the fantastic four Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Before you get all up in arms and start crying things out like, "But Singer already said he's filming a Superman sequel in 2008!" -- keep in mind, this is Hollywood ... and things change. Think of it as if your parents were planning a big summer trip to Disney World, but at the last minute decided to go to Phoenix instead ... because your grandmother is itching to see you. It happens all the time round these parts, and whether you want to admit it or not, word is some major Superman announcements might be heading our way. According to Moviehole (who have some pretty good inside studio sources), the highly-anticipated Superman Returns sequel (currently titled The Man of Steel) might be placed into turnaround so that Brandon Routh (and the Superman character) can be used in the upcoming Justice League flick instead.

Right now, it's just a rumor ... but it's one that kind of makes sense. In order to stage a decent Justice League movie, either Superman or Batman (or both) would have to appear. Since Nolan is already hard at work on The Dark Knight (sequel to Batman Begins), Warner Bros. probably won't mess with that franchise -- in fact, Moviehole claims the caped crusader won't be involved in this Justice League thing; they say, "he's too big to waste on a film like this." But seeing as the Superman sequel was always up for debate since the first one didn't take in the kind of money the studio was hoping for, the smarter move might be to throw Supes in Justice League first -- drum up more interest in the character -- and then come out with a sequel to Superman Returns.

The move is similar to the one Fox is pulling right now; how they've decided to pair up The Silver Surfer with The Fantastic Four. If it works out for them, not only will The Fantastic Four turn into a more profitable franchise, but The Silver Surfer will most likely surf off into a solo effort. What do you think? Would you rather see Superman in a Justice League movie or in a sequel to Superman Returns? Chances are, you will not get to have your Routh and eat it too.

Although it may not be quite as famous as the Batmobile, the Fantasticar is truly one of the greatest and most well-known rides in comic book-dom, particularly among Marvel geeks. Granted, it has at times looked like a flying bathtub, but it is still one fantastic machine. If you read the Fantastic Four or even just Marvel comics in general, you probably adore the Fantasticar, right? And you were probably more than a bit excited (and nervous) when Tim Story announced he'd be incorporating it into The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Well, True Believers, the moment is upon us, and Tim Story has shared the first official look at the Fantasticar. It doesn't look like a flying bathtub, which is probably for the best. But it does have a very classic, soft look about it -- intentionally so, apparently. Story was quite adamant about keeping the vehicle less aggressive looking than many of the early designs he was presented with. I've got to say, I'm actually impressed with it. Details say it'll fly around 500 mph at 30,000 feet and will feature smaller breakaway vehicles, so somebody is doing a decent job of keeping it comic book accurate. Swing by USA Today and let me know what you think of the picture -- amusingly, Ben Grimm is the only one not shown.

I've written more than once about sustaining optimism for the upcoming Fantastic Four sequel. I know many of you True Believers find this a difficult proposition, and I don't blame you. While I didn't dislike the first film as strongly as many of you did, I will fully admit it came nowhere close to fulfilling my (perhaps far too lofty) expectations. As a long-time reader of The World's Greatest Comic Magazine, I wanted so much more than director Tim Story gave me. Nonetheless, I refuse to give up hope for the Four. I saw promise in the first film, and I enjoyed watching it despite the shortcomings.

I want part two to be better. Maybe this strong desire has lead me to over-optimism. In fact, I'm sure it has. However, I'm willing to buy into it for a time, and let myself believe the denizens of the Baxter building will be as fantastic as their name intones. Are there reasons to worry? Sure there are -- you can think of any number of them yourself. Yet, there ARE a few good reasons to be hopeful. In that spirit, The Geek Beat brings to you five good reasons to look forward to the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer:

In all my ravings about Jon Favreau and how great he is for staying so plugged into the Iron Man fanbase, I often forget to mention other directors who do the same thing. Take, for example, Tim Story, the director of the Fantastic Four franchise. Now, he isn't as in touch with his fans as Fav is, but he does keep a MySpace page, and uses it to keep fans relatively up to date with the happenings of his projects. I was reminded of this today when I realized Story had updated his blog with a bit of information which simply makes me ecstatic.

Not so very long ago, Story himself promised us an "awesome" Fantasticar* for the new FF movie. This weekend, Story got a chance to see the car in its full glory, and he was very impressed; from the sound of it, he'll be coming through on his "awesome" promise in flying colors. He raved over it, calling it "the coolest thing he's ever seen" (although he did admit to some personal bias), and said "I went to their top secret locale way out in the middle of nowhere and when I walked in, I just couldn't believe my eyes. It's better than I imagined. Can't wait to shoot this thing."

We can't wait either, Tim Story. Bring on the Fantasticar!

*If you are unaware of the Fantasticar, you should know it is a very important item for Marvel fans. I imagine you can piece together what it is from the name of the thing.

Hope springs eternal in this little geek heart of mine, and with every new update on the upcoming sequel to The Fantastic Four, the tiny spark of hope flickers a bit brighter. In general, the sequel news has been quite good, leaving your geek beat reporter in a very happy state. The plot sounds better, the concepts sound tighter, and the extra characters are well chosen. Now we just need director Tim Story to put them all together in a better fashion than his last go around with The World's Greatest Comic Magazine. And to hear him talk about it, he may well be on the right track. In recent comments, Story excitedly discussed the progression of the team. They've moved into corporation status now, and true to comic book style will be surrounded by far more gizmos and gadgets, many stamped with the famous Four logo. The interior of the Baxter building is going to be "hot," and he plans to pull design ideas from both the current Ultimate FF stories and the classic Kirby machines. And finally, Story is very impressed with the Fantasticar, saying: "What I'm really excited about is the Fantasticar. It's coming guys in all it's glory. Wait until you see it. It's going to split in pieces and all that. Johnny and Ben fight over who should fly it. All the fun you expect."

All the fun I expect is a lot of fun, but let's hope he is right. It sounds promising anyway. Hope lives on for another day.

If you've been a follower of Marvel comics for any length of time you are quite aware of Marvel's love of storyline crossovers. Sometimes this means a character or two showing up in someone else's book (like Wolverine, who seems to appear in every Marvel title written these days) and sometimes it means a whole new book focusing on a crossover team-up such as the current "Cable and Deadpool" series. Some crossovers are established firmly in the Marvel world -- characters such as the Silver Surfer and Namor (for incredibly obvious reasons) are regularly seen running through the pages of the World's Greatest Comic Magazine (that's the Fantastic Four, for the comic illiterate among us). So my question is, how long until we get some crossover action in our comic book movies?

A problem with the crossover potential of Marvel comic films is the movie licensing rights to the characters which have been granted to several different studios. The Incredible Hulk, for instance, is with Universal; X-Men and the Fantastic Four go with Fox; Spider-Man is famously tied to Sony (as is Ghost Rider, if memory serves); and The Punisher belongs to Lion's Gate. However, this does not spell death to any potential cross-over action thanks to the large deal currently inked between Marvel and Paramount. Paramount has quite a number of Marvel flicks in the works right now -- meaning a good collection of the Marvel pantheon will all fall happily under the same umbrella.