Fantastic Four has become a never-ending topic of debate for MCU fans since Marvel Studios introduced John Krasinski’s Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Revisiting Marvel’s first family has also brought up dissent centered around 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2015’s box office bombed adaptation, Fant4stic, from Josh Trank. It begs the question, is there any element deserving of praise from past iterations produced under the then 20th Century Fox banner? For starters, some think the MCU should take pointers from the earlier costume.
Doctor Strange 2 medalling with the multiverse has opened up possibilities that were once considered beyond wildest dreams, imagine Ioan Gruffudd’s Reed Richards, Jessica Alba’s Susan Storm, etc possibly returning as variants in MCU’s next “Avengers: Endgame” type culmination. With the franchise seemingly headed to explore the Secret Wars arc from Marvel comics, the storyline which involves every multiverse variant, the chances of the studio touching upon every past live-action adaptation is conceivable.
While Trank’s first family flick is largely a failure, 2005’s adaptation has surprisingly earned a seat in the list of successful Marvel films, or at least according to some film enthusiasts. Fans of the 2005’s Fantastic Four and its sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer have recently come to appreciate the film’s campy setting. Many are also suggesting the Tim Story-directed franchise would be a blockbuster success if it were to release in the present time as a family-friendly live-action. Chris Evan’s Johnny Storm and Michael Chiklis’ Ben Grimm bond was one of the few light-hearted elements that audiences loved, as mentioned below. Additionally, the rubber skin-fit suit seems to have a fandom of its own as well.
why is everyone suddenly talking about the fantastic four
— Katy 🦇 (@ItsAWarning) May 16, 2022
I hope the mcu fantastic four movie uses a rubber suit for the thing like they did in 2005. It looked so real and good then it can loo real and good now pic.twitter.com/MVeKvGfzGQ
— Spider-Ken ( x-men era ) (@DailyPowrRangrs) May 16, 2022
it really is funny seeing twitter switch up so hard on movies so long after their release. if you had asked anyone last month what they thought of the 2000s fantastic four movies the most positive thing you would probably get is "they're okay" https://t.co/uF49EBKDEf
— SNF_1989 (@SNF_1989) May 16, 2022
Stumbled upon some Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer costume screentests which show off some unused redesigns they were gonna do before opting to update the ones from the first film. pic.twitter.com/RqVpxA9XJz
— Christian (@chriswashere321) May 16, 2022
The original Fantastic Four movies are masterpieces. pic.twitter.com/7ALxM6ZLBY
— Brandon 🦇 (@The_Brandon_) May 15, 2022
Yeah I don’t care I love these movies. They all I have for decent live action Fantastic Four content and I will continue to eat it up! https://t.co/maUyJDYYHY
— Ollie 🏹 (@TheQuiver_) May 16, 2022
The reason why Fantastic Four are masterpiece : https://t.co/cCFIBWUjdz pic.twitter.com/7NsynV1Sw2
— Midnighter Comics (@Midnighter1309) May 16, 2022
I really hope John Krasinski will play Reed Richards in Fantastic Four. pic.twitter.com/dHiq7nkdXq
— Matt Ramos (@therealsupes) May 16, 2022
Fantastic Four (2015) is an understood disaster pic.twitter.com/ccJA4epPXB
— Ollie 🏹 (@TheQuiver_) May 15, 2022
So far we’ve only maybe even seen 1 member of the MCU Fantastic Four and Twitter has already delusionally gaslit itself into thinking the other 3 movies are somehow misunderstood masterpieces. This shit happens like clockwork EVERY TIME
— JWTCosplay (@JWTCosplay) May 16, 2022
If the exact same Fantastic Four movies came out today under the MCU brand they would get 91% on RT and gross $800 million dollars https://t.co/8Cd2gZx4es
— ale alejandro (@alexdounce) May 16, 2022
I'd also like Deadpool to pull up one photo of Chris Evan's Fantastic Four character and just kinda sigh and say "Simpler times…" before adding it to the folder as well https://t.co/CKjYA1bn4X
— SavageBxtch (@SavageBxtchBeat) May 15, 2022
In the case of Fant4stic, it was a disastrous mess coupled with Trank having no creative control that ultimately bombed at box office and perhaps the only Marvel movie to have received massive negative press after its release. In fact, star Jamie Bell who played Ben Grimm in the movie also said it’s “famously a disaster”.
A Fantastic Four live-action from Marvel Studios is currently in limbo without a director. It’s unclear if there are plans to utilize Krasinski’s Mr. Fantastic as the main version of MCU or if he could even helm the project. The last update revealed Moon Knight producers Grant Curtis and Nick Pepin are onboard the TBD project.
