There's this phenomenon where repressed memories return in some form. In my case, it involved this show I used to watch when it was new. Just popped right back into my head out of nowhere. After it did, I decided to look for it because it made me curious and, here we are.
Backstory
Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes is the fourth attempt at making a television series based on the Fantastic Four, an example of a series that rocks on paper, but seems to falter everywhere else. Don't get me wrong, there do exist people who unashamedly like Tim Story's two FF movies, some argue that Roger Corman's unreleased effort captured the feel of the comics, to some degree, and I haven't seen the previous FF cartoons, but I will say this, all are a hell of a lot better than Josh Trank's Fanfourstick edgy PC train wreck, and I'm not just saying that to sound edgy, all the above have a fair level of fun to them, even what I'm about to talk about.
FF: World's Greatest Heroes came out in 2006 and lasted until 2007. This used to air on Cartoon Network and I distinctly remember watching it when it was new. It certainly kept my interest, but as time went on I became too busy to catch new episodes (only managing to see one in its entirety). The series was produced by Moonscoop, who you may recognize as the producer of Code Lyoko and television's equivalent of shovelware, throwing everything at the wall and sending it out to networks (as well as lining Mike Young Productions), only for said shows to go forgotten years later.
Plot
The show is unique, in that it follows its own take on the FF's backstory and producing entirely original episodes. The core of their origin is the same though, a standard that must be enforced, and has been for every iteration (until they decided to make one of the characters black for no good reason. Hail political correctness and some scrub's ego I guess.)
Given that the show is episodic, and the only continuity present is minor things that happen to the Fantastic Four, the plot isn't deep, nor does it give a lot for people to think about. Thank. Fuck.
I won't be focusing too much on the character, heck, at all, since I have faith that at least most of you know who's who in the Fantastic Four.
Animation
And now for the pointless shit. I want to focus on what stands out the most in the series.
I talked about how I hate anime-styled shows. My definition of an anime-styled show is a show that contains stiff animation, with all the effort put into the action scenes, as well as shallow writing quality and a gaudy art style.
That to me says they blew all their money trying to make everything look nice at the cost of other necessities for the show's production.
Does this show epitomize that? Why else would I go into the above rant?
Not only does the extent of the show's effort go into making the scenery and characters look good, but even the action scenes are barebones. It's clear that Moonscoop (expanding to their current Splash Entertainment era) didn't put much money into their shows and instead sought to put what was put toward it into making it look good to compensate for all else. Movements are stiff, action scenes are a bit shallow, at one point I saw a pointless cut in an episode, to put it simply, it doesn't hold up.
Now, do I hold it against this show? If I was, I'd be licking the boots of of animation "critics" by now. The animation is an issue that plagues even Moonscoop's more ambitious projects.
For example, in Code Lyoko, they utilize the same stiff movements and iffy animation. Everything looks limited, and they tend to reuse animation for every episode, particularly the transfer and elevator scenes. Watch a few episodes from the first and second seasons and you'll get the idea.
Anything Else?
Since this is one of those anime-inspired shows, does that mean it's as edgy as Teen Titans? Actually no. The show is fairly campy, and the poor animation kinda complements it. Campiness is present in the Fantastic Four, and I'm glad it's in this show.
Now it's time to spitball.
In comparison to other Marvel cartoons, I consider this to be a much better version of the 2017 Spider-Man cartoon. Think about it. Both are anime-inspired shows that follow the core of their respective comic counterparts. Each have subpar animation and the plots are a bit vanilla. In Fantastic Four's case, it has its campiness and original ideas working out for it. It could hold its own and be considered a new thing. Unlike Spider-Man, who has become the world's punching bag (from getting handled by Marvel's slimiest toad Dan Slott to being a mascot for those creepy kids YouTube channels)
Overall
Whether or not this show appeals to you is really up to your perspective. It could entertain you, and it's a close iteration of the Fantastic Four in general. I'd say give it a try.
This is Channeleven, saying that if Marvel were to gain full rights to Fantastic Four again and make a new series.... they'd probably follow Josh Trank's lead.
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