Fox takes another shot at the Fantastic Four

Are they in the N-Zone? Are they in Latveria? Only time will tell.

photo via collider.com under the Creative Commons license

Are they in the N-Zone? Are they in Latveria? Only time will tell.

The Fantastic Four are some of the most original and unique superheros within Marvel’s wide arsenal of comics. Having various series published since as far back as 1961, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby have solidified these four characters as some of the most iconic creations in the history of comics.

In 2005, 20th Century Fox took a crack at adapting the concept into a film and failed miserably. There was never any clear sense of direction in terms of which issues it was attempting to be based off, it was a tonal catastrophe and the performances were heavily uninspired. Then in 2007, there was an equally unsuccessful sequel which suffered from the same mistakes, which killed any hopes of the franchise’s progression. Now ten years after the failure of presenting the group’s origin story, Fox will yet again reboot this beloved series.

Miles Teller as Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic.
photo via collider.com under the Creative Commons license
Miles Teller as Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic.

Debuting on Aug. 7, the Fantastic Four is directed by Chronicle’s Josh Trank and written/produced by X-Men: Days of Future Past scribe Simon Kinberg. The film also stars the such young talents as Miles Teller (Whiplash), as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara (House of Cards), as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle) as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Jamie Bell (The Adventures of Tintin) as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) as Victor Domashev/Dr. Doom. So immediately, the credibility and potential is much higher than it was in comparison to the previous films.

So immediately, the credibility and potential is much higher than it was in comparison to the previous films.

— Alec Badalian

Hopefully, this will end up being the truly incredible Fantastic Four movie fans deserve, and judging by people behind the project, chances are these hopes will be fulfilled. So much speculation had been going on about this film due to the fact that no footage or images have been released despite the fact that it is coming out so soon. But all this secrecy shows the cinematic expertise of Trank and Kinberg. By keeping details under wraps, fans are left with the burning desire to see all these surprises unfold without any prior conceptions as to what they may be, which is exactly what the movie’s teaser trailer does: It teases, it doesn’t show.

Thankfully, the trailer gives away the perfect amount of information, which is nothing at all. Essentially no plot points are revealed, almost no dialogue is spoken and none of the grand action scenes are prematurely revealed, which is something many modern trailers fail to do. The movie is very clearly influenced by Bryan Hitch’s the Ultimates series, judging by not only the young ages of the protagonists, but also the more dramatic tone, something the original film was severely lacking.

What sets the Fantastic Four apart from the Avengers, as a unit, is that they’re fundamentally a family (a surrogate family, but a family nonetheless). Their relationships with one another are beautiful, and if this movie manages to nail the interactions between these characters, then this can undoubtedly be one of the best comic book adaptations in quite some time. Hopefully from now until its release, Fox doesn’t drop the ball and reveal anything too important.