Fantastic Four Getting Rebooted

I didn’t HATE the first Fantastic Four movie. No, I didn’t like it all that much, but it had it’s moments. The second Fantastic Four movie was just dreadful garbage. Absolutely nothing positive or redeeming about that one… but still it made ok money.

There were a couple of good casting decisions in the franchise (Chris Evans was pretty good and so was Chiklis), but those were offset by some terrible ones too (not the least of which was Jessica Alba as the Invisible woman). When the last film was received so poorly I had major doubts we’d even see another Fantastic Four movie again. Well… it looks like we are. But with a totally different cast and crew.

Yup, looks like the studio is going to reboot Fantastic Four. Our good friends over at IESB give us this:

Fantastic Four over at 20th Century Fox is gearing up for a reboot.

With Daredevil already getting the once over and Planet of the Apes also in the running for a new start with a prequel in the works Fantastic Four is joining the reboot gang. The two films previously released never really caught on with the fans and the studio is reportedly looking to completely retool, recast and recrew the franchise. This means no Tim Story, no Iaon, no Julian (thank the maker, he never sat well with me as Dr. Doom), no Chris, no Chiklis and no Jessica.

The word is that they want to go more towards Iron Man and Dark Knight by making the new Fantastic Four a little less Saturday Morning Cartoonish.

Now, some will say that it’s too early for a reboot… and I would have agreed with you two years ago, but the recent Hulk reboot proved you can do an early reboot and still make it work… and work really well too.

I’ve always thought there was a lot of potential with a fantastic four franchise and I still do. They just need to cast it better, give us some actual… you know… action (the big fight sequence in the last movie was between the Fantastic Four and a Ferris Wheel. Yes, you read that right. The big fight involving the whole Fantastic Four Team was then they has to combat the evil forces of a falling Ferris Wheel. Go team! The film was called “Rise of the Silver Surfer” and yet the Surfer has just a little more screen time in the movie than I did.

For now I’ll say I’m interested in this news. A lot will depend on who they get to direct it.

Comment with Facebook

85 thoughts on “Fantastic Four Getting Rebooted

  1. sorry about that first one.. anyhoo

    Yes Marvel has been screwing up for sometime now. I hope they can learn theyre lessons Mark Steven Johnson = Lame, Brett Ratner = Cheap, Sam Raimi = Sappy, Lexi Alexander = 80’s Cheese and Tim Story = Kindegarden. They seem way to intent on pushing these franchises out the door to make a quick buck. Yes Reeboots might be a good idea.. for some. NOt all. How many reboots can u do before people jus dont care anymore? FF would probably be a good idea, Chiklis was the only one i liked, jus need to find someone who cares. I truly believe the Marvel U has the best characters and stories ever written. SO i look forward to a new FF, Especially after the first two flops and Whats That? George Clooney as Reed Richards?? YES PLEASE!!!

  2. Never really liked the FF movies, might be because i don’t really like them in their comic form either.

    Honestly couldn’t care for a reboot if the franchise remains in the hands of Fox, they ain’t exactly hotshit these days at the least they have a chance to redeem some of the awful choices made with the first 2 movies. If FF went back to Marvel you can colour me interested.

    I do agree it sucks for Chris Evans who was the probably the best thing about the FF movies.

  3. are they rebooting this to make more money or that they just realize that the previous 2 movies were actually garbage and felt ambarassed about it and hope to redeem their dignity by making a better one without JessicaAlba and Co, so it pleases the fans and critiques and make more money??? it doesnt matter who plays it, really i dont think its about JessicaAlba or whoever, if the producers, writers and director does not know what the heck they are making… it could just be
    another 10 more reboots and its all the same garbage.

    If the cast and crew of TDK sucked, TDK would sucked too, and it doesnt matter if the acting is incredible, cause the movie will have bad writing/story/and bla bla bla. so overall it just stinks. ^^; oh boi are we glad that TDK didnt suck right?? its the whole cast and crew that makes a movie good,

    if the writing/directing of the previous FF was incredible, Jessica Alba wouldn’t even be in the movie. ;)

  4. Do the Silver SUrfer movie, and have the new Fantastic Four cameo at the end.

    Keep Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis.

    Get a couple of good actors like Dominic Sena and Hilary Swank to play Sue and Reed?

    Rinse your hands of the excrement that was the first two movies. Reboot with Namor (David Boreanaz)as the villain/anti hero, and then spin him off too.

  5. shouldnt the second film have been titled, ADVENT OF THE SILVER SURFER, i know it sounds like shit but it makes more sense than RISE OF THE SIVLER SURFER.

    1. No. Not exactly. It was a VERY EARLY 90’s movie. And it was NEVER released on DVD/VHS/THEATERS at all. It’s only available in Bootleg form. I hear it was REALLY bad as well. But I’d leave that up to you, if you can find a copy.

  6. I’m all for a reboot and a recast. Hopefully they will make them older too, except for the torch. Maybe even get Mickey Rourke for the Thing. I’d rather see him as a main marvel goodie than get cast as a bad guy in Iron Man. I’d also they skip the origin story for the first movie or at least start the movie with the FF already together and fill in the origin with flashbacks if they feel the need. And they really do need to get Doom right.

  7. Studios should stop “rebooting” franchises, and just try to make the next SEQUEL better. If a story arch is finished, then maybe they can talk reboot.

  8. Both Evans and Chikilis were fine, even if I always had a problem with the Things height. He just seemed too short and that bothered me. It would be nice if they could keep them and loose everyone else, especially Alba. I never bought Gruffudd as Reed either, but he wasn’t as bad as Alba. I would also ask that the writers actually read a FF comic. If they had they would have realized that Sue Storm is not a damsel in distress, she’s arguably the most powerful member of the FF and one of Marvels true bad asses. Whoever they cast to play her needs to not only be good looking, but believable playing a strong character.

  9. I say get Mikey Back as the thing he was the best thing about those movies. Chris Evans was alright personally I would have love to have seen Mark Paul Gosseler as Johnny Storm… As Sue Storm I say get someone a little older maybe Johannsen would work. She is awesome or Kate Blanchett as Sue as Reed I am not sure..Alfred Molina or Johnny Depp… Someon who can be the smart guy and you can tell that he is. Maybe get the actors to actually read the damn source material.

    Doctor Doom two words Ed Harris

  10. you know the second one sucked when i don’t even remember it that well. it was almost as bad as ghost rider (which i fell asleep during.) so, hope they get their stuff together and put out a good new one.

  11. I read some people complaining about reboots. That it’s too soon. With Comic book characters it’s never too soon for a reboot. A new creative team on the Fantastic Four movie is comparable to a new creative team coming in on the Fantastic Four Comic Book. I would love for them to reboot the Daredevil movie as soon as possible. Gritty R Rated Crime thriller in Hell’s Kitchen. Directed by Arnofsky starring Ryan Gosling. That would be bad ass. I could only dream. And Bullseye would actually have a costume.

  12. I agree, the casting was good, but the whole imbalance bewtween family matters & superhero time was just too great. And the second was the same, but it was also too focused on Johnny getting serious. We like the torch because he’s immature! I agree with a reboot, but I disagree with Fox. Sell the rights back to Marvel. Trust me, you’ll make more money.
    As for story, I hope they take it from Reed’s pov. But there are so many stories with the FF, you could take just any of them & make a good movie. Who knows. But, hooray! I’ve been praying for this since I saw the 2nd.
    I liked Daredevil. Director’s Cut was great imho. I am somewhat sad it’s being remade. Oh well.

  13. FF has always been one of favorite comics because the “cosmic” storylines. Being introduced to the “Elders of the Universe” and other cosmic characters you would not see in any other Marvel comics. Get the FF off earth and into the Negative Zone and other cosmic adventures, it could really work. Keep Evans and Vic Mackey, cast a new Doom, Sue Storm and Reed Richards. I agree that a dark FF is a recipe for failure, since its always been somewhat friendly to younger readers. Too bad Marvel Productions can’t do it, then they could introduce Namor/Sue Storm storyline. I would love to see characters like “The Stranger” “Thanos” “The High Evolutionary” “Master Order and Lord Chaos”.
    Follow me here, this is weird choice for Stretcho, but I can see Jeff Goldblum playing Reed Richards, he has that nerdy smart guy thing about him. Katherine Heigl for Sue Storm?

  14. Anyway…here goes the whirlwind. Hang on. Here we go.

    Paul mentioned the “new FF” should have more of a harder edge. That wasn’t the problem with the previous two films. There’s nothing wrong with being PG clean. The comics themselves had a light tone to an epic feel. However, how would anyone feel if Sue Storm-Richards started wearing some of her outfits from the mid 90’s on? I’m a bit iffy on that, not that I would mind.

    Where does this leave The Silver Surfer spinoff? Do they reboot that without rebooting or how does that work? If it’s an origin story, does *that* Surfer fit into Story’s FF, or the “new” one?

    When I first saw FF2 in theatres, I didn’t mind it, thought it was alright. But after so much “saving the London Eye/ferris wheel” and that the biggest draw of that film was hardly in the film I rented the film again on DVD, and also listened to the commentary. At that (third) viewing, I realized that I liked it less…and less…and less…and less…the capper was the reason for the Galactus Storm Cloud. “We don’t want to take anything away from the filmmakers who do the Surfer film” assuming, of course, one gets made, assuming of course, Galactus looks more like Galactus and less like this Ultimates garbage Marvel seems in love with. But yes. I don’t like FF2 Rise Of The Surfer now. Give me another month and I’ll flat out hate it.

    I’m not in favor of a reboot/restart, however. I’d much rather recast where recasting needs to be. BUT if this is restarted/rebooted I know ***the***major problem of the last two films will be taken care of. That problem has a name, Jessica Alba. I also fault the way the character is written. Come on, strange alien threatens the world, people in a panic, and she becomes this whiny litl b—- the world is about to be sucked up and dried up death and destruction everywhere worldwide but “my” wedding must proceed, and I’ll get super jealous when my hubby to be has a PG rated party at a dance club, being the whiny b—-that I am! Ya Think?!

    The chance to get Doctor Doom right. Or at least, have him become the bad guy. Look, the last film had it *spot on* but chose, for reasons unknown, to neuter him when the film came to life. Consider: Galactus is coming, the countdown is on. Ticking clock. Doom gets the Surfer’s powers. How brilliant that was. How too quickly it ended. They should have milked that, sucked on that tit for another ten to fifteen minutes! It upped the stakes! It upped the interest!
    They took a dump on it! Arrggghhh!

    Doctor Doom is reduced to a peon; Surfer is a guest star gimmick (and now apparently pointless) Galactus a letdown (and the Surfer stopped him by doing something…he could have done before…?) and Alba was too young to be Sue. Her ethnic heritage was never an issue for me or anyone else. It was only her age and/or her thespian skills. She was the weakest link, goodbye!

    Both Evans and Chikilis were standouts in the past two films because they played active characters instead of whiny Sue Storm/Alba and the passive Richards/Gruffoud- although Ian’s Reed was slowly getting more fleshed out. Just not enough.

    As much as I’d hate a Daredevil reboot, it’s been some time and if they call it Daredevil: Born Again, that’s a huge plus.

    But what to call the Fantastic Four Reboot? It’s not like ‘Hulk’ where they can add ‘Incredible’ to it (and nod to the TV show at that)—that’s the problem that would have to be addressed.

    So, my proposal is NO REBOOT. But simply recast where they need to recast. If they did reboot, who wants them back in space to get hit by the cosmic wave again, even for five minutes (about the same time onscreen in #1)?

    That is, of course, if I *wanted* to see another FF movie. Way I really see it? If they are second bananas to the Surfer, they should go into space next film, go explore The Negative Zone.
    Fight some skrulls. Meet Adam Warlock.

    Something.
    Otherwise, give the mantle to other Marvel characters. In fact, just proceed on Silver Surfer and….and….and…oh I want to say it. I want to say it soooooo baaaadddd…

    Kcuf the Fantastic Four!

    I know. You all hate me…

  15. This is exciting news! I dont know how great it is, depends on who they get to direct and star.

    I agree with John that the Hulk reboot worked really well considering the time in between. It would be cool if they can tie this movie into the rest of the marvel ‘universe’ they are creating with the Avengers.

    I’m still hoping for little cameos, ie Tony Stark in the Incredible Hulk with these other properties. It would be cool to have something like that in the Spider-man franchise.

    1. I don’t think the Fantastic Four and Spider Man franchises are going to cross over into the Avengers franchise. The Avengers and it’s different subdivisions are owned by Marvel whereas Fantastic Four is owned by Fox and Sony owns Spider Man.

  16. they didn’t just “battle” the ferris wheel, that wasn’t their big battle… their battle was with doom in the end, where they combined their powers to defeat him. i’m not defending the movie, i didn’t think the movie was that great but i think it’s misleading to say that they fought only a ferris wheel. just my .02.

  17. Fantastic Four casting, directing, script, and action scenes were all horrible. I was just thinking how cool it would be if they got someone like the Watchmen director to make an R Rated fantastic four with extreme action, violence, and sex. It would be so much more bad-ass and you know it.

  18. This is why the studios should invest some actual talent the first time around and not have to reboot.
    It’s great that Iron Man and The Dark Knight have raised the bar on comic book films and we can expect more from them now.
    The Fantastic Four movies were throwaway trash and were instantly forgettable. A less cheesy tone and a more intelligent script can help this franchise. The special effects also need a lot of work, they were terrible in the first two movies.

  19. i want ALL of the following villains in it too

    von doom being the leader of the following 3 villains
    -paibok
    -super skrull
    -onslaught

    and have the silver surfer too as a bad guy/good guy
    and bring in galactus at the end (NO CLOUD!)

    oh IT WILL WORK

  20. i like reboots…the original didnt work so theyre rebooting it…makes sense

    or maybe the movie was 40 years ago and new technology and better CGI demands a reboot…understandable

    BUT

    it is 100% IMPOSSIBLE to re-cast ben grim….its either the shield guy or NO ONE

    1. oh sure..they can open a cast call for strong built 5’7 bald caucasian males but he wont be famous and he wont be the guy from the shield..hes perfect

    2. he can be recast, i know people are tired of hearing the Ledger example, but people said the joker couldnt be recast and nicholson was perfect for the role, but then came in Ledger and knocked it out the park, the same could be for whoever is cast as the thing

  21. I’m for it. I didn’t see the first Hulk movie, so I didn’t have anything to compare the second/reboot to and I really enjoyed it. I also did not see either of the F4 films, as they both looked really crappy to me. Awesome, I’m all for a reboot of F4. Maybe it will be worth my time this go round :)

    1. “Exponentially”? Isn’t that a bit excessive? Louis Leterrier might be reading this forum! You don’t want to insult his feelings, do you?

      BTW, don’t be a hypocrite. ;)

    2. Hypocrite? Sure. I was making an objective analysis. By the way, The Incredible Hulk was actually a pretty good movie. Just not nearly as good as the original. For all we know, the dude may actually agree with me. When I say, “I can’t stand Louis Leterrier. He’s terrible-looking. He should never make any movies ever again,” THEN you can call me a hypocrite.

    3. What’s that Royal? Sounds like unsought input.

      We all have our perspectives. Me pointing out that “impressive” is more objectively descriptive than the term “better”, which is mostly just a vague opinion, appeared to you to be some sort of defensive maneuver. What you don’t know was that it was both offensive in nature and in purpose. Your reply to my praise of the original HULK film wasn’t valid.

      But who am I to ruin your fun? Knock yourself out. Entertain yourself with the notion that your logic is blinding and against it there is absolutely no victory. Convince yourself that I am at your mercy, and that there is no escaping your flawless line of reasoning.

      And while you’re at it, why don’t you come up with another irrelevant comeback in an attempt to change the subject? Those were cute.

    4. Going for the flaccid ad hominem non sequitur, Jake? FWIW, the equivalent of chest-pounding and grunting doesn’t make for a sound argument. And, yes, you are a hypocrite. I’m sorry if that hurts your feelings.

    1. So you would rather they ignore the franchise then because another sequel would be certain to fail after the decline in quality from the mediocre first installment to the embarrassing sequel?

      It needs a reboot if it is going to survive at all. And with Marvel having such success with the “real world” hero angle it would make sense to drag their other properties (even if owned by different studios for now) to be in line with that simple concept.

  22. It was how Doctor Doom got fucked up that hurt me the most. He is the greatest villain in all comics for my money, is the ruler of a country, and if he managed to conquer the rest of the world he could probably do a better job running it than anybody.

    Yet what was he reduced to in the first film; perving at Alba through security cameras (not blaming Julian for any of this mind you).

    I got suckered into seeing the second one for some strange reason and felt like my money had been stolen so it is going to take a hell of a lot to get me to see another ‘Fantastic Four’ from Fox.

    1. I liked the actor they used and I thought he did the role well, but they shouldn’t have made him turn into living steel. That was dumb.

      In the comic he is scarred and wears the suit, and thanks to his genius he makes the suit give him powers. He is kinda like Iron Man if he owned his own country and was evil.

      They changed his concept to suit the lame ending. It was a poor reason for doing so.

    2. Yea, I agree. The liberties they took with the origin of Doctor Doom ruined the first movie for me. What was wrong with a Doom who’s powers were deep seated in mystical magic and technology? I didnt mind all of the actors so much compared with how they destroyed the script and storyline. The script doesnt have to stay 100% true to the comic books, but my God did they fudge that movie up.

  23. Please, for the love of everything good and wholesome, PLEASE do not cast ScarJo in ANY comic book movie. Hell, don’t cast her in anything. I can’t stand her! She’s not good looking! She’s passable as an actress. Sure, she’s good at pouting and *trying* to appear sexy, but you know what? On all other counts, two words: epic fail. She’ll inflate budget and the movie will turn to crap.

    Keepin’ it real since 1974. Royal out…

    1. “Don’t cast her in anything?” Isn’t that a little excessive?

      You’re trying to point out what you believe to be an objective point, but you’re using subjective reasoning: “I can’t stand her! She’s not good looking!” Just how high are your standards?

      I highly doubt you would say any of that to her face. And yes, I would tell Alba that she’s a bad actress to her face if the right moment presented itself, but only because it’s the truth, not with the intent of hurting her feelings.

      Celebrities are people too, man. Don’t just treat them like obsolete objects, open for excessive amounts of undue criticism. You think maybe Johansson reads movie blogs? Chances are she does. She could be reading your comment right now.

    2. “Excessive”? Didn’t you read where I said that I couldn’t stand her? I’m serious. She’s horrid. Sorry to poo on your affections for her. Just say no to ScarJo.

    3. I have absolutely no affections for her. Nice try. I’ve seen like, maybe two movies she’s been in. If anything I have been impressed by Jennifer Connolly, and…heck, almost anyone except for Johansson. You are completely missing the point. It’s like you didn’t even read my reply.

  24. This is a great Idea. I feel bad for Chris Evans though, he made a good Johnny Storm. I hope they go all dark 90’s scifi with this. like Sphere and Event Horizon style, or even more recently Sunshine.

  25. But can the Fantastic Four really work with a story and feel of Iron Man or The Dark Knight? I mean their whole shtick is very campy and “saturday morning cartoonish”. I don’t know, I don’t really like the characters or story.

    I hope they hire more capable actors than Jessica Alba. For me both movies SUCKED, I remember only silence when I saw both at the theaters, nobody was amazed nor anyone thought the lame jokes were funny.

    1. Speaking of capable actors…who do you think they’ll pick for The Invisible Woman?

      …Jennifer Connolly? :P

      The first few major blondes that pop into my mind are Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and…Qwyneth Paltrow?

      …None of which strike as good casting options. I wonder who it will turn put to be? It could end up in the hands of an unknown, or maybe someone I just haven’t thought of yet.

    2. Yeah Scarlett would be better than Alba. Most actresses would, I mean Alba is so boring on screen.
      Heck even Jessica Biel, or that chick from Mamma Mia and Big Love, Amanda Seyrfid or something.

    3. Kiddo, for the most part if you read the books it does lean toward a darker side. There is some light to it so I wouldnt say a full on Dark Knight groove would work at all, just LESS cartoony.

    4. :O didn’t know that, I’ve never been attracted to reading the comic books. They did look a bit campy to me, but hey if it works, then they should reboot it!

    5. I think they could lean into the Dark Knight approach a bit, and away from the cartoony stuff. There was some of that in the original FF comics, especially around Ben. The early comic where they rediscover the Submariner in a flophouse in NY would be a great start for a new script. Agree with everyone about the cast strengths and weakness, but the problems are mostly weak scripts, thin characterizations, and horrible misuse of Dr Doom.

    1. I’m with you on that. I mean, is it just me, or has Alba got to be one of there very worst actresses out there these days? Sometimes it’s almost a joke.

      Of all of today’s actresses, I think I appreciate Jennifer Connolly the most. Even if she wasn’t a total knockout she’d still be one of the greatest female actors there is.

      As for Fantastic 4: the first film was mediocre, and the second film was just plain bad, so of course I approve of a reboot.

      You know a movie that should totally get a reboot, more than any other movie? Alien 3! Before most of the original actors die, too. They should completely reboot it. Somebody tell that to James Cameron, please.

    2. i agree on the part of Alba jake, i only thought she was good in SIN CITY b/c she was easy on the eyes and thought she was hot in all those strippers scenes.

Leave a Reply