Possible Plot: Fantastic Four

So here’s a Possible Plot that I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of the Fantastic Four, but, I can say with confidence that their representation in films have been really lackluster. Hell, if I had the authority, I’d demand that Fox return the rights to Marvel. Why? Franchise abuse and neglect, that’s why. But, then again, I’d also demand that Fox and Marvel work out a deal so that the X-Men could be introduced into the Marvel Universe. Power abuse? Maybe. Would you love the results? You know you would.

Maybe, someday, you'll get a movie that's
on par with the rest of Marvel.

But back to the FF. For this version of the Fantastic Four, I’d say we do a complete 180 degrees from the original film. Make them the heroes that keep flying under the radar. Not because they haven’t been contributing to the Marvel Universe, but because they have had the bad luck of having all of their adventures happen at the same time as bigger Marvel events. The Fantastic Four are born when four people are bombarded by cosmic rays. Big deal, the Avengers just stopped an alien invasion. Super Scientists Reed Richards discovers the alternate dimension he dubs the Negative Zone. That’s cool, but Captain America just took down three helicarriers and revealed extreme corruption in SHIELD. Super scientist Reed Richards marries team mate Susan Storm? Shush, Iron Man’s house was blown up, and the president was kidnapped by the Mandarin. The FF meet and battle Namor and the forces of Atlantis? Ultron tried to drop an entire city onto the planet! Kind of hard to notice one when the other is going on, am I right? Present this as some newspaper articles or from brief news stories. Or Johnny complaining about how despite being "Fantastic" they're never noticed. Dealer's choice.

The film would take place in two locations, Latveria and the Negative Zone. Iron Man and SHIELD, along with the UN, are planning on using the extradimensional Negative Zone as a place to hold the various Super Criminals that have been popping up. They commission Reed to help design the facility, and plan on building the Earth side base of operations in Latveria. Why? They were the lowest bidder for the contract. We’d establish all of this with a video chat between two of the biggest geniuses of Marvel, Reed Richards and Tony Stark. Stark could make a few snarky comments about how he personally hates the Latverian leader, the Baron, and his scientific advisor, Victor von Doom. Reed could make a few cracks about Tony not liking anyone smarter than him, that sort of thing.

Once the Four land at the facility, they’d meet the Baron and Doom. The Baron would be your pretty standard foppish monarch, self-absorbed and too confident in his personal power. Doom, on the other hand, would be rather soft spoken, hardly making a comment. Until the Thing or Human Torch point out that he’s wearing a faux Iron Man suit. Doom would then get super angry and make claims about discovering the designs and how improved upon Tony’s “rusty suit.” They’d see glimpses of Latveria, from their “Ivory Tower,” and see how the police force seems to be mainly comprised of robotic soldiers. Reed would make a comment about how…dangerous an army of Doom Bots might be, but the Baron would laugh it off, and inform them that Doom’s robots cut crime by 90% in the year since they’ve been switched on. Doom would say something like, “I’m committed to peace,” before they get to the work site.

The Four and a team of engineers set up the portal to the Negative Zone, open the portal, and step through. The Negative Zone is a hellish, but beautiful alien location. Have a moment where we can all enjoy the beauty of this uncanny place. They set up a base camp, just in time to be attacked by a horde of alien insects. The creatures, lead by their war leader, Annihilus, were drawn to this planet in the Negative Zone by Reed and co punching holes in reality. Annihilus, being a xenophobic bug man, wishes to cross over to Earth, and raze our planet. A huge fight ensues, where the Four can show off their powers, and Doom can show that his comments about improving Tony’s suit weren’t a load of hot air.

The Four and Doom shut down the portal, and do their best to escape. They’re trapped in the Negative Zone with Annihilus, and need to think of a way to stop him before the villain can think of a way to active the portal, or worse, someone Earthside attempted a rescue mission. Have some character moments, Ben and Johnny relieving some stress by pranking each other, Sue and Reed having a few romantic moments, maybe have Johnny pick his Bro-in-law’s brain about the craziness of how Annihilus controls such a huge horde.

We need a Doom that you can believe
is capable of dooming the entire planet
for his own ends.

Cut over to one of the Fantastic Four finding Doom doing a Tarot Card reading. Doesn’t really matter which one, they’d all have something funny or insightful to say about seeing a super scientist fortune telling. Doom would then explain his background, how he grew up as a poor Romani in Latveria, how his father was a doctor and leader of his tribe, and how his mother was a mystic. Reading Tarot Cards, while inherently pointless, comforts Doom and reminds him of his late mother. The team and Doom would then reconvene, and discuss the enemy. Doom would point out that with every order Annihilus uttered, the staff would glow and then the bug people would react. They’d realize the staff, Annihilus’ Cosmic Control Rod, would be the key to his power and their best way to stop him.

The Four plus Doom would battle Annihilus and his army. The fighting would be fierce, but in the end, Reed and Doom would be able to rip the Rod from Annihilus’ hands. Doom would get his hands on it, and would almost immediately become drunk with power. He’d claim that the insect army would allow him to protect the world from its foes. No more Ultron’s, no more Loki’s, there would be one world, under Doom. The Four would then battle Doom, and during the fight, the Rod would explode in Doom’s face.

While he clutches his ruined face, Doom would shriek at Reed, calling him a fool, an idiot, and an arrogant SOB that just ruined the world’s best chance for peace. Reed would counter with the usual lines about how free will > peace, and then they’d return home. One the plane ride back to the US, they’d get a call from Tony, who’d inform them that not only was Doom pardoned for his crimes, but he’d been named Latveria’s diplomat to the UN. Shocked gasps, and then fade to black.

Back in the Baron’s castle, we’d see the Baron cleaning up a bloody mess. During said clean up, the skin of his face would tear, revealing metal. Doom would then comment that the new Baron would need a few upgrades. Doom would travel down into the depths of the castle, into an old library. He’d reveal a secret passage behind a bookshelf. He’d make veiled threats to the empty room, “A fool am I? I will be smarter next time,” that sort of thing. He’d pull out a musty old trunk and open it. He’d pull out various books, Secrets of Sorcery, Magic for Novices, and finally, the personal grimoire of Cynthia von Doom. The film would end with Doom’s newly scarred face smiling as he says, “Time to study up.”

Pretty much the entire Negative Zone
has a pest problem.

In my head, this is a very in medias res story. Much of the Fantastic Four’s history and interpersonal relationships would already be established. Ben and Johnny would have their strange sibling-like rivalry, Sue and Reed would already be romantically entangled, and so on. Why? Because in my limited experience with the FF, I do understand a big part of their story is that they are a super team second, and a family first. We don’t need to waste time with the “getting to know you” phase that both FF movies before have focused on. We can also skip over the “Cure Ben” story, as by this point the Thing would be more or less content with his altered form. What can I say? I hate repeating stories.

I’d want the Negative Zone as the location for this tale, because, like the Fantastic Four themselves, it hasn’t been given fair treatment in the movies. Planet Zero, my hairy face. It’s also an important part of the Marvel Universe, which is inherently tied to the FF. Annihilus works as villain, as he’s been rarely used in Marvel projects, and his whole army of insects does make him a pretty serious threat. Possibly comparable to Doom himself.

Doom would have as nearly as big a focus the Fantastic Four. This movie would be more his origin story than the FF’s. We’d establish him as a technological genius, and as an unstable sociopath. And, in this way, we’d completely remove that stupid misconception that Doom’s powers are the result of the same accident as the FF. He’s not a mutant, he’s a magic scientist, get it right. This is a bare bones sort of plot, and there are several improvements that could be made to the overall structure. I honestly can’t tell you who the “main” focus of the film would be. You know how team movies go, even if the majority of characters get equal screen time, there’s always the one guy who stands out the most. In X-Men, it’s Wolverine. In Avengers, it’s Iron-Man. In the eventual Justice League, I’m going to call it right now and say Batman. Of the four, it might be interesting to see Sue as the primary character. Really, in all the movies to date, she’s had the smallest role and shortest arc. Fantastic Four she was just trying to get Reed to stop being such an egghead and notice her. In Rise of the Silver Surfer she was mostly concerned about her wedding. Way to keep things in perspective, guys. World could be destroyed, and she’s upset that they have to delay the wedding. I honestly can’t say what her arc was in Fant4stic, she really didn’t have an arc. She was just kind of there. Sure, she found Reed towards the end of the movie, but otherwise, she was just there to talk to Johnny and Reed. That was silly. All of that being said, I think this could be a good way to introduce these characters into the main Marvel Canon without having to jump through a whole lot of hoops to fit them in. I won’t be truly happy until Marvel’s cinematic universe is whole. I’d prefer getting the X-Men introduced in first, but beggars can’t be choosers. Next time, let’s talk about Annihilus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Four#/media/File:FF509.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9b/Doomcosmicpower.jpg

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