Fantastic Four writer Jeremy Slater explains that his initial drafts of the universally-panned 2015 superhero flick featured very different villains to the one that ended up in the film. Directed by Josh Trank with a script from Slater and X-Men: The Last Stand writer Simon Kinberg, the film is perhaps the best example of how not to do a modern comic book movie reboot. With issues stemming from the initial production stages to troubled re-shoots, Fantastic Four was a box office bomb and picked up two Golden Raspberry Awards, for Worst Director and Worst Picture, with even star Jamie Bell now considering the film to be a disaster.
Similar to the mid-2000s attempt at a live-action Fantastic Four movie, the 2015 reboot saw the team go up against their classic adversary Dr. Doom, who was played by Toby Kebbell. Even though Kebbell was coming off an acclaimed turn as Koba in 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, his take on Dr. Doom was not as well-received; one of several aspects of Fantastic Four to earn negative reactions. Of course, Dr. Doom is hardly the only member of the Fantastic Four's rogues gallery, and some may wonder if the film would have turned out better with a different villain. At one point, the superheroes were set to face off against someone else entirely: Galactus.
In an interview with ComicBbook, Slater outlines that his first draft for the film featured the Fantastic Four encountering Annihilus in the Negative Zone, where they would also encounter Galactus, who would then act as the film’s main villain. He also describes his second draft, which featured Annihilus again, but this time he was “20 feet tall and Cybernetic” and would be the one to apparently kill Victor Von Doom. Slater goes on to say that he is keen for Annihilus to show up in the MCU at some point, saying that it's “good news he hasn’t been used yet.” Find the full quote below:
"We had Annihilus in my draft of the original Fantastic Four when they went to the Negative Zone for the first time they were attacked,"[...] "In the very first draft, they were attacked by Galactus and the whole plot, it was Galactus had fired his sort of cosmic radiation through the portal and then you found out Galactus was sort of tracking that radiation back and was on his way to Earth."
"In the second draft, they actually encountered Annihilus and he was 20-feet tall and cybernetic... I pitched him as the T-Rex from Jurassic Park and the way he would be sort of hunting and attacking them, and it seemed like he was the one who killed Victor and they barely got back through the portal in time but it felt like a really fun twist or fun way to use Annihilus that we hadn't seen before."
"For one of a thousand reasons, that was something that got changed in that movie. But the good news is he hasn't been used yet. He's still out there, and he's awesome. So out there I have no doubt Annihilus is showing up at some point, it's just a question of is he Fantastic Four or is he part of the different cosmic universe MCU stuff? I don't know."
From the sounds of it, Slater’s initial ideas are far more inspired and entertaining than the mess that was eventually released, particularly his use of Galactus. While the MCU is still waiting for its first real inclusion of Galactus, the only cinematic outing to date has been a complete disappointment. In Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer, the Devourer of Worlds featured as a giant cosmic cloud which disappointed comic book fans and movie goers alike, a move that Slater likely didn’t repeat in his drafts. Similarly, his use of Annihilus would have added a unique and interesting twist to the film's uninspired depiction of Planet Zero, the name confusingly given to the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four’s re-writes.
Overall, it's a real shame that Fantastic Four was so troubled in its production, as the initial marriage between Slater and Trank showed real promise. Slater is clearly a huge comic book fan and his early ideas could’ve given the film a much-needed sense of excitement and adventure, whilst Trank was hot off the heels of 2012 indie hit Chronicle. However, it wasn’t to be and whether or not the fault can be leveled at studio interference or Trank’s unwillingness to work with Slater’s ideas is only something they can answer.
Source: ComicBook