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Something about me? I have been a nerdy cinephile for as long as I can remember. Putting the two together is living my best life. That notwithstanding, I was born to express, not to impress, so I blog because I don't have friends. In other news, I like hashtags because they look like waffles, prefer my puns intended, and I always give 100% unless I'm donating blood. Thanks for reading.
The first family of Marvel comics, which will now become MCU’s Fantastic Four, has not had it easy on the big screen. Their trek in cinema has been one colossal fart-and-fall-down project after the other. Here’s their timeline:
- Constantin Film purchased film rights back in 1986. This is the German-based studio that brought us, Monster Hunter, The Mortal Instruments, the Windstorm, Wrong Turn, and Resident Evil franchises. So, there’s that winning record of cinematic achievement.
- In 1992, there was a B-movie turd by New Horizon Studios about the Fantastic Four. However, it was “never meant to be released.” Kevin Smith once interviewed Stan Lee about this non-movie, who said, “[The Fantastic Four film] was made because “the studio that owned the rights would have lost them if a film wasn’t made by a certain date.”
- So, since Constantin wasn’t going to do anything with them, they sub-licensed the rights to 20th Century Fox. In 2005, we got Fantastic Four, which earned the equivalent of being beaned with loaves of stale bread and tomatoes.
- In 2007–not that we asked–we were given Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. (YAWN!)
- Both movies earned a collective $635 million, which canceled a planned Silver Surfer spin-off.
- A decade later, Fant4stic made Dr. Doom weak, bitter and squashed in an anticlimatic five minutes. Nothing was “fant4stic” about this film.
And now, we are getting MCU’s Fantastic Four. Next to the Hulk, have any comic book characters been given more chances to be, well, not crap?! Today, Kevin Feige had something to share that was fantastic news.
MCU’s Fantastic Four Already Exists
Well, it happened! We’re past the time for spoilers, so we can say that MCU’s Fantastic Four has already begun. During Doctor Strange in the Multitude of Madness, there he was in all his elastic glory–John Krasinski as Reed Richards. What a glorious moment that was for fans. Sure, he was transformed into super spaghetti five minutes later, but please, he’ll be back.
From Roger Corman in 1994 to Tim Story in 2005 and then the Josh Trank fiasco in 2015, the Fantastic Four have been anything but on the Silver Screen. But now, Kevin Feige has the reins to make this quartet of superhumans awesome as they’ve always been in print. Although it’s a mystery how MCU’s Fantastic Four will look, one thing is definite — there will not be an origin story!
“A lot of people know this origin story. A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before? We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.”
Kevin Feige, The Hollywood Reporter, July 28, 2002
Wasn’t The Batman refreshing because we didn’t have to relive Bruce’s parents getting waxed outside the theater? Of course, it was. Odds are, Feige saw the film too and thought the same thing. Thank the ghost of Stan Lee for that!
As Feige shared at Comic-Con, MCU’s Fantastic Four will kick off Phase 6 and hit theaters “sometime in 2025.” The story will be original because of the POV we’ll get in the film. Also, Doctor Doom has already been wreaking havoc in the cosmos, so that’s a plus!
Hey, we have waited this long for them to get it right. What’s another couple of years going to hurt?
Something about me? I have been a nerdy cinephile for as long as I can remember. Putting the two together is living my best life. That notwithstanding, I was born to express, not to impress, so I blog because I don't have friends. In other news, I like hashtags because they look like waffles, prefer my puns intended, and I always give 100% unless I'm donating blood. Thanks for reading.
This article was edited by Zach Smith.