Fantastic Four reboot is already screwed up...

[Comicopolis]

First sketch from the new film.

 

[fantastic_four]

we'll be having a black Batman next...(being white is integral to the character)

 

Being a billionaire is integral to that character.

 

I'm hoping he didn't just equate being a believable billionaire with being white, but I asked to make sure.

[Comicopolis]

we'll be having a black Batman next...(being white is integral to the character)

 

How's that?

 

Only white people could be billionaires in the 1940's.

[Johnny U]

First sketch from the new film.

 

[Maccai3]

we'll be having a black Batman next...(being white is integral to the character)

 

Being a billionaire is integral to that character.

 

 

and white...

 

Batman's father was a surgeon that age wise would have been a profession that would have had 0% black people

 

tell me i'm wrong

[THB]

 

She heard about the casting news too??

 

[Logan510]

I'm not saying people won't accept it, but to take 50 years of continuity and throw it out to cast someone completely different in attitude and appearance is a pretty idiotic business decision. Black Nick Fury does absolutely nothing for the character of Nick Fury. Marvel created market confusion for absolutely no reason - because people could care less what color he is, yet they have now split the persona into two different entities.

 

What you're describing was the entire purpose behind Marvel's "Ultimate" line of books. Fans loved it and sales were great, aside from the ones with the static mindset you're describing. I loved the stories and they absolutely were improvements on the originals in most regards. They made Nick Fury in that comic black and intentionally modeled him after Samuel L. Jackson because Samuel L. Jackson is quite the bad-. They actually asked him if he was OK with them using his face as the model for the art and he agreed; it was a great change. Most of the screenwriters and directors of the films have agreed and have borrowed heavily from the Ultimate versions of the characters.

 

I suspect Stan Lee would agree with most of the Ultimate changes to his characters. They did a decent job of preserving what was unique and compelling about the originals while fixing some of the things Stan didn't get quite right the first time around.

 

I just threw up in my mouth. Thank you.

 

Pretty sure I asked you to put me on ignore years ago. If you didn't, it's your own fault. I'll recommend it again--put me on ignore, please.

 

 

You did and I didn't, my fault I'm not putting you on ignore BTW

[fantastic_four]

 

She does look more like Sue Storm than most actresses. Based upon her wooden performance as both Betty Draper in "Mad Men" and Emma Frost in "First Class", I'm not liking her as a choice.

[Real Frantic One]

After thinking about this further, I do recall one instance in a movie where a character's race/ethnicity was changed successfully from the original source material. The actor said he would take the role as long as none of the character's dialogue was changed. This resulted in a humorous scene where he was asked "Why do they call you 'Red'?" and he responded "Maybe because I'm Irish."

 

Of course this was Morgan Freeman in the Shawshank Redemption.

 

However, this casting decision added a new element to the story and was not an arbitrary change. If change is made for a good creative decision rather than to pander to a demographic, then it's worth consideration. In other words, if you're going to change something, have a good reason for doing it. We don't know yet which category applies with Johnny Storm.

[revat]

I'm not sure anyone is actually 'wrong' on the argument.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with changing some of the stuff to make it either more marketable or more modern or to help improve the acting. Certainly Marvel/Disney wants to do whatever they can to either draw attention, improve the product, and ultimately make MORE MONEY.

 

I also don't think there's anything wrong with preferring that the characters look 'more' like the characters in the comic books people have been reading for a million years. That doesn't necessarily make you racist. People have been reading about this comic world forever, and many genuinely want to see THAT WORLD on the big screen.

 

 

 

For example, what if they cast an Asian guy as Captain Kirk in Star Trek? What if they made John Cho into Kirk and the Chris Pine into Sulu? Is it racist of me to think that would feel kind of strange, based on my knowledge of the source material? I'm a big Cho fan, met him at a club once, cool guy. Even though I think he'd do a fine job as Kirk, I think from a financial standpoint and from a nerd standpoint it makes more sense to keep the casting the way it is.

 

I'm just saying this doesn't need to be a point of outrage on either side, just a point of preference or indifference, not necessarily a litmus test on racial sensitivity or cultural progress.

 

 

PS. Also, I'm pretty sure the person who made 'johnny is a white name comment' was being sarcastic.

[Tsimanga]

Alicia was played by an African-American and no one said a thing (I think). No one complained that she wasn't really blind either.

 

I'm still surprised that Lt. Dan had legs in real life. (He wasn't that famous prior to the Forrest Gump movie...)

 

If Johnny and his sister are both African-American, it shouldn't be a problem in my mind.

 

If they meet up with the InHumans, that'd be a multi-racial cast as well.

 

 

Serious question. Would it have been ridiculous if Tom Cruise had been cast as Bruce Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story? Of course it would, because Bruce was Chinese.

 

And no, it doesn't matter that one is based on fact ( Dragon was about as factual as a Saturday morning cartoon ).

 

Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, California and his parents were from Hong Kong, so he's Cantonese. He speaks Cantonese and not Mandarin.

 

Jason Scott Lee (no relation) who played him in the movie Dragon is of Chinese-Hawaiian descent which is close enough I guess. He was born in LA.

 

Now, David Carradine is another matter...

 

 

Dragon is one of my favorite all-time movies.

 

 

As far as a black human torch. Actually he sounds like the perfect character to change. I'm all for it as long as they can do it right for once.

 

Speaking of "minority" characters. There really are not that many at all.

 

Black Panther, Luke Cage, Cloak, the falcon are about all I can think of, and they are all black. I can't even think of any other ethnicities besides white.

 

If you're a comicbook fan on these boards I'm not surprised If one is a fan of Bruce Lee the person, I don't see how they can like Dragon. For a person who led a VERY interesting life, H'Wood certainly took quite a few liberties in the telling of his story.

 

 

I don't know what you mean about the quip of me being a comic book fan and liking the dragon movie. I like the movie because it has a great soundtrack, solid acting, killer fight scenes, I like Jason Scott Lee and I knew the director.

 

Sure, they took a few liberties in making the film, all for the sake of drama, but it is based on Bruce's wife's biography on him. You show me a biography film that is 100 percent true to the facts and timeline, and I'll show you a 7-hour long lifetime special.

 

A few liberties? That's like saying the Grand Canyon is a ditch.

 

 

I suppose you knew Bruce better than Linda... anywho. I liked the flick, you didn't. Whoopdy doo. Let's agree to disagee.

[Comicopolis]

we'll be having a black Batman next...(being white is integral to the character)

 

Being a billionaire is integral to that character.

 

 

and white...

 

Batman's father was a surgeon that age wise would have been a profession that would have had 0% black people

 

tell me i'm wrong

 

His dad being a surgeon was integral to the character?

[Bosco685]

we'll be having a black Batman next...(being white is integral to the character)

 

Being a billionaire is integral to that character.

 

 

and white...

 

Batman's father was a surgeon that age wise would have been a profession that would have had 0% black people

 

tell me i'm wrong

 

African Americans in Medicine in the Civil War Era

 

Although appointed an acting assistant surgeon, you can get what was going on back then.

[Dr. Balls]

got it, people wont accept something that doesnt look like their 50+ years of continuity...

 

wait did someone say something?

 

I'm not saying people won't accept it, but to take 50 years of continuity and throw it out to cast someone completely different in attitude and appearance is a pretty idiotic business decision. Black Nick Fury does absolutely nothing for the character of Nick Fury. Marvel created market confusion for absolutely no reason - because people could care less what color he is, yet they have now split the persona into two different entities.

 

Market confusion? Are you sure?

 

Positive. Granted, people are able to figure out who's who - that's not the issue. What the issue is is that there is no need for a company to convolute it's own trademarks - it goes against the who purpose of protecting your property.

 

If I created a character called "Nick Fury" I would get a cease-and-desist letter from Marvel. Yet, they have split their own "Nick Fury" into two very different characters - they have gone against the principals of protecting their licensed characters for the sole purpose of generating buzz. Yes, they have the right to do what they want, but it doesn't make sense to do something that causes more work and doesn't create additional revenue in the long run.

 

And in the long term - that buzz did nothing but create two separate fronts that they have to maintain concerning the one character. Two fronts = two different editorial criteria, two different standards of illustration, etc, etc. I'm sure they can explain away the logic and how incredibly successful black Nick Fury is - but in it's base principal, creating market confusion by splitting your brand in two separate entites with the same name/purpose is not the way to handle a licensed property.

[Comicopolis]

 

She heard about the casting news too??

 

Indeed.

[He11blazer]

 

She does look more like Sue Storm than most actresses. Based upon her wooden performance as both Betty Draper in "Mad Men" and Emma Frost in "First Class", I'm not liking her as a choice.

 

Really? I only recently started watching Mad Men and I like her a lot, and Emma Frost was great. Having said that, I may be liking mainly her looks and certain cute gestures which I suspect I will grow quite tired of by the time I've watched the whole series!

[devilsrain]

What is it with you people.............

[THB]

 

She heard about the casting news too??

 

Indeed.

 

[Bosco685]

we'll be having a black Batman next...(being white is integral to the character)

 

Being a billionaire is integral to that character.

 

 

and white...

 

Batman's father was a surgeon that age wise would have been a profession that would have had 0% black people

 

tell me i'm wrong

 

African Americans in Medicine in the Civil War Era

 

Although appointed an acting assistant surgeon, you can get what was going on back then.

 

 

1863

[Comicopolis]

got it, people wont accept something that doesnt look like their 50+ years of continuity...

 

wait did someone say something?

 

I'm not saying people won't accept it, but to take 50 years of continuity and throw it out to cast someone completely different in attitude and appearance is a pretty idiotic business decision. Black Nick Fury does absolutely nothing for the character of Nick Fury. Marvel created market confusion for absolutely no reason - because people could care less what color he is, yet they have now split the persona into two different entities.

 

Market confusion? Are you sure?

 

Positive. Granted, people are able to figure out who's who - that's not the issue. What the issue is is that there is no need for a company to convolute it's own trademarks - it goes against the who purpose of protecting your property.

 

If I created a character called "Nick Fury" I would get a cease-and-desist letter from Marvel. Yet, they have split their own "Nick Fury" into two very different characters - they have gone against the principals of protecting their licensed characters for the sole purpose of generating buzz. Yes, they have the right to do what they want, but it doesn't make sense to do something that causes more work and doesn't create additional revenue in the long run.

 

And in the long term - that buzz did nothing but create two separate fronts that they have to maintain concerning the one character. Two fronts = two different editorial criteria, two different standards of illustration, etc, etc. I'm sure they can explain away the logic and how incredibly successful black Nick Fury is - but in it's base principal, creating market confusion by splitting your brand in two separate entites with the same name/purpose is not the way to handle a licensed property.

 

Anybody being confused because there are two different people with the same name will have palpitations when reading the phone book.