I think its too late for these characters, their too dated, old hat and can't compete with the likes of the Guardians mainly.

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Even if Marvel/Disney got the rights back, there probably wouldn't be another FF movie for years. The property would be tainted by 2 rather lacklustre, recent movie adaptations and this latest version (which genuinely does sound like a complete and utter disaster). Another FF film would be a hell of a tough sell to the average cinema-goer. Best you could probably hope for is cameo appearances by some of the characters. I'm not even sure that the company would be in any great hurry to release another Spiderman film if they were to re-acquire the full rights to the character.

Honestly if they got the rights back to Fantastic Four I can see them including the characters in AOS to introduce them and get the public happy with whatever Marvel decides to do before adding them into anything. Either that or they would be a HUGE part of the Civil War storyline since Richards actually was.

[djakrse]

Originally Posted by Spirit Zero

I'm not even sure Marvel can help this franchise now. There are lots of things happening in the comicbook world and these characters just don't cut the mustard if you ask me. The villains are great but the Four are pretty lame in my opinion.

Especially when you look at superhero teams like Guardians and Avengers now...I just can't see how this team can compare no matter who makes the film. I think its too late for these characters, their too dated, old hat and can't compete with the likes of the Guardians mainly.

Fantastic Four still has great potential. If you read their comic books or even a wiki article, you'd know this. Certainly more potential than most of the movies Marvel has made so far, and yet Marvel has made a believer out of many who couldn't see it. It will take more time to get the bad taste out of people's mouths, thanks to Fox, but easily worth the effort for Marvel.

[JackKnightStarman]

Originally Posted by Spirit Zero

I'm not even sure Marvel can help this franchise now. There are lots of things happening in the comicbook world and these characters just don't cut the mustard if you ask me. The villains are great but the Four are pretty lame in my opinion.

Especially when you look at superhero teams like Guardians and Avengers now...I just can't see how this team can compare no matter who makes the film. I think its too late for these characters, their too dated, old hat and can't compete with the likes of the Guardians mainly.

I gotta disagree. At it's core the FF are about family. No different than X-men and Guardians. Did you see Guardians? They came together as a family, by the end of the movie. Hell Groot gave his "life" to save his new family.

The only difference in terms of family, is it's members. While Xmen can encompass 1000's of characters, I am pretty sure Fox only has the rights to the Core four, and not the other Marvel characters who have been members, like She-Hulk or Medusa...to name a few.

[DisneyBlu]

Originally Posted by JackKnightStarman

I gotta disagree. At it's core the FF are about family. No different than X-men and Guardians. Did you see Guardians? They came together as a family, by the end of the movie. Hell Groot gave his "life" to save his new family.

The only difference in terms of family, is it's members. While Xmen can encompass 1000's of characters, I am pretty sure Fox only has the rights to the Core four, and not the other Marvel characters who have been members, like She-Hulk or Medusa...to name a few.

Well said. The Fantastic Four definitely can "cut the mustard," but they have to be in the right hands.

Before a few months ago, there was a time where people said that the Guardians of the Galaxy couldn't compare to other characters. And now they're A-listers.

We actually have seen that the Fantastic Four can work and be popular, and resonate with people and be a success: it was just under the name of "The Incredibles." It's comparable to a Fantastic Four movie.

The Fantastic Four aren't the top dogs of Marvel and they haven't been for decades, but Marvel Studios could bring them back to prominence. They worked magic with Guardians of the Galaxy. If they had the FF, they'd be the next big thing.

Under Fox, it's going to be another generic movie that will be forgotten about by Christmas 2015.

[Spirit Zero]

Originally Posted by JackKnightStarman

I gotta disagree. At it's core the FF are about family. No different than X-men and Guardians. Did you see Guardians? They came together as a family, by the end of the movie. Hell Groot gave his "life" to save his new family.

The only difference in terms of family, is it's members. While Xmen can encompass 1000's of characters, I am pretty sure Fox only has the rights to the Core four, and not the other Marvel characters who have been members, like She-Hulk or Medusa...to name a few.

Yeah but the point I'm making is the characters in Avengers and Guardians are way way more interesting and cool. The FF are just lame all round...The Invisible Woman and the Hulk clone? meh.