Thoughts on Ben...

I've mentioned my thoughts about the FF in the MCU (along with Sue specifically) before. This time, it's Ben's turn. I'm presenting this a little differently than with Sue: Character Points define Ben and are to be scattered throughout all four films. Character Arcs describe Ben's development within each film. (Parentheses describe main plots I mentioned with Sue.)

Character Points…

• Ben drops everything for Reed, even when he doesn’t understand what’s going on.
• Ben helps Reed out with something at college.
• Ben has a problem, and Reed helps him.
• Starts out as member of Yancy Street Gang, hates what they do and leader’s motivations. 
• Becomes leader of Yancy Street Gang, through winning a fight, and changes gang’s activities.
• Aunt Petunia raises him after parents die.
• Ben is loyal.
• Ben is driven.
• Ben is determined.
• Ben is tough.
• Ben has a good heart.

Character Arcs…

Movie #1

• Ben is introduced through a phone call from Reed. He needs Ben’s pilot skills on a moment’s notice, and Ben drops what he’s doing to go without even needing an explanation regarding why. 
• Ben meets Sue and Johnny. He can tell that Reed loves her, and that’s all he needs to know. Johnny’s a pain in the ass that he tolerates for Reed and Sue’s sake.
• Ben’s skills save their lives as they crash land. Their powers manifest for the first time, and Ben turns to stone. He leaves the others and goes off alone.
• Reed, blaming himself for Ben, reminisces about their relationship from how they met to their Ben’s comment at graduation: “Reed, if you ever build that starship of yours, I’ll fly it for ya.”
• Ben, unsure about his life, reminisces about the same time period from his perspective. He meets Reed as a freshman on a football scholarship. They’re roommates. Reed’s work keeps him up one night and Ben asks why Reed’s so focused on “all this science stuff”. Reed replies that science, like guns, can be used for good or evil, and at times has done terrible things (Nuclear War, Privacy Invasion, Sokovia and the like). Reed’s passion for science is based on his desire to use it “to make things better. For everyone.” This statement resonates in Ben, and he gains respect for Reed’s determination. Kinda reminds him of himself.
• They remain roommates in Ben’s Sophomore year, and he gets injured on the field. He’s in the campus hospital when Reed comes in. Ben has just talked with his Aunt Petunia and without the scholarship he’d have to leave school. Reed ponders for a moment and asks if Ben’s considered joining the ROTC. That would allow him to stay in school as well as give him a job after graduation. Ben, who’s been a fighter all his life, agrees and winds up joining the USAF. 
• Flash forward to graduation, and Ben’s comment.
• Ben realizes that Reed was there for him when he needed help. As a test pilot for the Air Force, Ben’s used to putting his life on the line...for science. Reed’s been part of his life without Ben even knowing it. He doesn’t blame Reed for what’s happened, but he knows that with everything that’s happening he needs Reed - and Reed (along with Sue and Johnny) will need him.
• Ben returns to the others and tells them he’s going by the name Thing now - a nod to what Reed said in college.

Movie #2 (Sue’s pregnant, Namor Doom and Franklin are introduced)

• In this one, we learn about Ben’s youth. He starts out idolizing his older brother. When their parents die, the two are raised by their Aunt (Petunia) and Uncle on Yancy Street. Ben’s brother joins, and is leader of the Yancy Street Gang when Ben joins. There’s a massive street fight, and Ben’s brother is killed. It’s at this point (with Aunt Petunia’s guidance) that he decides to become the next leader and change their purpose from intimidation to protection. Ben has to fight the current leader for the job - a kid much bigger and stronger than him. (again, Ben’s around 12 at this point). Ben’s beaten pretty bad, but his love for his brother, his support from his Aunt, and his conviction that what he wants for the gang is right gives him the strength to win. Ben beats his opponent, but doesn’t kill him. His performance is enough to convince the rest of the gang to follow Ben in this new direction. This establishes the foundation his character and why Ben is the person he is (and why the cosmic rays made him a rock-solid Thing). 
• We also learn that, in a way, Johnny reminds him of his brother - explaining their love/put-up-with-ness of their relationship.

Movie #3 (Malice is the enemy)

• Enter Alicia Masters This film introduces and explores Ben’s relationship with Alicia. Maybe Puppet Master shows up? But, with Sue as the main protagonist, Ben’s affection for her is clearly different from his feelings towards Alicia.

Movie #4 (Galactus)

• Other than fighting Galactus and Silver Surfer, for the survival of Earth, Ben’s big arc in this one is that his rocky form mutates (thanks to either Galactus, or Surfer’s “power cosmic”).

You'll note that I haven't mentioned CGI vs Live-Action SFX for his look. It should be a suit.

1. There's already 2 fully CGI characters in the MCU (Hulk and Rocket) so adding a third would be a little much.
2. It would be cheaper in the long run.
3. If prosthetics could make Tim Curry seven feet tall with super-hero arms in Legend, they can make Ben look as tall, or as big, as they wanted - regardless of who they cast in the "suit".

Thoughts on the FF (and Sue) in the MCU...

I came up with a whole bunch of thoughts about the FF and the MCU that I waned to post somewhere to get them out of my head and documented in the off chance I get things right. I mean, it's worked before...

First of all, I've been a big believer that the entire Marvel Universe (in comics) stands on four pillars:
* The Avengers
* Spider-Man
* The Fantastic Four
* The X-Men

Every single person, place and thing Marvel ever published can be brought back to one of these in less than six degrees of separation. To me, the same can be said about the MCU. Once Marvel Studios/Disney has the rights to all four, they're golden.

Two down, two to go...

Second, I know that I'm assuming the FF will replace Avengers as the "anchor" of the next several phases of the MCU, but I think it's a safe bet. 

I started thinking about how the FF would be portrayed within the established MCU. (Note that I said portrayed, not introduced.) And Sue was the first person that came to mind. 

Okay. I'm done with the setup. Here's how I think her powers, and character arc would go...

MOVIE #1:

* The first manifestation of her powers would be an invisible bubble.

One of the cheesiest things about Sue from the Tim Story FF films was that her powers defaulted to making her invisible (so she'd have to get naked to sneak past people). 

Here, the 'default' would be making everything around her invisible - herself, her clothes, whatever she's holding, the chair she's sitting in...maybe even the entire room she's in. This would also fit in with her personality/character at this time. She's smart, but unsure of herself and how the world would "see" her. Plus, while expensive, the special effect of a bubble of invisibility moving around would be AWESOME.

* The bubble would shrink as her control grew.

Her focus would be on pulling that bubble in; from the room, to the immediate vicinity, to just herself...clothes and all...until we see her make her hand turn visible one layer at a time: bone, blood, muscle and finally skin. She'd be able to make the cup she's holding invisible so you could see the liquid inside it, and make things on the other side of the room invisible without touching them.

* Her ability to generate force fields would come from battle.

Regardless of the villain, (Impossible Man perhaps?) the final battle would cause her to protect her teammates (and herself) from attack. Her instinctive reaction would be to defend, and she'd generate her first shield. That, along with her developed ability to make Reed, Ben and Johnny invisible at will, would be her contributions to their victory.

* She becomes the 'mother' of the family.
As in the books, the FF are a family. As such, Sue takes on the "motherly" role. She's the keeper of the peace and the glue that keeps the family together.

* She and Reed would marry by movie's end.

Even if it meant flashing forward six to ten months. They're an established couple at the beginning of the movie, and there's so much going on that there wouldn't be much drama between them. He's a busy scientist and she gets it. 

MOVIE #2:
* Sue's pregnant.
The second movie starts with Sue expecting their first child. She's about 8 months along.

* Franklin is born.
This of course brings the family even closer together.

* Enter Namor.
Aquaman proved this could be done. While the antagonist of MOVIE #1 doesn't matter in this discussion, Namor must appear here. It could be his first appearance, or he could have his own film first. Either way, he comes to the surface, is immediately smitten by Sue and attempts to kidnaps her. 

* Sue fights back. Hard.
Namor surprises her, but as a new mother her instincts move beyond protecting. She's a momma bear and will fight hard to defend her child. Instead of invisible shields and containers, Sue creates weapons: balls, spikes, daggers, knives, darts. Her creativity moves her to attack more and defend less. She becomes stronger, meaner and more dangerous but all in the name of love for her child. This brings back the 'mother' role from MOVIE #1 but she's become much more of a badass.

* Namor takes Franklin.
This pushes Sue over the edge. She wants her son back and will do what is needed to do so.

*Enter Doom.
Dr. Doom is revealed to be working with/controlling Namor (supporting the thought that he gets his own film first). It turns out he needed Franklin to rescue Doom's mother from wherever.

* Sue saves the team.
While attempting to rescue Franklin, the team is separated and trapped. Sue becomes stronger than anticipated and frees herself. Then finds her way to the others and unites them in the final fight. Sue would end the fight...by making Doom's mask invisible and showing him his reflection.

* Enter Malice.
The post-credit scene shows Sue possessed by the entity known as Malice. While this may be what made Sue so tough, it would be better if her strength is what drew Malice to her.

MOVIE #3:

* Tension grows between Reed and Sue.
Reed's spending way too much time in his labs, and Sue's getting pissed.

*Sue/Malice becomes the antagonist.
This movie deals with Sue's possession and how the guys figure out a way to stop her without killing her. With Franklin's help, they succeed.

* Enter the Negative Zone.
This could be where Malice came from, thanks to Reek f**king about in his labs.

* Enter Silver Surfer
The post-credit scene is most definitely Norrin Radd's first appearance. He arrives on Earth. That's it.

MOVIE #4:
* Enter Galactus.
This is what everything's been building up to. 

Now, with the FF films serving the same purpose as the Avengers films, there would be other films throughout these phases. Maybe Ben helps out Project Pegasus and we get Marvel Boy/Quasar. Maybe we meet the Inhuman Royal Family (for real this time) and they move to the Moon. Maybe Uatu teaches us about the Watchers. Maybe Black Panther shows up in Black Panther 3. Maybe we get the Savage Land, Ka-Zar, Zabu and Shanna the She-Devil. Maybe we get the Microverse. Maybe Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny each get their own film?

Silver Surfer, however, would definitely get his own film after MOVIE #3 to set up his backstory, and it would end exactly the same way MOVIE #3 ends - with his arrival on Earth.

So those are my thoughts. What are yours?

In Marvel Studios I Trust...