How to make a great Fantastic Four movie

Written by Jeremy Gabryszak

There have been many Marvel properties brought to the screen ever since X-Men in 2000. There have been greats like Spider-Man and the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. X-Men has their own universe in a way. But there’s been some misses like the Punisher films that flopped despite being good in their own way and Ghost Rider which was laughable. Thankfully, Marvel bought the rights and will hopefully make them great again.

One Marvel property that hasn’t been done right for the fans and box office is the Fantastic Four. There was a box office success with the first adaptation in 2005. Mr. Fantastic and The Thing were greatly cast and the Doctor Doom looked great and had his moments. They could’ve done better with Susan and Johnny Storm. Filmmakers could’ve went with their original choice of Charlize Theron and Paul Walker which would have made the team great but the studio thought otherwise. Thankfully, Chris Evans moved on to greater things like Captain America.

Then last year, Fantastic Four went for a reboot like all the other properties that wanted to become good. They were on the right track with a rookie director who directed the superhero like film Chronicle. Also, the film had a great rookie cast which I admit I was a little skeptical of. The film wasn’t as horrible as everyone states it is. Honestly, I’d rather watch the 2015 film over Rise of the Silver Surfer any day.

Miles Teller was a great Reed Richards. Jamie Bell was surprising as Thing but still won’t be Michael Chiklis. Kate Mara did a decent job as Susan Storm but the reshoot scenes were laughable because her wig was noticeable. Michael B. Jordan is a great actor but just didn’t fit the character of Johnny Storm. Maybe he will be better off as the villain in the Black Panther solo movie.

Unfortunately, you had a director who had too much to handle and had a penchant for fighting with his actors. Also, Trank kept trying to work his film Chronicle into the movie. Who knows if we’ll ever see this greatest Director’s Cut ever made that Trank claims to have. The script was bad because you had different stories that were being blended together because the studio thought the original script was too much. The Doctor Doom was just horrible. The look was bad and his performance was on par with Anakin Skywalker from the prequel Star Wars movie. Toby Kebbell is a great actor and would’ve been better suited for Eddie Brock/Venom in the now cancelled Amazing Spider-Man 3 or his great villainous role Koba in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. But Doctor Doom was a big Noooo!

If they do a sequel or another reboot, here’s how I think it could be done:

1. Pick a filmmaker who has more than one movie and/or works outside the superhero genre: Josh Trank was a good pick because of his work on Chronicle but this was his second film. He went from modest budget into a huge budget. It would scare a lot of rookie directors and drive them insane. Peyton Reed did a lot of romantic comedies and comedy so people were skeptical when he was hired to direct Ant-Man and replacing Edgar Wright whose done superhero like action with World’s End and Scott Pilgrim vs The World. All skepticism was thrown out when Reed did a great job. Another example being the Russo Brothers. They were known for only doing the show Community. But they took Captain America and made it even better with the great Winter Soldier and the classic Captain America: Civil War. Marc Webb did a great job with the Amazing Spider-Man films despite doing romantic comedies like Peyton Reed did. Brian Singer only did thrillers until he did X-Men. Also, Tim Burton doing Batman coming off of doing Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and Beetlejuice. So the film needs a director who’s not used to the superhero mold because maybe their own touch can make the movie special. 

      2. Pick a screenwriter who knows the material: The original writer did know the material but the studio felt they needed a more experienced writer on it. Unfortunately, they picked Simon Kinberg. Kinberg is mainly an X-Men writer and has really no knowledge of Fantastic Four. He did a hatchet job on the script by blending his story with the other writers and basically the script was a big mess. The movie needs a writer that knows the material. If the writer is a fan, even better. Better yet, find a great storyline from the comics and put that in the film.

      3. Less studio interference: 20^th Century Fox needs to loosen the reigns. The first attempt at Fantastic Four in 2005 would’ve had great casting but they felt it needed bigger stars for parts and it failed. Last year, same thing. They called for reshoots way after filming was done. Kate Mara had already cut her hair so she had to wear a noticeable wig for those scenes. Also, they demanded the script be changed. The new movie will be better if the studio will just let the filmmakers do their job. If people who know the material are part of the project, they should know the film is in good hands. Also, if the studio wants to be part of it, they should only be part of it if they know Fantastic Four and not act like they know how to make a Fantastic Four movie which they don’t. If X-Men and Deadpool can do the characters right, let Fantastic Four do it.

4. Casting: Both films from 2005 and 2015 had some great casting and miscasting. For the new movie, they can still use some of the crew from the 2015 movie. Miles Teller is a great Reed Richards so I think he should stay. Kate Mara is good but if she doesn’t want to reprise her role as Susan Storm, a new actress can be found. Maybe Brie Larson if she doesn’t do Captain Marvel. And she’s the same age as the rest of group and played a girlfriend turned ex-girlfriend of Miles Teller in another film so she can play the relationship and tension between Susan and Reed. Michael B. Jordan is going to another movie so Johnny Storm needs to be replaced. So picking a blonde or similar looking guy to Susan Storm will work. Maybe Taron Egerton and it would work if Brie Larson did do it. Jamie Bell was good as the Thing but put clothes on him. Thing does not have to be naked. This isn’t Zack Snyder. If Doctor Doom is used, pick a better actor or someone that knows the character and can play the role right.