The concrete “whys” of the Richards family’s absence have been a matter of speculation since they left the Marvel Universe in Secret Wars, but as it turns out, the actual reason for their disappearance from Marvel's publishing line may be exactly what some conspiracy minded fans have said all along - 20th Century Fox's ownership of the franchise's film rights - but maybe not for the reasons they may expect.
”I think it’s pretty common knowledge at this point that Marvel isn’t publishing Fantastic Four because of their disagreement with Fox,” Hickman explained. “While it bums me out, I completely understand because, well, it isn’t like they’re not acting out of cause. Fox needs to do a better job there.”
Hickman’s reasoning seems to imply that Marvel did indeed drop the FF because of the Fox films – not necessarily for financial reasons, but because the most recent reboot was both critically and financially unsuccessful, and failed to reflect well on Marvel's comic books. Marvel still publishes an entire line of X-Men comic books, for example, despite Fox also controlling that franchise's film rights.
Barber spelled it out more directly, saying “Not to be blunt, but three f---ing terrible movies don’t help anything.”
”I think the lack of a current Fantastic Four series owes a lot more to the film situation than to a lack of interest,” he clarified.
But Hickman also says that the Fantastic Four didn’t need to leave the Marvel Universe.
”That kind of thinking runs contrary to everything I believe in as a professional storyteller,” Hickman explained. “It comes from a place of manipulation where an attempt is made to make the reader desire something through denial. It's hacky. It's suboptimal. It's the central tenet of all sh---y dating advice. If you want someone to care about a book, write a story they care about.”
”It’s the publisher’s job to find a creative team with heart for the project and then get it to the right audience,” added Osajyefo. “Guardians of the Galaxy gave Marvel territory in sci-fi, Avengers is superhero drama, but exploratory, family adventure - that’s the Fantastic Four.”
”It’s clear which characters are absent, and that’s a darned shame because I assume both Marvel editorial and fans have love for the Fantastic Four,” he continued. “Maybe that will be rekindled the way it has been with X-Men, but without a ride at Disneyland, their future is dubious.”
I'll NEVER understand how it works!
who IS this masked pedophile!?
