Although the 2005Fantastic Fourmovie and its sequel paved the way for the MCU’s eventual success, not everything about these movies has aged well. Before the MCU set a new standard in superhero storytelling, the rights for Marvel characters were all over the place.
Sony owned Spider-Man, which they continue to do to this day, Universal had the rights to Hulk, and Fox retained two of Marvel’s biggest-ever teams, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. And withreasonable success for each of these titles separately,2005’sFantastic Fourwas among the last stories to be adapted in live-action before the rise of the MCU.
10The Invisible Woman Is Repeatedly Exposed
The 2000s were an odd time for media as a whole. Many films, music videos, and online content were exploitative, withmainstream projects often sexualizing womenin an incredibly uncomfortable way. As much as this was seen as ‘normal’ at the time, the wayFantastic Fourdid it to Jessica Alba’s Sue Storm felt awkward even then.
When Sue gains the power to turn invisible, one of the first roadblocks she faces is that, despite being able to turn herself invisible, she can’t turn anything else invisible, including her clothes. So, in both the 2005 and 2007 movies,Sue is forced to strip down.
This is done in a way that adds nothing to the story. While it’s played off as funny and edgy,it just proves to be problematic.
9Johnny Storm Struggles To Ever Think With His Brain
Speaking of theexploitation and overt sexualization of women, Sue is not the only target of this culture in theFantastic Fourmovies. Johnny Storm is set up as an immature playboy who chases every beautiful girl in sight. And as a result, he has several indecent encounters throughout both movies.
This issue reduces Johnny Storm to being an incredibly juvenile character who has no real depth. Sure, he can “Flame On” like a supernova, but he’d rather be chasing girls.It’s adisappointing iteration of a hero who has so much more potential.
8Sue Storm Obsesses Over Her Wedding In Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer
Continuing with the theme of making the characters overtly two-dimensional, Sue Storm spends the majority ofFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surferlaser-focused on her wedding to Reed Richards. In the face of a world-ending disaster, Sue is preoccupied with making her big day just right.
This is yet another reduction of a character who has significant potential and many more layers in the comics. Instead of having Sue obsess about this detail, while Reed has his mind on higher things, such as saving the world, themovie could have been more balanced and fairin its approach to adapting the heroes.
7The Fantastic Four Lacked A Real Familial Dynamic
Many superhero teams have a close bond. However,theFantastic Four are a genuine family, with those dynamics shaping the way they operate. Sue and Reed are married, Johnny is Sue’s brother and Reed’s brother-in-law through marriage, and Ben Grimm is the godfather of the Richards' kids.
This makes for one of the more unique superhero teams in comics, and it adds to the tension when any one of them is in trouble. However, this dynamicfailed to come across in any meaningful wayin the earlyFantastic Fourduology.
Sue and Johnny are still siblings, but they appear to be distant, and Reed and Sue struggle to define their relationship before Reed suddenly proposes to Sue at the end ofFantastic Four. Meanwhile, Ben is an outsider in every sense of the word, andthe distance between the heroes is extremely apparent.
6Reed Richards Views His “Friends” As Experiments
Expanding on that point,Reed Richards appears to suffer from extreme narcissisminFantastic Four, which leads to him putting himself above his friends and often devaluing them as lab rats in his experiments.
Despite Reed leading the mission that puts his crew in danger, and leads to them developing powers,his sympathy takes a backseat to his curiosity. Reed is more focused on testing the limits of their powers than actually caring for his friends, which leads to a greater divide between the heroes for much of the first movie.
One of the biggest disappointments from the 2000sFantastic Fourmovies is the lackluster portrayal of Victor von Doom. WhileJulian McMahon did a great jobwith the material he was given, this version ofDoom is nothing like the comics.
He repeatedly puts on and removes his mask. He is a jealous ex-boyfriend of Sue Storm’s. His power comes from his money, while his influence appears to extend only so far. And above all of this,his powers are extremely patchy, with lightning hands and a magnetized body.
It’s weird, and it’sdisappointing compared to the king of Latveria, who wields incredibly powerful magic and has a genius intellect comparable to his rival, Reed Richards.
4Sue Storm Is Defined By The Relationships She Has Rather Than Her Character
Back to Sue Storm for a moment, one of the most disappointing details about her portrayal is the fact that the movies didn’t even have the decency to make her a damsel in distress. Instead, theyreduced the character to being an object of obsessionfor others.
Sue is a hollow character who is more defined by others' thoughts on her, than her own actions.
Both Reed Richards and Victor von Doom are infatuated with Sue. Norrin Radd, aka the Silver Surfer, views her as a reminder of his own wife, and even her brother has no real relationship with her. Sue is a hollow character who is more defined by others' thoughts about her than by her own actions.
3The Silver Surfer Fails To Herald Galactus
While on thetopic of the Silver Surfer, the version of the character shown in 2007 was actually afar cry from the comics. As a herald of Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, the Silver Surfer is meant to alert the population of the worlds he targets of their imminent doom.
However, inRise of the Silver Surfer, the incredibly powerful surfer arrives silently and begins causing mayhem and destruction across the globe. Thisserves no real purpose in preparing the planet for his master, and it ultimately feels like yet another misinterpretation of the source material.
22005s Fantastic Four Seems To Race From One Plot Point To The Next
One of the biggest issues with both films is the pace at which they jump from one point to the next. During the 2000s, it was much more common for superhero movies to sit somewhere between 90 minutes and two hours, butthese movies were overstuffed.
In the first film, Johnny hops from one adrenaline-fueled sport to a romantic connection and back again, while Reed and Sue have a strained relationship. Yet, somehow, at the end of the movie,Johnny has an innate control of his powers, and Sue and Reed are engaged.
The same issues ring true for the sequel, as the movie once again introduces ideas, skips around for an hour or so, and then delivers a final conflict where theSilver Surfer turns on his masterto save the day, and Johnny once again appears to master everyone else’s powers alongside his own.
1Sue & Reed’s Relationship Makes No Sense In The 2000s Fantastic Four Movies
To dive deeper into the Sue and Reed romance arc,their story fails to make any real sensein the 2000s movies. Reed is obsessive, selfish, cowardly, and exceptionally prideful. Curiously, these are largely attributes he has in common with Sue’s ex, Victor von Doom.
However, Sue seems charmed and enamored by the man. Despite his repeated thoughtlessness and lack of sensitivity for Sue,she accepts his lackluster love, and she accepts his proposal while the two still haven’t resolved their checkered past.
It feels like an oversight to simply have Sue hang on to Reed with no care for her own needs or well-being, while Reed chases what he can’t have, and then continues to fail Sue when she finally accepts his proposal. But after all, that is just one more issue that the 2000sFantastic Fourmovies fail to properly address.
