The One And Only Fantastic Four Thread...

[Jonathon 0]

Just saw an advanced screening..Not bad. It's most definetly aimed at more of the "family" demographic, which Marvel admits is what they were going after.

Forget Grimm, Johnny Storm stole every scene he was in.

[Guest Retro Rob]

Yeah, I heard the movie could have been rated PG. The NY Daily News gave it * 1/2. How was Julian McMahon as Dr. Doom?

[CBright7831 0]

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fantastic_four/

 

It's doing worse than I expected.

[spman 0]

My buddy and I screened this tonight at work, I went in expecting nothing, but it actually turned out to be pretty damn good. It's definitly more of a "Comic Book" movie with over the top super villainry and what have you compared to Batman which was a more down to earth, dark picture. You can't really fairly compare the two, because they're entirely different films. I really have no complaints overall, as it held up quite well to the original source material.

[Si82 0]

From the reviews this film has been getting I would say that that topic sub-title seems very appropriate.

[pochorenella 0]

I might be going to see it tonight but I really have very low expectations. Ultimately my opinion should be the one that counts, but all this below par reviews (Ebert gave it *) have left me bummed. Hopefully I'll shift into "comic-book movie mode" at the theater and try to have some fun and not be overly critical.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

People are trashing this left and right, but fuck em, who really cares what critics think? I'll see it tomorrow regardless of what anyone else says.

[Jonathon 0]

Julian McMahon was fine as a Victor Von Doom, but as the hooded, masked Dr. Doom, it seemed a little forced. I think all the actors, with the exception of Ian Grufford as Mr. Fantastic were great, and if given more script would have bumped the movie up to a ** maybe ***.

I agree with the people who went in without any expectations. It's a fun, family film about the Fantastic Four. They're not tortured, they're not troubled or brooding. It captures the material well.

[cabbageboy 0]

Just wondering but why doesn't that Ioan Gruffud dude change his name? I heard it's Welsh but it's pronounced more like Ian Griffith. Why not just use Ian Griffith as his screen name?

 

I might go see this tonight, can't say I'm heavily anticipating it though.

[Angelus 0]

The only reason i can find to watch this movie is Michael Chilkis, how he was ?

[SuperJerk 0]

Everytime I read a review of a comic book movie, I can't help but remember a SCATHING review I read for X2 where the reviewer QUITE OBVIOUSLY wasn't smart enough to follow the plot and kept getting tons of basic details wrong.

 

 

If I can find it, I'll post it. It was hillariously bad.

[Special K 0]

^Ooh, please do.

 

 

I dunno if I'll see this, it looks like a rental to me, though I like the actors (aside from the horribly miscast Alba).

 

Batman Begins was IMO the best comic book movie made so far, so I'm not even going to try to compare the two.

[Big McLargeHuge 0]

I'm hoping to see it this weekend. It looks like dumb fun. Which is expected considering the source material isn't as serious as a Batman or X-men. There hasn't been a light hearted comic movie since the first Spider-Man, so it'll be a nice change of pace.

[SuperJerk 0]

^Ooh, please do.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?p...1&notFound=true

 

washingtonpost.com

'X-Men United': Missing a Why, It Spawns Zzzzs

 

By Stephen Hunter

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, May 2, 2003; Page C01

 

If you dream in the language of X, if your very being is wound up in X, if you're a secret mutant who yearns to be welcomed to the tribe of X, if you'd rather X than sex or X than cash checks, then "X2: X-Men United" is for you.

 

Alas, for the rest of us, it's pretty much a "What's that all about?" experience.

 

Of the many comic book superhero movies, this is by far the lamest, the loudest, the longest. Good Lord, what an epic sit. My rear end deserves a medal.

 

"X2" lacks the playfulness of the witty "Spider-Man," it lacks the brooding Gothic intensity of the "Batman" movies (particularly the first two), it lacks the gorgeous stylizations of "Daredevil" and "Blade," it lacks the innocent sense of pure flight of "Superman." Its fights and settings are banal, its characterizations thin and its art direction nondescript. It lacks just about everything except Ian McKellen and Hugh Jackman.

 

The primary deficiency might be called a lack of narrative clarity. Literally, for the first hour of this movie, you have no idea what it's about or what's at stake, unless you're so of X you carry the X-cosmology around in your subconscious, next to the remember-to-breathe program. This is what happens: First they run over there, then they run over here.

 

Patrick Stewart, as head X Charles Xavier, is called upon to issue the necessary exposition to hold all the scenes together, but the fundamental conspiracy plot underneath it all is so bland that it's difficult to work up the concentration to keep it straight. And the characters: Sorry, X-fans, but they're really losers. I mean, none of them has any particular level of attractiveness. (I know how much that hurts -- but you can get through it, I know you can.)

 

One can certainly see the appeal of the conceit to the adolescent mind. Most teenagers, their hormones aflame, their imaginations aflame, their skins aflame, see themselves as outsiders in the key of self-pity, the melody of self-dramatization. They're so alone. Waaaaah! But beneath all the self-loathing, there's also a kind of narcissism: They're so damned special.

 

And that's your typical X-Man to a T, a spectacular misfit utterly misunderstood yet wondrously special, hated by a larger society he is, nevertheless, obligated to protect. Yet again, for us rationalists, the nature of the mutations that characterize them seems somewhat unrigorously thought out.  The moody Wolverine (Jackman, a little old for this kind of silliness) can flash blades out of his wrists.  Okay, but, really, how useful is that? He's no better armed at that point than a man with a bayonet. Then there's a kid who can flip fireballs across the room and another who appears to be able to shoot fire out of his sunglasses.

 

On the other hand, Storm (Halle Berry) can control weather, Jane Grey (Famke Janssen) can part the waters like Moses, and Dr. Xavier appears to be literally able to stop the universe -- that is, halt time. So what would a knife fighter have in common with God? Or possibly I'm thinking too hard about this stuff.

 

Anyhow, in the practical world of the movie, the big news is that the two schisms of X unite in this film, at least for a time. Good X, led by Stewart's Dr. Xavier, and Bad X, consisting primarily of Sir Ian, must join together to prevent a plot to destroy all mutants by Stryker, a sociopathic general (oh, there's a novel touch!) played by Brian Cox. So, for a brief, shining moment, all X is on the same page.

 

Each X is given a moment, but fortunately Wolverine and Magneto (McKellen) predominate. Both actors have star quality, and although Wolverine doesn't really do much in this film (Jackman is so much better in any movie that doesn't require hair gel, mutton chops and switchblades), his charisma draws you to him, except when McKellen's draws you to him.

 

The rest remain ciphers, the saddest being Anna Paquin, whose character's mutant talent, other than ugly mall-droog hair, appears to be to make things happen backward. I guess. She's some kind of Mistress of Rewind. No one in the movie could really be said to act, or if they do, the director, Bryan Singer, shunts them aside so fast it doesn't register.

 

The newest X is the Brit dervish Alan Cumming, who has yet to find a home outside of the Broadway "Cabaret" that made him a star. Here, he's the Man of Naugahyde with the gift of disappearing in a cloud of smoke and reappearing somewhere else a nanosecond later. He looks like a human bat, but somehow he's transformed into the cuddly cute one by movie's end. I never figured that out. But then I never figured anything out!

 

For the non-cognescenti, the movie doesn't cash in on any obligations of the genre. No effect stirred me, no set dazzled me, no fight jazzed me. A big magic jet plane that flies the X'ers here and there was crudely imagined, poorly integrated into shots, and laughingly hollow inside -- the real things are jammed with gear. In the finale, the X folk must seize a certain secret installation to preclude Stryker from using the hyp-mo-tized Xavier as linchpin in his GenXocide. This sequence plays out in the interior of a dam, for no other reason than if you have a dam, you know it's going to burst sooner or later. But it's a familiar movie place, full of hydraulic doors with jagged edges, pipes, chambers and tunnels. Didn't they film "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" there?

 

I wish I could say it wasn't so, but for most of us, this "X" marks a splat.

 

X2: X-Men United (135 minutes, at area theaters) is rated PG-13 for some sexuality and profanity.

 

 

 

Probably the gayest movie review I've ever read. The guy's so obsessed with making bad puns, he projects his own lameness onto the movie.

[Exslade ZX 0]

Well, I don't know about critics, but I saw today, and loved it. With this movie, it just bumps Johnny Storm to one of the greatest heros ever, seriously. (Just something about a cocky motherfucker that rules)

 

Even went out and rented the game :/. But I did for one love a lot of the visuals, especially the scene where they get their powers. Amazing. At first didn't know if Alba would fit, as I always thought of Sue being a lot older, but, I actually thought she fit the role quite well. Same with all the cast actually.

 

One thing that stuck out to me though, and it might just be me..but their eyes. Alba was understandable as she has brown eyes, ,and were changed to blue, but it seems like everyone in the movie had on contacts..or just very 'vibrant' eyes or something. I don't think there was a person without blue or green eyes? Maybe that has to do with the comic book though. (Maybe I'm exaggerating because it probaly wasn't that many, cant remember, but it seems like a lot of times I went wow..those eyes are really blue/green) Yea, I notice small things.

[cabbageboy 0]

If you notice in comics it seems like a lot of characters have blue/green eyes. I think it just adds color to the book.

 

I liked it quite a bit by the way. They sort of treat Dr. Doom like a jobber in some ways, but Johnny Storm was great. It was refreshing to finally see a superhero in a movie that was thrilled with having his powers and used them as anyone would (fame, picking up chicks, etc) in addition to fighting the evil villain.

[Tawren 0]

I saw Fantastic Four earlier today and to tell the truth, I liked it a lot. I'm a big fan of their comic and I consider it the best that Marvel puts out, and this movie was surprisingly good. I was not looking forward to it, really. The previews were lame, I'm kind of burned out on comic movies, and there are so many ways to screw this up. But they did it right.

 

What I Liked:

-Johny Storm enjoying his powers. He's a daredevil space pilot already, and now he gets the ability to light himself on fire and fly? Of course he loves it and has fun with it. He stole every scene he was in.

-Reed Richards. The actor (don't know his name) played this spot on to what they needed. Smart, business-like, older than the others with the GREY HAIR, and one of my favorite powers. The scene where he fights Thing is just great, and his continuous attempts to tie Thing up and how it works is really cool.

-The Thing. DEAD ON. Trenchcoat and everything. This was what I was most worried about, I thought the suit would look lame but I was completely and totally wrong. It worked way better than CGI would and it looked great. I loved everything he did in this movie. "It's CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

-The overall atmosphere of the film was perfect. The Fantastic Four are serious a lot of the time, yes, but they also have a lot of fun and get that they have really cool powers. They are good people doing the best they have. They don't mope and sulk like Batman or the X-Men or even Spider-Man. That's not the point of the Fantastic Four. And this movie got that.

 

As for what I didn't like, Doom was a little weak and the ending battle was too short. Everything else was great.

 

On a side note, fuck Roger Ebert. His review was terrible. He did not get this movie at all, and there really isn't much to get. He writes that the movie is bad because Johny Storm doesn't talk endlessly about being able to go supernova. No, but he does talk about FLYING and the rest of his powers. Ebert writes that because Sue Storm doesn't try to contain the sun with her force fields and instead when trying to sneak past the cops to find Ben is worried about going naked, it is a bad movie. He then explains that The Thing looks like the Hulk, Johny Storm looks like the Flash, and Sue Storm rips off her powers from Storm.

 

BACK UP. What?

 

The Thing looks like the Hulk? Since when? The Thing is orange and relatively short and rock like. The Hulk is huge ass tall and green. They do not look alike. They have similar powers. Then again, many heroes are *gasp* super strong.

 

The Human Torch looks like the Flash? What. The. Fuck.

Again: they do not look alike at all.

 

And finally, Storm's power is to control the weather. Sue Storm's power is to turn invisible and create force fields. Yes, the same power.

 

Ebert doesn't get it. He wants a movie that features brooding, examining things not related to the plots or characters at all, and depth where there should be none. He's wrong. Flat out. I can understand people not liking this movie. But when you don't like it because Johny Storm is too busy learning to fly and hitting on chicks to scientifically study how he compares to the sun, it's obvious you don't get a movie that has nothing to really get.

 

And the movies business will be hampered by people reading his review, looking at his dumbass star rating, and saying they don't want to see it. Fuck Roger Ebert.

 

Good movie though.

[Guest jumpingbombangel]

I won't say how much I wanted to kill this movie and bitch slap everyone in direct arm's length around me just to vent the anger I had towards myself to sit through this pile of shit. Silly me, I went in with expectations high, which is sub-retarded in today's entertainment industry. But I'll stop there.

 

I'll just let Dr. Doom speak for me.

 

http://www.flipsidemovies.com/fantasticfour.html

 

Fantastic Four  C-

20th Century Fox / Marvel Enterprises 

 

Review by Rob Vaux 

 

Once again, I, Victor Von Doom, must endure another affront to my genius. For too long, the exploits of Marvel's so-called "heroes" have been fodder for the skulking lapdogs of Hollywood studios. Doom has watched their efforts and laughed, knowing that they would be as ants before a colossus when the Dr. Doom movie finally arrived. A pox on Sam Raimi and his Spider-Man foolishness! Fie upon Bryan Singer and his X-Men irrelevance! Their success, their awards, their accolades, all are meaningless. Soon, an adaptation of Doom's exploits would appear -- marked, no doubt, by the minor appearance of Reed Richards and his so-called "Fantastic Four" -- and then the scions of Tinseltown would tremble. For none can stand before the power of Doom, least of all those attending the multiplex during this crucial summer marketing period.

 

But what's this?! The resultant film is somehow unworthy of me! Aarrgggh!!! Curse you, 20th Century Fox! You dare to put a director such as Tim Story in charge of my tale?! Doom looks upon the man's efforts and sees naught but weak characterization and bumbling action scenes. The drama is poorly justified, the dialogue half-witted and dull. Why, the lowest of my minions could helm a better production than this. The film -- named Fantastic Four rather than Doomapolooza in an act that will cost yon Fox executives dear -- is rife with shortcomings that I can scarcely sully my tongue to utter. Low indeed have Marvel's fortunes sunk when this is the best they can send against their archrival's superior Batman Begins.

 

The film's lionization of Reed Richards and noted deviations from Marvel canon are to be forgiven. Doom expects a certain amount of creative license in his cinematic adaptations. What cannot be forgiven is the trite and illogical way the story is put forth, which confounds even my mighty brain to understand. Performing an experiment aboard the Von Doom orbital space station, Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and his colleagues -- Benjamin Grimm (Michael Chiklis), Susan Storm (Jessica Alba, whose faux blonde hair cannot fool the eye of Doom), and Storm's brother Johnny (Chris Evans) -- are bombarded with cosmic radiation, granting them all manner of incredible powers. Doom, too, is subject to this process -- or at least the Doom played onscreen by Julian McMahon is. Once the five of them learn the extent of their abilities, they launch upon a cliché-heavy journey of exploration and conflict; Richards and his quartet scheme to restore themselves to "normality," while McMahon's Doom plots to destroy them and seize vast amounts of power for himself (an admirable policy unjustly maligned by this production).

 

From the onset, the script has little idea what to do with such towering figures. Story spends some amount of screen time portraying the Four as celebrities who must deal with a public who knows about (and is fascinated by) their powers. But the notion is poorly handled and awkward, depending largely on badly motivated impressions from the gawking crowds. Character interaction, too, is strung together with the feeblest justifications. The four "heroes" relate to each other as mindless automatons would: assigned to fill specific tasks with little reasoning or humanity. The actors can do naught with their material, save Chiklis who, Doom admits, achieves a certain sincerity in conveying his character's painful affliction (Grimm, unlike the others, cannot simply turn his powers on and off, and is thus trapped in the form of a rocky orange monstrosity). The other performers are trapped in overly simplistic roles that demand far too little of their talents. Evans is intended to be droll, but simply comes across as arrogant, Gruffudd seems feckless when he should be thoughtful, and though armed with the all-powerful Smart Chick Glasses, Alba is little more than a pretty face. I reserve special attention for McMahon, whose portrayal bears little resemblance to my own commanding majesty. And what manner of eyebrow is he affecting? Doom likes it not! Pluck it from his visage and inform me of what unholy fabric it is composed. It shall be banned from the shores of Latveria henceforth!

 

Though Doom expects graceful exposition and believable characters from all his movie pleasures, he can indulge occasional lapses if the action and special effects are above par. Here too, Story's effort fails to amuse me. Though some effects retain a certain kinetic grandeur, too many feel mannered and unduly artificial, while the perils and challenges they depict simply fail to excite. Feeble corporate efforts to tie the drama in with a marketable demographic, such as Johnny Storm's appearance at the X-Games, speak more to homogenized money managing than any effort to tell an enticing story. In every way and on every level, Fantastic Four falls short of Doom's expectations. I concede that it does not sink as far as some comic-book adaptations, such as the odious Catwoman or the incompetent Punisher, but that proves nothing. Figures as steeped in comic mythology as myself -- and even my hated nemeses, the Fantastic Four -- deserve far better than this ambulatory mess can provide.

 

Indeed, such a failure must not be permitted to reach the theaters. Doom demands that the perpetrators of Fantastic Four, along with all existing copies, be turned over to his minions for disposal as he sees fit. Defiance of my wishes would be most unwise, for there are myriad ways to bring you to your knees, O Hollywood fools. Already, I have arranged for a number of previously untouchable "celebrities" to be injected with a psychotropic drug, causing them to immolate their careers in brazen displays of public boobery. Witness their destruction and tremble, miscreants! Thus is the fate of all who do not cower before the might of Doom!

 

Cheers to 2005's best unintentional comedy. It wasn't even Fantastic Four quirky like the Incredibles.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

is it true that they made Dr. Doom into basically a norman osborn (movie) clone [or kingpin/luthor type)?

Dr Doom in the comics is the coolest villian ever, he rules an entire frikken country, with an iron fist (literally!), he could be the most uniquely different villian there is, so i hpe they didnt fuck him up TOO much.

[Exslade ZX 0]

is it true that they made Dr. Doom into basically a norman osborn (movie) clone [or kingpin/luthor type)?

Dr Doom in the comics is the coolest villian ever, he rules an entire frikken country, with an iron fist (literally!), he could be the most uniquely different villian there is, so i hpe they didnt fuck him up TOO much.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I dont know, I think some of the people complaining about him being weak are sort of "downplaying" him I could say. Because sort of in like Batman Begins..some people didn't get into the action to much because you know, he was just becoming Batman in the movie, I think it's the same way in this movie..he was just getting, and learning his powers etc.

 

I could definitely see a sequel and see him the way you described him. But yes, in this movie he wasn't so much as a super villian (because for one, most of the movie, he was on the F4 side...sort of). And you could also use the arguement that he hadn't fully transformed into Dr. Doom.

[algrim 0]

I dont know, I think some of the people complaining about him being weak are sort of "downplaying" him I could say. Because sort of in like Batman Begins..some people didn't get into the action to much because you know, he was just becoming Batman in the movie, I think it's the same way in this movie..he was just getting, and learning his powers etc.

 

I could definitely see a sequel and see him the way you described him. But yes, in this movie he wasn't so much as a super villian (because for one, most of the movie, he was on the F4 side...sort of). And you could also use the arguement that he hadn't fully transformed into Dr. Doom.

 

I agree with you. I think they intended for this Doom to be the one that made his 1st appearance back in FF vol. 1 #5. I suspect that he will be more like the comic book version in the sequel.

[CBright7831 0]

Fantastic 4 made $20.8M on Friday

 

http://www.showbizdata.com/

 

It may have a bigger opening weekend than Batman Begins.

[Guest JMA]

I think I'll skip this one. I like McMahon and Chiklis (as well as the Fantastic Four), but I have no real interest in seeing this movie.

[Zack Malibu 0]

I loved it. Granted I'm a comic geek and have a favortism towards many of the comic movies, but this was spot-on. I think the whole cast played their roles to perfection, and I'm not worried about how they portrayed Doom in this one, because it was obviously a setup for him to be their arch-rival in a sequel/sequels.

 

For anyone complaining, Doom was the villain they HAD to go with, not only because of the Reed/Doom dynamic, but look at the FF's rogue gallery and tell me who else could have been in it? Mole Man? Puppet Master? They needed an A-list villain from FF continuity, and they did it well.

[pochorenella 0]

Saw it yesterday and enjoyed it, though I have to say it was more kid-friendly that any other comic-book movies in recent memory, specially the more adult-oriented flicks like X-Men or Batman Begins. The approach of making Doom be a part of the initial powers-inducing accident is one I could accept and one that has already been used to good effect on the pages of Ultimate F4, which gives the mythos a modernized look. I didn't mind Doom not beign the ruler of Latveria just yet. I'm pretty sure it'll come in later films given that his latverian heritage was mentioned a couple of times. What I did found lacking was the special effects and a little more action I guess was needed. The Human Torch was no doubt the star of the film, with the Thing coming right behind him, so great performances on the part of both the respective actors. Mr. Fantastic was ok and the Invisible Woman a bit disappointing, specially with the use of their respective powers, or in the case of Mr.Fantastic, lack of, but he made up a bit for it at the climax, so I would have liked to see much more of those abilities.

Essentially I think they captured the comic-book very well: the constant bickering between them, the Torch's pranks towards the Thing, Reed's exaggerated concern for science over personal stuff. It's all taken right off the comics pages. So beign a big fan of the F4 series I don't think most fans will be disappointed much. If you want to see a more light-hearted comics adaptation then this is the one for you.

 

And $21 million on friday? Damn, that's much much higher than I anticipated. Really, with all the bad reviews I would have considered $21 million for the whole weekend a success. Great numbers.

[Guest JMA]

And $21 million on friday? Damn, that's much much higher than I anticipated. Really, with all the bad reviews I would have considered $21 million for the whole weekend a success. Great numbers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's been my experience that bad reviews play more of a part in the second weekend, and how long they stay in the top ten.

 

But who knows? Maybe it will do well. After all, it's not like badly reviewed movies have never been successful.

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

I saw it at a midnight show and I liked it a whole lot. Just entertaining. Like others said, no comic movie will live up to Batman Begins until the sequel is out.

 

The final fight was short, Doom didn't do much, but he was just starting, his powers were starting to develop, he found out the latest and was on his own. Of course he won't be able to utilize them fully yet. Also, it was obvious at the end that there will be a sequel, Doom will be back and it will pick up where this one left off and possibly make this one look better. Just a fun movie to go to, I don't get why it is getting bashed so much.

[SuperJerk 0]

I saw it today.

 

Random thoughts:

 

-They fucked Dr. Doom up, but got all the other characters right.

 

-If Alba did a bad job, I didn't notice.

 

-The plot was full of holes.

 

-Thing looked great!

 

-The Torch stole the movie.

 

-It was fun to watch.

 

-This movie is a C+ or a B-, not the F or D- the critics are making it out to be.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

I saw it at a midnight show and I liked it a whole lot.  Just entertaining.  Like others said, no comic movie will live up to Batman Begins until the sequel is out.

 

The final fight was short, Doom didn't do much, but he was just starting, his powers were starting to develop, he found out the latest and was on his own.  Of course he won't be able to utilize them fully yet. Also, it was obvious at the end that there will be a sequel, Doom will be back and it will pick up where this one left off and possibly make this one look better.  Just a fun movie to go to, I don't get why it is getting bashed so much.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think the reviewers have been spoiled through the years. With the X-Men, the new edition of Batman, DareDevil, Blade, Sin City, Star Wars, and even Spidey to an extent

 

Instead of the camp, family-friendley fare that stigmatized the genre, sci-fi and comic films have been busting out darker, grittier, more adult-oreinted (in the sense of you don't want to have a 5-10 year old watch the films, not in the porno sense) films

 

and now there is Fantasitc Four...

 

So with expectations of the genre being in a place that was more for mature audiences, a movie that is more along the lines of the Brady Bunch remake a few years back (not in the parody sense, but in the same bouncy, carefree sense) comes along and reviewers see it as a regression rather than looking at it as its own movie

 

Steve

[cabbageboy 0]

Well I think one thing I liked about Fantastic 4 was that it wasn't all this woe is me crap that a lot of recent comic movies have had. I mean yeah The Thing had a bit of that going, but it was balanced out by Johnny Storm digging his powers a lot. And Reed Richards was concerned about the ramifications of their new powers and wanted to learn more, but he wasn't like "Oh these powers are a curse!"

 

One bizarre aspect of Dr. Doom in this is that they mention he's from Latveria and yet he doesn't seem at all like a foreign guy. They could well do a sequel where Doom ends up back in Latveria where he would take over.

 

And yes, the whole corporate double crossing reminded me of Norman Osborne. If you take the European background of Magneto and cross it with the "rich guy screwed by his company" schtick of the Goblin, you arrive at Dr. Doom here.