COMICS PORTAL: Where Is All The Cool Merchandise?

With the big battle of the superhero movies on the horizon, where is all the great related stuff for fans to pick up?

Comics fans should really be excited about the comics-related movies being released this summer, especially The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman.

That FF movie will be released on July 25, and the Supes film is slated to hit theaters on July 11.

Here’s the description of the FF film: “Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world. [The film follows] Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, the Fantastic Four must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.” It will be two hours and 10 minutes long, and will star Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, Ebon Mass-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, Ralph Ineson as Galactus, and Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer.

James Gunn’s Superman movie is described this way: “Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as reporter Clark Kent. As the embodiment of truth, justice, and the human way, he soon finds himself in a world that views these as old-fashioned.” This latest theater version featuring the Man of Steel will star David Corenswet in the title role, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason/Metamorpho, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White in a film that will last two hours and two minutes.

Of course, there’s quite a bit of conflict regarding which movie will be better liked and which will make the most money during their initial release.

There are some interesting facts about the FF movie, including that Marvel Studios regained the film rights to the Fantastic Four after Disney bought most of 20th Century Fox’s film and TV assets, including franchises. Also, The IMAX intro for the film features the statement “The Fantastic 4” and appears in an animated sequence, with the 4 in the countdown highlighted as the Fantastic Four insignia. The official site for this film is on Facebook, and can be accessed here.

The tagline for the Superman movie is “Look up.” This will be the first major release by James Gunn since he has been in charge of the DC film franchise. Will Reeve’s cameo in the film was first reported in July 2024 by Cleveland’s local newspaper, The Plain Dealer, with it being shot during exterior filming that was underway in Cleveland’s Public Square. Reeve, the youngest child of Christopher Reeve, was only three years old when his father was injured in the accident that left him paralyzed. In his appearance in this movie, Will Reeve plays a TV news reporter; in real life, Reeve is a television correspondent for ABC News. Their official website is at this address.

It might be that both companies are waiting to see what the reception will be before they invest in toys, costumes, and other comics related materials, but in the past, we would have seen mountains and mountains of stuff in stores of all stripes by now, helping promote the films and emptying out our wallets!

Maybe as a Batman fan, I fondly remember the tons of things to buy when that movie first arrived in 1989. Man, there was so much of it that I could hardly purchase it all! And that didn’t count buying the tickets to see the film in the theatre either!

When I looked online to see what merchandise was already available, I didn’t see much! I saw an FF Fantasti-car toy, but with both franchises, what I came across most were t-shirts by the boatload. I mean, I like clothing and all, but this has been the time to pick up long-desired toys and things related to the films. Where is it all? Are they holding back until it’s closer to the release of the movies? What gives?

I see a lot of stores keeping their belts tightened as a result of the current slow economy, but now is the time to get their wares in front of the public, especially the comics-buying people, to make their money.

The only thing I’ve really seen was a Superman comic in my local grocery store. It was largely a reprint of past stories of the Man of Steel, and frankly, I already have all of that, so I didn’t pick it up. But is this all there will be?

What’s really hard to take is the lack of related items in the local comics shops. Is it because we have had lots of unsold materials based on previous movies that they have exercised an amazing amount of restraint this year? I remember one local comics shop owner who complained loudly that someone had pre-ordered a LOT of Lost in Space toys related to the movie release, and the person who wanted them had suddenly disappeared from the planet, but this time they are REALLY skimping on movie merchandise.

And these franchises are really the “first families” of Marvel and DC, so there should be a lot of stuff calling out to me from the shelves. Also, the previous FF movies were indeed underwhelming, and the answer was supposed to be letting the House of Ideas run their show. Are they telling us they still don’t think these films will do all that well?

Yikes!

The only thing I can come up with is that the movie-going public still hasn’t returned to the theaters as much as they had before the pandemic. Maybe they need some big blockbusters to come out and attract us back to the theaters. Is that it?

I’ll be very surprised if both movies don’t attract comics fans galore! Many of my Marvel Maxemite fans have been telling me that THIS is the FF movie they have been waiting for. Has that changed? Frankly, I don’t think Pedro Pascale will be a good Reed Richards (except that both their names have the same first letter), but is the response that low-level that we’re going to let this chance go by?

I guess we’ll find out in the next few weeks!

What do you think? Which one of these movies do you expect to do better? Will one perform well enough to earn a sequel? Or has the much ballyhooed “superhero fatigue” finally happened? Whatever your opinion, be sure to share it in the space below!

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