Cloud Man Speaks
Aint it Cool have reported that jolly purple giant Galactus has been reimagined for the upcoming Fantastic Four sequel as...
...a big cloud.
Okay, fair enough. Slightly less ridiculous than a massive man in purple lycra and a patently ridiculous helmet. No less connected to ancient ideas of gods. Slightly more connected to modern ones (I know which one looks most like the Flying Spghetti Monster in silhouette).
They say that the Surfer is seen communing with Galactus by flying into the cloud for a natter, where we hear the voice of Larry Fishburne. It's definitely not the way it was in the comic.
And it definitely makes more sense - both intellectually and as an image.
But that doesn't meant the film will be anything less than complete and utter dreck. Just without some of the fanboy baggage from the comics in tow - baggage the fanboys really seemed to like.
Whoever came up with the cloud idea irnoed out a wrinkle in the whole crumpled shirt. Of course, the shirt still looks like it's been kicked around in the dirty by a six-legged Gnu, but, well, that's one wrinkle gone, anwyay.
7 comments:
you're wrong about galactus. when word gets around, this is going to hurt the film. he's a widely-recognized character. of course, he's a little corny, but he's a corny badass, and that's different. i'd almost pay to see this just to be able to view the expressions on all of the let down hip hop fans who LOVE galactus. kids grew up on that character. when it turns up he's just a big stupid cloud, there will be sighs throughout the aisles. BIG MISTAKE. i've heard rumors myself that Galactus WILL appear at the END as purple-lycra-god but as the cloud for the rest of the picture. Top that!
A corny bad ass? There's an image.
Seriously? I could care less what the fans think and care more about what makes for a good film. Oftem those things align, but if the fans want a giant man is a ridiculous costume... then they don't want what is good for the film.
But then again, I don't think Tim Story does, really, either.
Here's the thing - the character Galactus, is pure comic book. Comics are their own artform, Kirby was one of its most fluent masters, and this is one of his most expressive creations, a character that summed up so much of his personal language and worldview. By the metaphor of a giant alien in an unworkable costume.
Now the rub is, if movies want to intrude on the artistic territory of comics, they've got to walk a tightrope - please the fanbase and they get the word of mouth that makes a movie a hit. Alienate the fanbase and they get the negative word of mouth that can kill a big budget blockbuster stone dead.
I don't think a truer-to-the-comic version of Galactus is naturally unfilmic. I look at previous examples of cinematic giganticism here, yer KING KONGs, yer GOJIRAs, and think that's what this could have been - the FF versus a sci-fi King Kong. Only problem being, I don't think anyone involved had the neccessary ambition or ability to make that movie. The FF is one of Marvel's true flagships - FF #1 ushered in the Marvel Age, it's the signature piece by the greatest writer/artist team of their generation. If only this concept had been gifted to a film maker with some vision, a Singer, or a Raimi, with writers of Chabon's calibre (and he wrote a kick-arse treatment, remember). But no. It's palmed off to a bunch of hacks. Twice.
i think galactus can exist as his original self in the f4 universe. it would be surreal, but this is a franchise that lives on the surreal/cartoonish aspect of the comic world - just look at the thing - and it'd be awesome to see some giant floating amongst the stars as f4 battles him with/vs the surfer. i seriously think this movie would do $100mil more if that was the case. it's the same thing with Nolan's rumored Joker not having green hair or white face paint - just gray skin and scars. it doesn't mean the film won't be great, but that's a bad decision - not only from a marketing point of view but also from a fan's point of view and people who love these movies.
There's a world of difference between the facial disfigurement of the Joker and a massively tall man in a horrendous outfit.
Wikipedia says that Tim Story says that Galactus will "appear in some form in the movie". So maybe he's a god similar to the Christian god who can shape-shift from ball o' light to dove-form to carpenter-form at will.
Well, that's as maybe but I think this 'some form' simply refers to the cloud. He doesn't have to have shape shifting ability to be a cloud, and a cloud is 'some form', so him simply being a cloud now and forever meets the Wikipedia quote with no dispute.
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