LISTEN TO THE PLUGGED IN SHOW, EPISODE 296
It’s been hard to craft a good Fantastic Four movie. Every decade or so, Hollywood tries: Richard Corman allegedly directed a take on Marvel’s First Family in 1994—but it was never released. The 2005 Fantastic Four was greeted with a resounding “meh.” And the less we say about the gritty 2015 reboot, the better.
But this time around, Marvel thinks it’s got a solution. Rather than moving these 1960s-era superheroes into the modern day, why not take moviegoers back to the 1960s?
The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been leaning hard into nostalgia, giving even its press releases a distinct retro vibe. But it’s far from the only movie that’s banking on warm, fuzzy feelings for days gone by to drag in an audience.
Superman may take place in the modern age, but it takes its character cues from the Silver Age of comics (about 1956 to 1970). Jurassic World: Rebirth is at least partly predicated on appealing to fans who remember the original Jurassic Park—released way back in 1993. From I Know What You Did Last Summer to Smurfs, the box office is filled with reboots, re-imaginings and regurgitations of aged intellectual properties. Why? Because nostalgia sells, that’s why.
And then we turn our attention to artificial intelligence. Does it feel like some of these AI chatbots have gotten … friendlier? So much so that they’re sometimes nicer than our real friends? And is that a problem?
We talk about both issues today with our esteemed panel of experts, including Bret Eckelberry, Kennedy Unthank and Adam Holz.
But that esteemed panel has room for one more: You! Why don’t you join in the conversation? Connect with us on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. Send us an email at team@thepluggedinshow.com. Leave us a voice message on our very own Plugged In Show homepage. Or let us know what you think in the comments section below.
And join us again this time next week, when Kennedy talks The Bad Guys 2 with its director, Pierre Perifel.
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