My recent chat with Avi - JB mention towards the end, after the disheartening talk of what's in store with the FF film...

http://ads.ign.com/advertisers/punisherthemovie/site/arad_p1.html

Is there a link? Or do you have a quote you can pull out of the interview you refer to above?



Matt Reed

Nice interview!

I'm getting the same feeling as you (I suspect) that Arad doesn't quite grasp the concept of the FF...

"IGNFF: It will be interesting to see where things go. So when are you going to try and bring John Byrne back to the company?

ARAD: Oh, now you're getting…

IGNFF: Obviously he had some serious issues with the previous regime.

ARAD: You know, a lot of them are going to come back. You'll see.

IGNFF: There's no better person to do design work for the Fantastic Four film than him.

ARAD: I know. Believe me. We will get all these people to come back. Believe me. "


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Nice load of shit from this guy


Edited to add that I think he sounds like a jilted lover proclaiming that the ex will return to him.

The link is above, but here it is again...

http://ads.ign.com/advertisers/punisherthemovie/site/arad_p1.html

I don't know if it's the pink coloring or what, but I'm not getting a link in either post!



Matt Reed

Matt,
It wasn't linking for me either until I turned off my ad blocking configuration. (The first part of the name is "ads." and depending on how you're blocking is configured it will not let you go there.)

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Edited to change "I can't get there either" to the above message.

'IGNFF: Obviously he had some serious issues with the previous regime.'

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Is Quesada going to be fired?

I believe he just had his contract renewed, right? Bill Jemas was fired though.

I would be surprised to learn Arad even knows who I am.

Found this to be interesting. Wish he would really do something about it though:

IGNFF: It's interesting that you bring up the subject of kids coming away from these movies like Spider-Man and Hulk, and coming away with an enjoyment of the character – because when you turn to Marvel's comics-side of the business, there's no access point for those kids to actually start reading the books the characters originated in. Marvel doesn't have any all-ages comics…

ARAD: Trust me, we are working on it. We are working very hard on it, and you will see major changes. We have new people in editorial in Marvel…

IGNFF: Were you hearing feedback about the lack of kid-friendly books?

ARAD: Absolutely! Listen, my day job is also Chief Creative Officer for Marvel, and it's a very painful job because we publish a lot of books, and there are things I see where I can punch people out. Therefore, we have some new people now, and the kids are going to read our books.

"I would be surprised to learn Arad even knows who I am."

He hee... "John Byrne? Yeah, I know who he is! He used to be in that band... what was it called... The Talking Heads!"

DW

IGNFF: What about the Tomato Soup Lobby? There has been some concern expressed that the characters are not shown enjoying a hearty bowl of tomato soup often enough.

ARAD: We have a special team of editorial consultants devoted to just that! You will be seeing changes!

IGNFF: And this won't cause any problem with the Cream of Broccolli Soup people?

ARAD: I have looked into this! Soup is an important concern. Trust me, everyone will be happy!


FEH

That was the exact problem in trying to talk with him on any substanative level - he's got a script, and by god, he sticks to it. After a certain point, all I could do was hammer on him and watch him flop...

Nice interview, which gives a lot of insight on Mr Arad's personality... on how to handle an interview "the Hollywood way".

Has anybody read "Comic Wars"?

It gives some food for thoughts on the "M*rv*l situation".

F.

For some reason, I don't really have a lot of trust in Avi Arad.

I didn't bother to read the interview, but for as long as I can remember, Avi's been pushing Fantastic Four as a big funny old sitcom. Yes, there is humour in the series, but by no means would I consider it the series defining feature (I mean, all those issues of Ben agonizing over not being human were a laugh riot, weren't they?). If they want to do something akin to James Bond or Indiana Jones- high flying adventure punctuated by funny moments and witty lines- that's one thing, but by no means should the Fantastic Four be filmed as an out-and-out comedy.

I trust you will tell me if I am making a fool of myself...