Movie Database The Fantastic Four: First Steps

[Daedalus]

I'm hoping they do a better job of portraying Galactus than the last Fantastic Four did.

 

[OmegaMeistro]

Joseph Quinn Spoke to Marvel About Johnny Storm and ‘Where We Are Culturally’: He Was ‘This Womanizing Guy, but Is That Sexy These Days? I Don’t Think So’

Joseph Quinn spoke to Marvel about Johnny Storm and where we are culturally before "Fantastic Four: The First Steps."

variety.com

This is so frustrating. I can't believe this. I just read the Variety piece where Joseph Quinn discusses how his take on Johnny Storm will differ from past iterations. He mentions conversations with Kevin Feige about how the “womanizing, devil-may-care” version of Johnny isn’t “sexy these days,” and how this new version will be “less callous with other people’s feelings” and more self-aware.

As a longtime Marvel fan—especially of Spider-Man—I can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu here. I remember feeling this exact same disappointment when the MCU’s Peter Parker was introduced. Gone was the angsty, socially awkward loner with a chip on his shoulder—the Peter that felt like an outcast, who earned his heroism through pain, loss, and moral growth. Instead, we got a more sanitized, upbeat, and “relatable” Peter, heavily integrated into the broader MCU, and always surrounded by mentors, tech, and safety nets.

It’s not that emotional complexity is bad—far from it. But when that complexity is prepackaged into easily digestible “self-awareness” and soft introspection, it often feels like we’re losing the sharp edges that make these characters real. The MCU Peter rarely wrestled with moral ambiguity or isolation the way the comics Peter did. His independence, his inner conflict, his bite—all of that was softened in service of broader appeal.

Now, reading about Johnny Storm being reframed this way—less bold, less cocky, more “in touch” and “less offensive”—I’m getting worried we’re about to lose another icon to the same process. Johnny Storm was never just about bravado for bravado’s sake. He was flawed, yes. Loud, impulsive, and arrogant. But that’s what made his growth matter. He was fiery—in personality as much as in power—and the point was watching that heat refine him, not preemptively extinguish it.

I get that we evolve culturally. I get that some traits need reevaluating. But not everything that’s loud, brash, or traditionally masculine needs to be framed as a “problem to fix.” Characters like Johnny Storm and Peter Parker earned their redemption through friction, struggle, and learning. If we remove that tension from the start—if we round off every edge before the story even begins—what are we really left with?

I hope I’m wrong. I hope this Johnny still gets to be bold, funny, and genuinely flawed. But I’ve seen what happens when iconic personalities get flattened to fit the brand. As someone who’s already watched it happen to Spider-Man, I’d rather not see it happen again, especially when it comes to Spider-Man's longtime trusted ally in the comics, the Torch himself.

Would love to hear others’ thoughts—especially if you’re also coming from the Spidey side of the fandom.