You know what’s great about superhero movies? If you don’t like one, wait a year or two and you’ll probably get a reboot. Back in March, Screen Rant reported that Fox was considering rebooting their financially successful (but critically panned) Fantastic Four franchise. Now we have confirmation. According to Variety, the Fantastic Four reboot will be produced by Akiva Goldsman (Jonah Hex and Hancock) and written by Michael Green (co-executive producer of Heroes and co-writer of Green Lantern).
When we first heard whispers of this reboot from IESB, the word on the block was that a reboot would be “darker.” Big surprise, right? Every superhero movie wants to get “darker” right now. Of course, darker is a relative term. As it stands, there’s “dark, but fun” (Iron Man) or “just plain dark” (The Dark Knight). I’m betting that Fantastic Four will be more like the former.
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What are the advantages of rebooting Fantastic Four? Well, for Fox, it means getting another crack at a franchise that has already grossed over $500 million. And since they’re starting over, they can lock in a cast for a multi-picture deal without breaking the bank. For fans, it means getting to see a movie that doesn’t suck goes beyond cliched action sequences and one-dimensional characters in order to actually tell a worthwhile story.
(click image for full-size version)
After Spider-Man and the X-Men, the Fantastic Four is one of Marvel’s most storied franchises, and the one that is most deserving of a good reboot, IMHO. Now that Disney has purchased Marvel, it’s a fair bet that all upcoming projects will see an increased level of quality control. Does that mean we’ll finally get to see Reed Richards crossing blows with Doctor Doom in a meaningful way? One can only hope so.
Because this is a breaking story, there is no director or cast in place yet. As more news comes out on this reboot, Screen Rant will be here. In the meantime, what do you think? Who would you cast if you were calling the shots?
Source: Variety
Image Source: Karl @ my.spill.com
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46 Comments
Anyone making a F.F. film could raise the bar at least 20-25% easy by doing four things.
1.Bring the old 1967 cartoon score back. Put it on a talented directors desk to put a light touch on it. Still has to resonate original.
2. Sorry but like Darth Vader both Mr. Fantastic and the Thing would sound better if the original voice actors did them. When Gerald Mohr did R.R. you just knew, this guy must
have a PHD or two. Paul Frees or Chuck McCann are head and shoulders above Chiklis, even if he did give it his best shot. Unfortunately, neither Gerald or Paul are with us anymore. I’m not even sure if McCann is still working. The closer you could get to those iconic voices the better.
3. Find a better way to do The Thing. I don’t think a normal
person can cut it.
4. Your budget has got to match the story! No wimping out on either one. If you haven’t got the cash to throw at it, then don’t do that story. That goes double for any “power cosmic” inspired stories. You know what I’m talking about..
I think the lineup should be:
Mr. Fantastic- Goofy
Invisible Woman- Jessica Rabbit
The Thing- Pete
Human Torch- Pinocchio (Not so human, but just as flammable)
Then you could have like a Scrooge McDuck/Dr. Doom or even a crazy Fing Fang Foom/ Pete’s Dragon sort of deal…
…wait…what? Fox still has the rights… oh, nevermind it’ll suck then.
P.S. I hate you Disney.
@ Daniel F- I agree the first two X-men movies were a blast, but they screwed up the universe we know and love so bad, the coninuity errors may prevent resuming the franchise(then again, its Fox, so nothing may prevent that) but you saw the atrocity that was X-men 3 and the crappy Wolverine movie. I mean, even in their attempt to get back to basics, they stunk up continuity like week old garbage. Eg. Baraka-pool, Victortooth, Gambit being present during Weapon X, just so many bad choices. I’m saying if Marvel had the rights back, we might see a reboot done right of these properties. Eg. The Incredible Hulk.
I don’t care how much like the comics it was. I’ve never been a source material freak. Just as long as the film is good I’m happy. X2 was one of the best comic adaptations to date.
That’s where I disagree with you. I respect enjoying the movies purely for the movie being entertaining, but part of the whole adapting comics to film appeal for us comic fans is seeing the characters and stories we know and love come to life before our eyes. Meanwhile, they want to “adapt” everything and, during that process, they lose part of what makes the story great. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, like about 40 years of comic history being passed up for X-men movies and making a storyline that mutates(hehehe) the very thing that inspired it. Worst case scenario of following the source material too closely is that it goes over the public’s heads, like Watchmen. But the best case scenario is taking the relationships and story elements that do work, focusing on them, and making a great story with it, like Dark Knight.
I’m a huge comic fan Huntthejest. I have a massive collection taking up more space than I have. THe thing is I like seeing something different on the screen. Sure some thing you don’t change like what they did with Deadpool, but I like to see some creative liberties it shows a little originalty plus it ensures I’m not gonna watch a story exactly how I’ve read it 20 times over. I love Dark Knight, but not your best example they changed a lot of the new Bat films and I mean a lot. So it’s not exactly a good example for you.
Sadly, I doubt it can get MUCH worse than the second Fantastic Four..kinda makes me weepy, thinking about how craptastic that movie was lol
i think they should make the thing totally CGI because michael chiklis looked absolutely terrible inside that costume,not him just the costume. the thing will look a lot more impressive if you make his character CGI. the rest of the cast looked fine to me.
If a re-boot is in the works, I hope the 4 are already established, not another origin story. I’d like to see Reed in his brainy prime.
Perhaps Thing could be de-thinged, towards the end. Then She-Hulk could join.
Maybe the son, Franklin could be included. His god-like time altering abilities would be more than the 4 could handle.
Casting? Maybe Gretchen Mol for Invisible Woman, Paul Walker as Human Torch, Matthew Fox for Reed Richards and Thing… That dude that played the most recent Punisher and he was Pullo in Rome. What’s his name?
Why do people ever suggest Paul Walker for things? The guy is a horrible actor.
Right Paul Walker sucks… bring back Chris Evans, or maybe Jared Leto.
@huntthejest
Nolan’s Batman almost completely forgot about his detective side. Their WEAK attempt to squeeze some of that in with TDK’s shattering bullet garbage was… well… weak, lol. And killing off Two-Face within 20 minutes of introducing him is not at all sticking to the source materia because Two-Face is a recurring villain…
But the movie was still good (except for that horrible ending sequence) in my opinion, just pointing out that it doesn’t really stick too closely to the source material, but is one of the best comic book adaptations I’ve seen…
So that mean Dr.Doom will finaly be a real bad guy ?
@ Daniel F
Agreed. They should take some liberties with the films, but keep the integrity of the story elements that work and have established the origins and relationships of the characters for decades the same. I mean, Tony Stark goes to the middle east instead of Vietnam-totally works. Good update. Sabertooth not knowing who Wolverine is= liberties gone horribly awry. I mean, they ignored some of the best Wolverine stories out there, the history between the two, and they had a fight scene that didn’t mean nearly as much because they didn’t establish the brutal relationship of the two. And now, they’re floundering in the Origin story to show that deep connection and its all for naught. Or the “liberties” they took with Doom that were less than awesome(read: sucked). Some things benefit from fresh takes(Joker’s make-up, instead of the always ridiculous acid bath). I just think Fox has a tendency to take the wrong liberties (ignoring Elektra’s heritage and casting a WASP, letting Bullseye be ridiculous, making Galactus a cloud)
@Ken J
I totally thought the same thing when I saw that scene. Waaayyy too much of a stretch. Scientifically, none of that “detective work” makes sense. Getting a fingerprint from the impression a shell made in a wall? One of a few scenes in an otherwise brilliant movie that never worked for me. Opening night, everyone else walked out of the theater saying “Awesome” and I, being the hardcore batfan, walked out saying “I saw four things I would’ve changed.”
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