Fantastic Four SPOILERS //
Okay, I’m going to preface this by acknowledging that this moving has overwhelmingly been very well received and I respect that. I agree that this is the best adaptation of the Fantastic Four that I have seen and I did enjoy this movie. Nothing that I’m about to say should negate that it is an enjoyable movie. Now, on to what I am well aware are a bunch of hot takes.
This was the most trad-wife white Christian geared movie I’ve ever explicitly seen outside of God’s Not Dead or Hallmark.
This does not mean I didn’t enjoy the movie. We have seen a lot of references to old Hollywood and being in a recession naturally makes people nostalgic for “better” times. However, it’s dangerous when that comes with no acknowledgement that these times weren’t perfect.
I’ve seen a lot of comparisons between the Fantastic Four and The Incredibles, and this makes a lot of sense. They are both superhero films about a family of four in the ambiguous 1950’s/60’s who fight a mole man and need to stop a villain with much greater technology than our own. However, the Incredibles had social and political commentary that the Fantastic Four simply did not have. The Incredibles addressed McCarthyism and the villain was a powerful narcissist who was essentially hinting superheroes to use a guinea pigs in order to create very harmful weapons to prop up his own self image. The Fantastic Four seems to be set in a perfect world where everyone cooperated with their plans no matter what. They’re described as beloved and dear to the people’s hearts. The UN goes along with everything Sue says, and the only noted dissent is Latveria’s representative not being present. Similarly, when New York is asked to evacuate everyone does it with no questions asked. There’s not a lot of world building aside from the fact that’s these four are universally loved.
Now, my issue with that is the aesthetic and the language used around why they’re loved. This takes place in a futuristic 1950’s and 60’s. It plays on the ideals of the American Dream and what many probably thought the future would look like (think The Jetsons). They’re not described as heroes or loved because they’re heroes, they’re loved because of the sweet story of them being a family. Reed and Sue are married, Ben and Johnny are perfect uncles. And they risk their lives to rescue us, not from actual real life threats we can recognize, but from superhero masked villain threats. They don’t interfere with world politics, they still work with the US government, and we’ve happily given them this power and it’s viewed as okay because there’s nothing subversive about them. They don’t oppose our traditional values, nor are they championing any radical ideology and they don’t have to. There are no problems in this world. They’re also very Christian coded. Ben even highlights that they hold a special Sunday dinner. Sue and Reed could have been late for any old dinner, but Sunday Dinner especially should never have been missed.
Now, let me get to Ben. Ben is Jewish in the comics, and I was really excited to have a Jewish adaptation of Ben especially as Marvel has shied away from making any of their other Jewish characters actually Jewish(Wanda, Spider-Man, Moon Knight*, etc). I was really excited to see the Jewish neighborhood and the Hebrew school, and the synagogue which Ben keeps eyeing the whole movie. But it falls short for many reasons (as I admit almost all Jewish representation does). The Jewish quarter is seemingly the only quarter that lacks the futuristic idealism the rest of this New York has. Similarly, Rachael and Ben are the only characters with thicker New York accents. I know that historically there was a wealth disparity between Jews and non-Jews, but if this gets to be the ideal future for everyone else why are Jews still class-coded to be poorer? Also, we had the opportunity for Ben to go and pray in a synagogue, we had the opportunity for him to say the Shema before Galactus came, and he doesn’t. He explicitly states that he’s not that Jewish and only enters the synagogue to talk to Rachael. And I understand that most Jews are not religious, but it would have been really cool to see a character do what they do because of their Jewish values, as we see Reed and Sue have motivations because of their family and traditional values.
Now, I don’t think that there is anything wrong with having traditional family values. Sue made a great speech which many have likened to Captain America’s “we don’t trade lives” but similar to the Sydney Sweeney ad, these messages and the way they are represented. The aesthetics, the language, don’t exist in a vacuum. They exist to capitalize on what is popular and what is safe, and the Fantastic Four is a far cry from Black Panther. Similar to the Sydney Sweeney ad we see these bright diverse universes traded in for muted whiteness and traditionalism because it is what is safe. I’ve also seen Sue compared to Wanda in terms of doing what she needs to to protect her children. Which is valid. I don’t think Sue should have given up her baby because I do believe in the idea that we shouldn’t trade lives. However, that’s not the language used because that’s not the audience she is speaking to. She is speaking to a 1950’s/60’s audience and appeals to them through the language that to be a parent is to be called to a higher purpose. She places motherhood at the same value as her role as a super hero, and I don’t think that’s wrong, but within the socio-political context that we exist in it sends a specific message especially when she later sacrifices herself and is brought back by the love of this child. In many ways it’s giving the protect everyone message that Superman gives, but through a very traditional lens which ends immediately when the life of her child is threatened. I think there is also a difference between Wanda and Sue in that Wanda’s actions are partially motivated by her trauma and want for personal autonomy. She’s been used as a weapon and then told who she is but the US government. She just wants to be left alone to live a peaceful normal life and has to face the reality that she is not normal. Whereas Sue just takes it all in stride as this perfect mom and superhero who doesn’t give up being one to be the other because to her they’re the same thing.
I really enjoyed the Silver Surfer and Johnny’s arc. That was the most compelling part of the movie and I really wanted to see more of Johnny’s background in linguistics. Though it felt weird that they’re all supposed to be brilliant astronauts and they still treat Johnny like he’s an idiot or incapable of doing anything intellectual, and I understand that he’s meant to be portrayed as a hot head, but just the way that this team was set up made it feel that his apparent lack of intelligence felt out of place and kind of belittling. It takes a lot of work to learn and reconstruct a language so I want to know if he does have a background on linguistics and that’s why he was chosen, or was it just a kind of nepotism where Reed just chose his family.
At the end of the day it is a feel good movie which will cause absolutely no controversy whatsoever and I think it was done by design because Marvel honestly needs a win at this point. That being said, feel good movies ultimately lack serious teeth and for me I think comic books exist to react to what is going on politically, not to give in to them which I believe this movie does. It’s not a bad movie, I greatly enjoyed it, but I couldn’t watch it without noticing that this movie definitely falls into Operation BEIGE, and is likely not inspiring the masses the same way that Superman is.
*I have feelings about the Jewish representation in Moon Knight, but that can be a separate post if y’all want it.
