I dunno - the photo on USA Today isn’t exactly giving us the whole thing to digest, but as sleek and shiny as it is, it also appears to be kind of generically sci-fi. Not that I plan to pay dime one to see FF2 after the abortion of a flick the first one turned out to be, but I was kind of hoping for some designs that had a bit of Kirby’s flare to them.

The vehicle, a staple of the Fantastic Four comic books, ranks right up there with the Batmobile and Ghost Rider’s flaming motorcycle as the wheels of choice among comic devotees.

But translating the flying car from the page to the big screen was no small effort, says Tim Flattery, conceptual artist for the Fantastic Four sequel, which hits screens June 15. He showed several designs to director Tim Story, including one based loosely on the Batmobile, which he designed for 1995’s Batman Forever.

But Story rejected the designs as “too aggressive,” Flattery says. “He wanted something that looked less like a predator and more friendly. That’s always been the Fantastic Four theme.”

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