Will we ever get to see a decent Fantastic Four movie?
Because let's face it, when talking about the greatest superhero movies of recent times, you wouldn't include any of the Fantastic Four movies that have been released. Being honest, we would have to say they were among the worst, ranking alongside such pre-MCU Marvel movies as Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, The Punisher: War Zone, and Elektra. And this is a shame because, like the X-Men, the Fantastic Four contains characters that should fit perfectly on the big screen.
A human ball of flames, an invisible woman, a hulking great man-beast, and a man who can impress drunken party-goers with his stretchy bodily parts; the Fantastic Four, on paper at least, should have found cinematic success already.
So, why haven't they? Why have the Fantastic Four movies been less than fantastic thus far? And will we ever see a film that will bring the Fab Four (no, not the Beatles) acclaim on the big screen? Let's shed light on the misadventures that have taken place so far.
The Fantastic Four Movie You Have (Probably) Never Seen
When we mention the Fantastic Four to you, chances are, the 2005, 2007, and 2015 movie iterations will spring into your mind. But another Fantastic Four movie had been made before these cinematic missteps, but unlike the later box office clunkers, this one wasn't officially released.
Production began in 1992 on The Fantastic Four by the Roger Corman-owned New Horizon Studios, but unbeknownst to the cast and crew, the studio (allegedly) never intended to release the film. It was apparently rushed into production so German film producer Bernd Eichinger could retain the rights to the Fantastic Four before his contract with Marvel expired. Well, this is the story that has become commonplace, though as stated in an article at Looper, it has since been disputed by Eichinger, who claimed Marvel exec Avi Arad, worried that the film would sully the reputation of the heroes, stopped the studio from releasing their film.
Whatever the case, the movie wasn't a very good one anyway. While sticking close to the Fantastic Four's origin story, the film suffered from a leaden script and terrible special effects, so only the most ardent of fans will care about the film's existence. The full film can be streamed on YouTube if you're interested in seeing it, and the documentary, Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four, is worth a watch if you're curious about the backstory.
Check out the trailer for the unreleased 1994 movie below:
The Fantastic Four Movies That You Probably Wished You Hadn't Seen
Director Tim Story brought the comic book characters to the screen with 2005's Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer. Unlike the Corman quickie of 1994, these films budgeted at over $100 million and raked in millions more at the box office. But while audiences flocked to see the films, they came away less than impressed. They didn't do well critically either and, on a recent evaluation, the 2005 movie was deemed worse than the unreleased 1994 effort.
So, why were these films so bad? Well, of the two, the 2005 movie was the worst. Despite a good cast, including pre-MCU Chris Evans as the Human Torch, and Jessica Alba as the Invisible Girl, the film was just dull. As with the later 2015 movie, there was a lot of build-up but very little action, and when the action did arrive, it was very uninspired. There are only two 'big' scenes in the movie where the heroes show off their powers, but bad editing ruins what could have been exciting showstoppers.
The 2007 movie was marginally better, and it had a lot more action than the 2005 movie. The film also brought in the Silver Surfer, and some of the best scenes in the film revolve around his interactions with the Fantastic Four. But despite being based on The Galactus Trilogy, one of the most revered comic book sagas in the Fantastic Four universe, there is too much focus on the domestic life of our heroes in the movie. Galactus, the so-called 'big bad' of the movie, pales in comparison to the comic book counterpart, becoming less a devourer of worlds, and more a weird smoke monster. And while the heroes use their powers a lot more in this film, they still do so more for their own personal use (in one scene, Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, uses her power to hide a pimple), than for anything actually world-saving.
No further sequels were made, and that, dear readers, is a good thing.
The Fantastic Four Movie That Darkened Our Hopes And Our Screens
2015's movie should have been great. With an excellent cast, including Miles Teller and Jamie Bell, and Josh Trank, the director of Chronicle, the super powered movie that came out of nowhere to please fans and non-fans of comic book movies alike, the expectations were high for this one. But as we all know by now, the film was a complete disaster and did little to elevate itself above the films that came before it. Part of the problem lay with the darker tone as, in an attempt to do something different, Trank decided to forego the jokey spirit of the comics and earlier movies in favor of something gritty and more grounded. For many, this was a serious misstep on his part. According to the director, the studio recut his film, and he famously tweeted this before the film was even released: "A year ago I had a fantastic version of this. And it would’ve received great reviews. You’ll probably never see it. That’s the reality though." We will never know!
Studio interference or not, the crew revealed their own details of the disastrous shoot, so it was clear that all was not well with the film at a very early stage. It ultimately bombed at the box office, and with its lack of action and misguided tone, did little to please movie critics.
Will There Be A Decent Fantastic Four Movie?
Will we ever get to see a decent Fantastic Four movie? Well, Marvel Studios now have the rights to the heroic foursome after Disney made a deal with previous rights holders 20th Century Fox last year. There is no news yet on when we might see the Fantastic Four back on the big screen, although Screen Rant predicted a possible 2023 release. We also have no news on story details or casting, although as we discussed in an earlier article, there have been rumors that husband and wife team John Krasinski and Emily Blunt might star in the film.
Now that the Fantastic Four are in the relatively safe hands of the MCU, we predict good things for the foursome. We have been burned before, of course, more so than the Human Torch, but with the box office success and critical acclaim afforded to other Marvel properties within the MCU, we hold high hopes for the future of the Fantastic Four. Flame on!!