Fantastic Four Movie: New Trailer Analysis

The latest trailer for the new Fantastic Four movie is here. Not only is it more exciting than the first one, it reveals a lot more than we've seen in other high-profile trailer drops over the last few days. 

In fact, I'll go so far as to say that this one actually starts to communicate some of the Fantastic Four tone that fans have been waiting for. I took a careful look at this one and found a lot of fun things to talk about.

Check it out:

There always has to be a sense of urgency for why the team that becomes the Fantastic Four are willing to rush into a dangerous mission using technology that perhaps hasn't been tested as extensively as it has. In 1961, when Fantastic Four #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was released, that urgency was provided by a need to beat the Russians into space (ah, the Cold War). 

Since space travel isn't quite the pissing contest that it was in the early '60s, now it would appear to be that other thing that annoys scientists at every turn: money. The geniuses at the Baxter Building are probably government-subsidized, and it looks like the suits want to see some results. We've seen military types lurking in these trailers, too, so it's rather clear what kind of "results" they're looking for. 

Oh, and this is the Baxter Building...in case you couldn't tell. This is the home of the think tank for promising young geniuses that Dr. Franklin Storm runs, and probably where all the crazy research is going on. It's the future headquarters of the Fantastic Four, too.

That's Reed doing the welding there, and if you look, you can see Sue Storm. It's almost like she's...invisible...or something.

So, here's Toby Kebbell as Victor Domashev...the man who will be Doctor Doom. We know that Domashev is a computer guy who uses "Doom" as an online handle. Historically, Victor (who first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 in 1962 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) has always been a condescending, arrogant prick. That's no different here.

But I can't help but chuckle at his particular disdain for Johnny Storm, which kinda echoes the ridiculously silly backlash against Michael B. Jordan's casting, intentional or not.

OK, so Johnny likes fire. That's cool. But he definitely likes fast cars. That's a trait he most certainly shares with his comic book counterpart, who has always been into fancy automobiles. But that's not even the best part...

He's got a Super Mario Bros. fire flower hanging from his rearview mirror. So clearly, he's courting the whole "something needs to give me flame powers one of these days" thing.

A couple of things worth noting about Jamie Bell in this scene. First of all, he's got blue eyes, and his stoney alter ego has often been lovingly referred to as "the ever lovin' blue eyed Thing." But he's also holding a wooden baseball bat...none of that aluminum crap for Ben Grimm. Since these trailers have been going out of their way to show each of the characters encountering something within their "element," we see a display of strength with Ben's home run power, but I wonder if the affinity for something "earthy" foreshadows his future form.

So, Victor Domashev is definitely going along for the ride for the Fantastic Four's origin mission. Like most things surrounding this movie, this is more in keeping with the Ultimate Fantastic Fourcomics than the classic stories, but the reasoning seems sound. 

So here we are, witnessing the origin of the Fantastic Four. That blue energy keeps popping up in representations of their powers, and I'll just assume that it's interdimensional in nature.

In fact, now that they've explicitly said the words "interdimensional travel" we're just gonna go ahead and refer to this as the Negative Zone from now on. Look, earth-orbit space travel hasn't been a big deal in almost fifty years, so there's really nothing wrong with changing things up, here. Plus, it's the origin from the Ultimate Fantastic Four comics, so it's not entirely without precedent.

I'd bet heavily on the Negative Zone featuring heavily in Fantastic Four 2, as well. Keep an eye out for a villain by the name of Annihilus, as this is his domain.

There's definitely something a little icky about the way Reed's stretching is depicted here. I don't think we'll see him transforming into whimsical shapes in this one.

Reed's power set is probably the hardest to get right on screen, and as a result, he's kind of the least interesting thing about this trailer. 

While this isn't a particularly revealing shot storywise, it's the most explicit look we've had of Reed Richards using his powers. In the comics, the team wear suits composed of "unstable molecules" which allow their clothing to adapt to their changing forms and take some punishment. That doesn't seem to be the case here, as Reed's suit looks like it's designed from something segmented, that can transform and "stretch" as he does.

Maybe they'll save the "unstable molecules" for Fantastic Four 2. But speaking of their suits...

The team definitely has some difficulty controlling their powers, and Michael B. Jordan once referred to their outfits as "containment suits. The above shot is a faintly horrific image of a suffering, burning Johnny Storm (right before he blows out the windows of the medical cell he's in). But this next one...

...he appears to adjust a control on the suit that allows him to "flame on." I imagine that he'll eventually learn to control his powers in a more traditional fashion, but don't forget, Fantastic Four was kind of a dark, weird book before it became the iconic super science family adventure that everybody has come to love.

But can we take a moment to talk about how badass Sue Storm appears to be?

Sue appears to be the least physically affected by their extradimensional adventure, except...

...yeah. Sue has similar TK/force field abilities in the comics, but it's nice to see them front and center here. 

Your eyes do not deceive you: Sue Storm is flying just as fast as the Human Torch, and plowing through a rock formation like a photon torpedo. I don't think we have to worry about any "Invisible Girl" fading into the background of this movie nonsense, as they're clearly giving Sue a power set that is the match of, if not superior to, that of any of her teammates. In fact...

The bit where Johnny turns a corner and launches a fireball at a shadowy figure who throws up a forcefield to disperse it: this could be Sue, as it looks like the powers we've seen her display elsewhere in the trailer. But why would Johnny be trying to toast his own sister? So this is probably Doctor Doom. But then why would Doom have one of the same abilities as a member of the Fantastic Four?

Speaking of Doctor Doom, here he is...we finally get a look at him. It's not clear if he's wearing a mask/armor, or if he's been mutated into another element the way that Ben Grimm becomes the Thing. He has that same blue-ish energy coursing through him that keeps popping up throughout the trailer. I have a theory about the nature of his powers, but we'll get to that in a minute.

It appears that after the five explorers head to the Negative Zone, only four are recovered, and Doom sticks around, possibly to master his powers. Here's another look at him in that other dimension:

The greatest villain Marvel Comics ever graced us with hasn't had enough big screen love over his career...unless you count Darth Vader, who I certainly hope sent Jack Kirby a royalty check or three. In fact, let's take a moment to talk about the almost uncomfortable Vader/Doom parallels: arrogant young genius gets too powerful too quickly, finds himself horribly scarred (in part thanks to the action/inaction of a friend/colleague), and develops a fondness for hoods, masks, capes, and empires. 

Now, about Doom's powers...

Thing looks like he's about to get medieval on someone in a robe, which means he's probably pounding on Doom, here. If that's the case and Doom can take that kind of punishment, I wonder if Doom might have elements of all of their powers.

I honestly can't figure out the significance of the above photo, but I included it in case any readers want to take a stab at it. I can't make out who that's supposed to be in the "facial recognition" panel in the above right, and I don't know why Panama is so important. Unless it has something to do with this...

So, they drop the Thing out of a stealth bomber into an area where it's apparently okay to take out a military jeep with the impact. This probably means they aren't fighting against the US Army. So who are they fighting? Does Doctor Doom commandeer himself a foreign country...like Latveria, perhaps?

Please, for the love of Jack Kirby...please let the Thing say "it's clobberin' time" in this shot.

The deep blue of Sue Storm's jumpsuit sure does recall the more traditional Fantastic Four costumes from the comics. Don't be at all surprised if they look more like their comic book counterparts by the film's end.

Did we miss anything? Let us know what else you found, and we'll update this with more!

The Fantastic Four movie opens on August 7th, 2015.