By now, everyone probably heard about Spider-man joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Great news! After all, he was always “supposed” to have been there – we geeks would love seeing the MCU reflecting as many of the best parts of the comics MU as possible.
So, about the Fantastic Four.
I… don’t really want to see them in the MCU, thanks. 20th Century Fox, you can keep the rights forever for all I care. I mean, thanks Mr. Richards and everyone, but we’re cool, no need for your, err, help.
I’ve always seen the Fantastic Four as too vanilla. I’ve got nothing interesting to say about them, and they have nothing interesting to say to me. There’s no ideal that guides them, (like Captain America), and so there’s no conflict when that ideal clashes with reality. There’s no internal conflict (like Tony Stark’s immaturity problem), and so there’s nothing they need to overcome.
They just… have these powers, and that’s about it. Oh, and Reed Richards is a genius, yet ultimately, useless. Because nothing about these guys is grounded in the real world, or in real lives – they have no drive or cause to fight for, they’re just generic Good Guys With Powers. Obviously, anyone who actually reads the comics can tell me I’m wrong, that the FF have lots of interesting human connections and inner conflicts – yet there’s nothing that sticks to their archetype, their character as its publicly known. Being guilt-ridden and having responsibility issues is just as much a part of Spider-man as his powers. Being Sue Richards is about… force fields and invisibility, I guess? I’m sure there’s something else in the comics, but it never got out.
Which means that I, as a geek, am not really interested in seeing the Fantastic Four joining the MCU, which for me isn’t just a place where cool action happens – but also a place where the characters are fun and engaging.
I’ve got nothing against the FF, I just don’t see any reason to favor them over, let’s say, The Guardians of the Galaxy (I knew nothing about them prior to the movie, but at least they have a racoon, a tree, and an intergalactic assassin over an alien-filled galactic background, so they’ve got a better starting point). No hurt feelings, Richards and co, I just prefer seeing about a million other characters introduced to the MCU before you guys.
An important side note:
I have no idea how come Aviv can put so much effort into these Monday pics, but considering our original plan was not to have any art on Mondays, we should all be thankful she finds the time while she does.
