Fantastic Four

This was my idea for what a good Fantastic Four movie could be. Just a rough screenplay.

What a Fantastic Four Movie Should Be:

Open with a voice over discussing the origins of life on Earth. Pan out to reveal that it was Dr. Reed Richards giving a presentation to a NASA committee. The presentation projector is actually an advanced AI robot Reed refers to as HERBIE. He then yields to his fiancée Dr. Susan Storm who proceeds to discuss the specifics of their proposed experiment. A cosmic wind storm is passing near Earth’s orbit and they need NASA’s permission to take a new, small space shuttle into space to study the storm. She notes that the crew would consist of herself and Reed as the research team, Ben Grimm (muscular, military appearance sitting in the audience) as the pilot, and her younger brother Johnny Storm (who is asleep sitting next to Ben before being elbowed awake by Ben) as the copilot and assistant mechanic. The NASA heads are critical of the plan, citing Reed’s past failures as a scientist, and they reject his request to use the shuttle. Disheartened, Reed is reassured by Su and Ben while they drink at a restaurant. Johnny also tries to help by joking but ends up making Reed feel worse. Later that night, we see Reed contemplating his future with Su, who supports him no matter what. A few days later, Johnny interrupts Reed’s lecture to students at Empire University. Johnny tells Reed about a way to sneak into NASA’s launch site to take the new shuttle into space without permission. Reed dismisses the idea at first, but later, with the cosmic storm fast approaching and his career and the future of mankind at stake, Reed agrees to the idea. Ben strongly objects and Su is also hesitant. But Reed eventually convinces them both. So the four sneak onto the base thanks to Johnny’s contact, Rick Jones, who lets them through a gate, and they successfully launch into space. Once there, Reed communicates with HERBIE on the ground in his home laboratory who is monitoring their progress from Earth. Unfortunately, the storm has accelerated its travel and is heading straight towards the shuttle. Although they try their best to move out of the way, the storm moves too fast and washes the shuttle in radiation. The shuttle begins to fall back towards Earth. With his last conscious effort, Reed begins the Emergency landing protocol. The ship crashes and the screen cuts black. We cut to a military briefing where NASA officials explain what happened to a panel of officials. They explain that the shuttle crash landed but all four crew members were recovered. However, Reed’s body has become stretched and flattened, Su becomes intermittently invisible, Johnny is on fire, and Ben has rock-like skin (although we do not see his body in its entirety). Reed slowly wakes up and sees his stretched body. He freaks out, asks where his friends are, and begins to attack people before escaping down the hall. He can not find them until he hears Su’s voice although he can’t see her. She becomes visible again and he calms down enough to return his limbs to normal and embrace her. They are both then briefed in a new hospital room about what has happened to them all. Reed theorizes the storm’s radiation was the cause of their transformations. A yell and an explosion is heard. They run out of the room and see a gaping hole in the wall of Ben’s room. As they look out the wall, a naked, smoking Johnny walks up behind them and asks what happened here? We see a small town convenience store where a woman screams when she looks into her car’s rearview mirror and sees Ben. The store owner rushes outside and shoots Ben in the back with a shot gun. Ben turns around slowly and this is the first time we see his face. The shooter runs away. People circle around him scared asking “What is that thing?” Ben asks for help and stumbles around before he finally sees his own reflection in a mirror. Enraged, he lifts a car over his head and roars. Then, Reed, Su, and Johnny arrive on the scene in a jeep from the military hospital. Reed manages to calm down Ben by stretching out his hand and promising he will fix what has happened. We cut to a briefing room back at the hospital where Reed is explaining to military personnel what he believes happened to them. Su occasionally chimes in to explain the scientific terminology in laymen’s terms. The military questions whether they are a danger to society. Reed then recommends that the four of them should test their new abilities at his home while he determines if and how he can return them to normal. The government agrees reluctantly, under the condition that they be placed under 24/7 supervision. Johnny initially protests to this surveillance, but Colonel Ellis reminds him that they are felons for breaking into a secure facility, stealing government property, and costing millions in damages by destroying the prototype shuttle. Johnny quickly quiets down. Ben is silent throughout the meeting and stares at his hands. Su sees his sadness and reassures him that they will get through this together. Johnny then tries to cheer Ben up with a joke about his appearance. Meanwhile, the military is analyzing the wreckage from the crashed shuttle and blood and tissue samples taken without permission from the four survivors. The samples are shown being slightly radioactive and then shipped to Atomics Corp, a government contracted nuclear research facility. When the samples arrive, a low-level, wimpy looking, lab tech who still lives with his mother named Owen Reece is given the samples to analyze. Owen is an intelligent, aspiring scientist and a fan of Reed Richard’s work on unstable molecules, but he is limited in life by his lack of self-confidence and social awkwardness. Reece was watching a news report about reports of an unknown monster terrorizing a small town nearby, when his abusive boss tells him to stop slacking off and get to work on the newly arrived samples. The next day, Reed arrives at his house, is greeted by HERBIE, and begins testing and recording the abilities of the four friends. Reed stretches his body; Johnny shoots flames and launches himself in the air but is unable to fly; Su learns to become invisible at will and discovers her force field powers; and Ben’s invincibility and strength is demonstrated. The government records all of this and keeps guard outside to prevent anyone from leaving the house unsupervised. Meanwhile, the four of them have to learn to try to get along while trapped under the same room. Ben and Johnny have to share a room. Everyone has to be escorted everywhere when they leave the house. She ends up having a real conversation about career paths and goals with Cpt. Raye, her female security escort. Reed works in his basement lab with HERBIE. Johnny frequently hits on Cpt. Raye. He also keeps getting texts from Rick Jones, encouraging him to go out and party. Johnny is escorted out once, but he ends up ditching his guards and actually saves someone’s life with his powers. He tries to sneak out from the house more than once but is always caught by the military guards. All the while, Reed becomes more and more thrilled as he realizes the amount of good that could come from understanding their transformations. Ben becomes angry when Reed seems more interested in taking advantage of their conditions rather than fixing them. Ben becomes disgruntled and storms out, threatening the guards who try to stop him. Su suggests they let him go and let him blow off some steam. Ben wears a hood and coat to try and disguise himself. He goes to an old bar he has visited many times and sees an old friend, the bar tender. Ben actually gets to laugh and have a good time with an old friend until other patrons in the bar start taunting him and telling him to leave. Although the bartender defends his friend, Ben decides to leave, hanging his head. On his way home, Ben overhears a mugging taking place. He intervenes, fighting off the attackers. The woman he saved thanks him, and Ben realizes she is blind. She thanks Ben and introduces herself as Alicia Masters. Ben walks her home and it is clear he is enamored with her. Back at Atomic Corp, Owen Reece is analyzing the samples while his abusive boss continues to berate him. Owen places a large piece of wreckage into a large test chamber, when Owen receives a call from his overbearing mother who complains that he was late for dinner and didn’t call her. Owen becomes annoyed and distracted and accidentally causes the machine to malfunction. Fearful that he will be fired when his boss blames him for the malfunction, Owen panics and rushes into the test chamber to fix it. However, he becomes trapped in the chamber just as the process begins. We see Owen struggling to escape as an explosion destroys the entire laboratory. Back at Reed’s home, he surprises everyone with a special material he has developed that will stretch, resist burning, and become invisible. Su takes an opportunity to talk with Reed in private and ask him why he has produced outfits rather than fix what is wrong with them. She asks why Reed has shut her out and won’t let anyone but himself see the results of all of his testing. She wants to know when they can stop living like prisoners. She continues to press the issue until Reed yells that there is no way to reverse it. His tests determined that there is no conceivable way to return them back to normal. He is ashamed of himself and admits that he is a failure. He’s a failure as a scientist, as a friend, and as a man. Su comforts him. Reed asks her to not tell Ben or Johnny until he can prepare himself a little better and tell them himself. Johnny has overheard the whole conversation. He finally manages to sneak out of the house by burning a hole in a wall and drives off. He goes to a large party and shows off his powers to try and impress people. On a dare, he attempts to fly by jumping off a roof. He is unable to fly, however, and lands in a swimming pool. Everyone laughs at him and he leaves embarrassed. The military catches up to him along with the rest of the family. Su begins to chastise her brother when he reveals to Ben that Reed will never be able to fix them. Ben feels betrayed, punches Reed into a wall, and storms off. People use their cell phones to capture the scene on camera. TV news reporters begin to question Reed. Ben goes to Alicia’s apartment hoping to find her there. Johnny “Flames On” to scare people away Su projects a force field to force everyone away from her, Reed, and Johnny. She argues with Johnny, calling him an immature child. Johnny argues back, saying she is always trying to make him more like her. Reed intervenes, saying they should leave and stop scaring people. They all calm down and go home. Back at Atomic Corp, cops and firefighters are on the scene and men in radiation suits, including Owen’s boss, are walking around the destroyed lab with flashlights. One man in a suit turns suddenly and sees Owen standing there with glowing, purple eyes and markings on his skin. The suited man screams and jumps away. Owen begs for help but when his hands touch the man, the man’s arm starts to disintegrate. Everyone else runs away in terror. Owen shouts into the air and the ground around him shakes before an energy wave bursts out in all directions vaporizing the people around him. Owen is shown staggering away from the Atomic Corp. facility. With every step he takes he disintegrates the ground below him. The cops point guns at him and tell him to freeze. Owen once again pleads for help but they open fire on him. The bullets are disintegrated by Owen’s energy. Owen yells and throws a car away by waving his hand. Many people are killed and others run away in fear. Owen is in tears and starts running toward town. Once in town, Owen sees a TV broadcasting the news story about Reed Richards and Su Storm being seen using super powers. Owen appears to recognize Reed and knows what he has to do. Back in New York City, Ben sits and talks with Alicia who convinces him that he is not defined by what people see when they look at him and he should forgive his best friends who have stuck by him this whole time. Ben tells Alicia how thankful he is to her, and she kisses him on the lips. They both smile. Back at Reed’s house, the military is confiscating all of his equipment and research. Colonel Ellis informs them that one of their guards told him that Reed was unable to find a cure. After their performance downtown and the following media circus they have created, it was decided that all of Reed’s work should be confiscated and the four should be moved to a secure facility where government scientists will experiment on them. Reed refuses to be taken prisoner. When the general orders his men to point their guns at the three friends, Reed yells at HERBIE to initiate attack protocols. HERBIE begins stunning everyone around him. Reed punches the general and other people close by while Su shields them from bullets and Johnny forms a wall of fire around them. The fight is over relatively quickly with Reed, Su, and Johnny decimating the military. Cpt. Raye, however, intervenes and knocks out a soldier who was about to shoot Su. The military leaves and Reed decides they should pack up their things and leave. They stay at a friend of Reed’s house nearby Empire University campus. Reed explains the situation to his friend, a former mentor and celebrated scientist named Dr. Harvey Elder. There are Easter egg references to Harvey being the Mole Man around his house. Harvey delivers an inspirational speech to the three friends about their future and the importance of being a family. Then, they all see a burst of light from the university. It is Owen Reece who has come looking for Reed seeking help for his condition. The three friends take off, now inspired to use their powers to help people. Colonel Ellis and Cpt. Raye, who were expecting to find Reed, Su, and Johnny at Reed’s campus lab, are shooting at Owen. Owen becomes angry and begins flipping vehicles and causing massive damage. Our heroes finally arrive on the scene. Owen sees Reed and begins to explain what happened to him. Reed listens to Owen and tries to calm him down. However, Colonel Ellis fires an RPG at Owen. Owen is protected from the explosion by his powers and turns in anger to kill Ellis. Reed intervenes and pulls Ellis out of the way. Owen sees this and becomes furious because Reed just saved a man who had tried to kill him. He attacks the three heroes and an epic fight ensues. Cpt. Raye orders her men to start evacuating civilians. Owen appears to be too strong when Ben arrives on the scene knocking Owen away. Ben then helps Reed up off the ground and makes a joke, signaling that he has accepted his fate and has forgiven Reed. The four friends then prepare for battle. Reed devises a plan based on the information Owen gave him. He explains that because Owen’s body was altered by the same radiation as they were, they are immune to his molecular deconstruction abilities. That’s how Ben was able to punch him. The fight resumes. Johnny finally learns to fly. HERBIE arrives and helps but becomes damaged. In the end, Owen is subdued and placed in a special containment. He apologizes one last time to Reed before being taken away by Colonel Ellis. Cpt. Raye gives Johnny her number, making him very happy. But the piece of paper she wrote on begins to catch fire and he desperately tries to put it out. A news broadcast shows the Fantastic Four shaking hands with the president, played by Stan Lee, who appears to hurt his hand when he shakes the Thing’s hand. Reed gives a passionate speech about their plans to protect the world and how people need to work together to work towards common goals. He stands at a podium with Su, Ben, and Johnny by his side. HERBIE is also there. Ellis is in the audience and appears unhappy. Raye is also in the audience and applauds. Johnny winks at her.

 

As the credits role, we see a projection screen where the news broadcast of the Fantastic Four’s triumph is being reported. A shadowy, hooded figure says in a deep voice, “Richards. It’s been a long time.” A brief close up reveals the comics-accurate face mask of Doctor Doom.

Reviews

[Cyd]

Space is your friend.

I'm pretty sure someone would read this if there was only some space.

Best thing would be to read a screenplay, you'll get the basics of what they should look like.

Download celtx (a free screenwriting program) and get cracking and post again.