Fantastic Four The Movie - First Signs Of Doom

Even now, long before we have seen the first signs of any trailer or hint of footage, the rebooted Fantastic Four has been caught in a storm of controversy. With many claiming an apparent lack of respect for the source material, a direction which apparently goes directly against the team it's supposed to promote and Marvel itself allegedly taking ire at this, things have not been good. They also just got much, much worse.

Leaked onto the internet yesterday via Geek Pride (with the page now removed for unknown reasons) the fandom was shown the first look at Doctor Doom himself. These images can now be found on The Escapist, but reaction has not been positive among many fan groups or even casual superhero fans. Going with a distinctly metallic organic look, Doom himself looks far less like the regal, armoured form fans are used to and more a misshapen blob of cooling metal. While fans are baffled at the exact reason behind this, it's another indicator that the Ultimate universe is having far more influence on this project than the mainstream Four.

Also, for those wondering, no we're not going to host images on here thanks to the other website mysteriously losing its page.

For those not in the know, the Ultimate Fantastic Four differ heavily from their more traditional counterparts in a number of ways, as did Doom himself. Better known as Victor Van Damme, the super-villain went in a very different and very strange direction, with the story foregoing his traditional tale of scars and suits of armour in favour of full transformation. In this case, Van Damme's metal form is not clothing so much as his skin, with him becoming a satyr thanks to Reed's explosive failing of an experiment. Stranger things have happened in comics, and despite the lack of goat legs what little we have seen so far seems to heavily indicate this will be Doom's future story.

This move certainly makes sense given the director's history and his many comments surrounding the team. Along with claiming that superpowers will be treated as disabilities, prior information has made it clear the "superheroes" will lack costumes and be played as teenages,  all elements which line up with the Ultimate Fantastic Four. Given this is the same man who directed Chronicle, it's understandable he might take this direction, but the chief problem here is that much of the information at hand seems to be almost intentionally contradictory. Expect more on this as further details are cleared up around the film and new information is made available.