Will kinda never forgive 2005's Fantastic Four for permanently altering the way people view Johnny, because wdym i was watching first steps with my parents and my dad turned around and went "Isn't johnny meant to be a bit of a prick??? He's like, a good guy here??" and i had to patiently explain that no, he's not meant to be an ass, he's meant to be a loving loyal person, unfortunately fox studios just had no idea what the hell it was doing
Is Johnny MEANT to be a prick in some aspects? Yes. But key word, SOME. Don't get me wrong, I love when Johnny is a douchebag to people, it really enhances his dynamics with others (notably Ben and Reed), but for the love of GOD, can we stop acting like Chris Evans version of Johnny is the definitive version that has to be represented across all variants???? Like... I kinda hate him for that.. (also my general distaste for Chris Evans version of Johnny in general).
Even tho I haven't seen f4 first steps yet, I already applaud Joseph Quinn for being a WAY better depiction of Johnny than whatever single note character Chris Evans version of Johnny is.
While yes, rivals has had some instances of poor characterization, impo, I like how they managed to decently balance both sides of Johnny, even if his flirty side is more shown, at least in his interactions.
Omg yes you completely summed up my thoughts - Johnny is meant to be a little shit sometimes because he's significantly younger than his family and enjoys being annoying (Because he's a little brother, it's his job). But he's not meant to be a total asshole. Chris Evans' Johnny was entitled, stupid, arrogant, and sleazy, and because it was the only version of F4 people knew for so long, guess what everyone now thinks of Johnny as (whoever was in that writers room I'm out for your toes)
Meanwhile Joseph Quinn's Johnny is a flirt, and teases his family whenever he can, but he's also incredibly caring, intelligent, and vulnerable. Guess which of the two versions is accurate to his character 🧍♀️ thank you Joseph Quinn and Matt Shakman, all Johnny Storm fans owe you deeply
And yes I do think Rivals has decent characterization! It's probably just because it's a shooter game and there isn't a lot of room for character complexity, so they're all reduced to being more 2 dimensional just as a result of the media form
