I thought that Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer was a pretty rotten name for Fantastic Four 2, but now I’m looking at that title with fond nostalgia – Superhero Hype is reporting that the film has a new moniker, and it’s the awful Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
First of all, that title is so generic. It sounds like one of the zillions of fanwank titles for any of the Prequel films: Rise of the Sith, for instance. But what’s worse is that it’s meaningless. The Rise of the Silver Surfer? Is this going to be the superhero version of Tony Montana, coming up from Freedomtown to his own mansion? I don’t think so – the official plot has the Surfer showing up as a “mysterious” intergalactic herald and wreaking havoc on the Earth. The dude done already rose.
I guess that the problem is that the title of the original Silver Surfer/Galactus comic (Fantastic Four #48) is “The Coming of Galactus,” which sounds like some kind of a gonzo porn. The rest of the original comic titles are equally grandiose/ridiculous/filthy, but certainly something better than Rise of the Silver Surfer could be found.
Despite the rancid title I am holding out lots of hope for the film. The first Fantastic Four movie was serviceable and occasionally even pretty good; I’m hoping for an X-Men to X2 leap in quality here. I know, that’s silly talk as long as Tim Story is directing, but I’m hoping. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer starts filming this fall and is then rushed into theaters next summer. A Fox superhero film being insanely rushed? I can’t believe it!