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This month, I thought I'd get back to some Marvel
villains. Between the movie and the Ultimate versions,
there's room for "re-imagining" Fantastic Four
villains. Among the FF villains with the longest
"legs", there are the denizens of the Negative Zone,
Annihilus and Blastaar.
Annihilus, first. Kinda buggy-looking, a little too
human-form if you ask me. The story is that Annihilus
began as a spore, released when a Tyannan starship
crashed on the barren planet Arthros. Annihilus found
the starship and using a knowledge transference
helmet, he mastered the Tyannan technology. Using this
information, and his own natural genius, Annihilus was
able to devise what he called his Cosmic Control Rod,
from the starship's engines and other systems. This
device, which he wears on his chest, gives him control
of vast energies and has extended his life far beyond
his natural span, whatever that might have been.
His "costume" is typical Jack Kirby design.
Improbable segmented skin-tight armor and some kind of
collar apparatus that looks quite painful to wear. As
I said before, much too human-looking, considering
he's some kind of insectoid from another dimension!
But, he's got wings, so he can't be all bad, right?
Well, he's a villain, so he can be pretty bad,
but . . . wings!
With the technology available, today, it should be
possible to produce a truly alien-looking Annihilus,
for a Fantastic Four movie sequel. We know from recent
movies that dragon-type wings can be done perfectly in
digital FX, so...yay! Imagine an eight-foot bug with
dragon wings and cool energy powers. Yeah.
Yes, I went to the "Alien" well for this design. I
slimmed him down and de-humanized his body. Gave him
an extra set of eyes, too. His lower mandibles
separate.
Yes, he's an ugly cuss.
Blastaar presents a different set of problems. He was
even more human-looking that Annihilus, he looks like
an angry biker with a leather fetish. He used to be
the king of the planet Baluur, also in the Negative
Zone.
[As an aside, if you notice all the not-nice people
who come from the place, it's no wonder they call it
the Negative Zone, is it? It's just not a universe
conducive to producing healthy, sane, people capable
of cooperation and successful interpersonal
relationships. In that sense, it sounds a lot like
Washington, D.C., doesn it?]
As you might expect, if you judge the book by its
cover, Blastaar was not an enlightened, compassionate
ruler and so, he suffered the typical fate of the
unenlightened, uncompassionate rulers, he was
overthrown. In his case, it wasn't a trip to the
guillotine, oh no, Stan Lee has more imaginitive fates
in mind for deposed despots. Blastaar was set adrift
in space in something called an "adhesion suit". He
managed to get free, as any three-year old could have
predicted, and he spotted Reed Richards of the
Fantastic Four traveling from the Negative Zone, to
Earth. He basically hitched a ride through Reed's
portal, but the FF fought him and drove him back into
the Zone. He makes his way back through, from time to
time.
Blastaar's only real distinguishing features are his
blasting hands and his snaggled teeth. He looks more
like one of Thor's supporting cast than anything else.
Put a big sword in his hand and he'd fit right in with
Loki's crew.
I understand the thinking behind human-looking
monsters, both the theoretical and practical reasons
for their existence. Theoretically, they're easier to
identify with and comprehend. Practically, they're
easier to draw and/or cast/costume in movies. But,
we're past the point where a creature needs to look
human for make us care. Can you think of any movie
alien creepier looking that E.T.? And yet, everyone
cried when E.T. died. Basically, if you give your
creature bi-lateral symmetry and a face of some
description, you can identify with it and get emotion
out of it.
For my Blastaar, I went for a more exaggerated
humanoid form, I want him to be more physically
menacing than the Hulk. I tried for more alien looking
facial features and musculature that would mimic human
range of motion, without being a copy of human
musculature.
There's no reason why any of the Negative Zone aliens
should look even remotely human. Even if conditions
there are analogous to conditions in our universe,
life is going to take on different forms to suit
different environments. I do think we'll find that
some forms are more common than others, once we get
off this tiny little mudball and get out among the
stars. I think that binocular vision is an asset in an
intelligent creature and I think we'll find that it's
one of the common features in intelligent species.
Upright posture, freeing the forelimbs for carrying
and tool use will likely be another. I also think
we'll find that, as with homo spaiens, alien
intelligent species will tend to be physically weaker
and possess fewer natural defenses than most other
animals that evolved on their homeworld.
I have a theory about intelligence. I think it's the
most expensive "option" a species can have. It comes
at the cost of great strength, speed, and durability.
It comes at the cost of long, sharp teeth and claws.
It comes at the cost of years to achieve physical and
mental maturity. When an animal is "lucky" enough to
possess long, sharp teeth and claws, great speed and
powerful sinews, what could it possibly need
intelligence for? No, it's the small, relatively weak,
short-sighted, clumsy, thin-skinned, nearly hairless
hunter who needs to learn how to make a stick pointier
and make the tip harder. Needs to learn how to make a
sharp blade out of flint and learn to take the skin
off other animals, to cure it and make clothes or
tools out of it.
But, in a different environment, different conditions
would breed different survival strategies. I've always
wondered about the alien monsters in "Alien",
"Aliens", etc. We know they're very intelligent. We
know they're very tough to kill. They bleed molecular
acid, as a defense mechanism. They have formidable
claws and a tail they can wield as a weapons.
So . . . what must conditions be like on the planet
where they evolved? They have all those physical
defenses and, in addition to all that, they still need
to be smart? The kittens on their homeworld must be
like bengal tigers. The tigers on their homeworld must
be like tyrannosaurus rexes! Just something to think about . . .
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