When in doubt, replace the noun with its pronoun and see if the sentence reads naturally:
"Warner Brothers [one company, so the pronoun would be "It"] is releasing that DVD on October 29."
"The Warner brothers [multiple brothers, so "They"] were douche bags."
"My favorite baseball team [one team, "It"] might win the World Series! Its [the team's, singular] shortstops [multiple ballplayers, "they"] are the best, but their batting averages [multiple averages, "they"] are for shit."
The Fantastic Four is a team and a funnybook series, but three of the Fantastic Four [three of them, plural, so "they"] are holding a meeting at five o'clock Friday in the Baxter Building.
1 What Say Youse?:
This is why it sounds funny when a British sports announcer pluralizes team sobriquets that ring as singular to American ears: "Chelsea are now top of the table" or "England are favored to win their group." But if a man watches enough Sky Sports, it just seems normal. He may even start doing it himself. What begins as affectation ends as habit, like so many things.
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