The last of Saturday's panels was from 20th Century Fox and saw some big ensembles for this and next Summer go up on the block. First up was "Alien vs. Predator" which showed off some clips but again due to other commitments I had to miss this. Don't worry though, you'll find out all you need to know about the film next week when at last I can bring you an in-depth set report from Prague I did at the end of last year which will give you an exclusive inside look at the monster team-up.
After it came one of the more
anticipated ones of the convention - the panel for "The Fantastic Four". All but one of the major cast were there (Chris Evans was busy in Boston), as were Producers Avi Arad & Ralph Winter, along with Director Tim Story. Shooting begins up in Vancouver in four weeks with much of this cast only having signed onto the project in the last month or so.
Fans have been heavily expressing concern that the film would be treated as a comedy, an accusation Arad is quick to deny - claiming it to be more an action drama with some comedy elements, but all in all its quite emotional with each of the characters having to take a personal journey.
The Thing will NOT be CGI, rather Michael Chiklis will be wearing a full-body prosethetic suit, complete with fake teeth. Alba is already blond dyed for the part. No word yet on who'll be playing Dr. Victor Von Doom, the villain of Latverian heritage whose costume will be slightly altered (not too much) from the comics.
Will we see a love triangle? In roundtable interviews afterwards, Chiklis says "Not in this installment. You're referring to the love triangle between Ben Grimm, Reed Richard and Sue...I thought you' were talking about my girlfriend. I think that's a later thing for down the road. There is no triangle here. It is a square".
Alba indicated her 'moderating' skills will come into effect in the movie - "Yeah, between The Thing and Johnny. I keep Ben from strangling his best friend for making him the way he is. And from Doom becoming a maniacal, evil bad guy. She's trying to keep everybody together. She just wants everyone to be okay. And it seems like when she's trying to do that everyone is so caught up in their problems, that that's when she disappears. So it’s very metaphorical. I love it".
One aspect to be explored will be the fact that these heroes have no secret identities. Says Alba "What's great is that Johnny Storm he acts as every Pop Star young guy who’s in Star Magazine, the People Magazine, the US Weekly. He gets a bunch of money, and the cars. He loves it, and he's living out the fantasy of every pop star American Idol, Pop Star wannabe guy. Yeah. Mr. Fantastic is a scientist, and all, in his head, and he doesn't capitalize on the fame thing. And I think actually Ben Grimm has a really difficult time with it, because he can't get away from it".
What about the costumes - "The costumes are very cool. We do have spandex, and we do have gloves and boots. The 4 is on our chest" says Alba. Chicklis confirmed his makeup job will take around five hours.
