After yesterday's big news, many people were wondering what would be made of Marvel's picture deals, now that the House of Ideas will reside within the House of Mouse. Wow, that gives you an idea of just how big those houses are.
If you ask around you'll see that most of the hardcore fans were hoping that Fantastic Four and X-Men might have some hope in returning to Marvel. You'd think it would only make sense that some of those pesky film rights, especially ones that have turned invisible like FF, might stretch on back to where the fans think they have better chances of being awesome.
As it stands it seems that all the old deals are exactly as they were. Fox has announced that they will be starting a new Fantastic Four film franchise, with no word on whether the previous two fantastic farces would remain as part of the continuity or if the cast would return. My bet is on it being all new, but in a way that doesn't need to confirm or deny that the previous two had taken place. Think of it as how The Incredible Hulk started things from ground zero (no pun intended), yet still managed to continue the basic story from the first film.
Will Fox learn from Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and everything else Marvel seems to be doing with their own productions elsewhere? One can only hope. With the placement of Akiva Goldsman as producer, and Michael Green writing the screenplay, it doesn't really seem like the perfect storm leading to a fan's dream come true. Still, it may be too soon to tell, and while Heroes has been horrible, it definitely seems like anyone writing for the show has read tons of comics. I mean, really, that is where the bulk of the "original" material has been coming from. So, maybe it is possible that Green will be good at adapting Marvel's First Family the right way for the first time.
Then again, this is also the studio that drove fans nuts with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Optimism may just be too much to ask for at this point. This announcement, the day after the big sale was broadcast to the world, came off as a way to make sure that Disney/Marvel can't get their hands back on any unstable molecules any time soon. Barring any evil intentions, cross your flaming, stretchy, invisible, rocky fingers and hope for the best. I don't care who puts out a Fantastic Four, or any other comic book movie, as long as it is good. In other words, I don't need Impossible Man, Kang the Conqueror, or even Skrulls to be happy with this movie, I just need it to not suck.
