Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer is now officially streaming on Disney+ in the U.S. Originally released in 2007, the film is the sequel to 2005's Fantastic Four adaptation, with Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis reprising their roles as Marvel's First Family. The hope going in was that Rise of the Silver Surfer could be an improvement from its critically-maligned predecessor, but unfortunately it was panned in reviews. Rise of the Silver Surfer also fared poorly at the box office, grossing $289 million worldwide against an $130 million production budget. That performance led to the premature end of the series after only two installments.
As many viewers probably know, Fantastic Four was one of the Marvel properties Fox had the film rights to for a number of years (along with X-Men), but following Disney's purchase of 20th Century Fox's entertainment assets, those characters now fall under the Mouse House umbrella. Obviously, there's much excitement surrounding the Fantastic Four's expected integration into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though Disney's acquisition of Fox means they also own the back catalog. And, if fans feel so inclined, they can revisit those old cinematic adventures.
Disney+ subscribers in the U.S. now have the ability to stream Rise of the Silver Surfer whenever they chose. As of this writing, that is the only Fox Marvel film on the service. Check out a screenshot from Disney+'s website in the space below:
Bolstering the Disney+ launch lineup was the primary reason why Disney was interested in buying Fox. Even before that purchase, the streaming service was set to have a rather deep library of titles thanks to the Mouse House's popular subsidiaries like Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar, but Fox gives Disney+ another advantage in the streaming wars. A number of major Fox projects, including Avatar and The Simpsons, are on the service, illustrating Disney is interested in taking advantage of what Fox has to offer. It'll be interesting to see if any of the other Fox Marvel films make their way to Disney+. Unlike the missing MCU and Star Wars movies, the first Fantastic Four and Fox's X-Men movies don't appear on the service's search function, so whether they'll be added or not remains a mystery for now.
Rise of the Silver Surfer probably won't be anyone's first choice when they want to stream a superhero movie on Disney+, but it could make for an amusing watch on a rainy day. It's no secret comic book adaptations have evolved tremendously since this film was made. Though the 2000s saw mega hits like Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, this was still an era when the superhero genre was still trying to find its footing, which led to some woefully misguided efforts. Rise of the Silver Surfer now acts as a glimpse into that moment in history, when things like the MCU and Chris Evans as the altruistic Steve Rogers were barely a thought in anyone's mind. Hopefully, when Marvel reboots Fantastic Four, the results are much better.