One topic of conversation this year amongst movie fans was the failure of Josh Trank’s latest adaptation of Marvel’s Fantastic Four. The movie failed wildly at the box office, was denounced by its director and cast and there have been rumours that a sequel could already be scrapped. Prior to that, the mid-2000 adaptations of Marvel’s Fist Family (Fantastic Four and 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer) were also berated by fans, particularly the poorly-received sequel.
Also released this summer was Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man, which was a movie that was no stranger to a difficult pre-production itself, and the director shared his thoughts in an interview recently about why he thought Trank’s film failed and why no one can seem to adapt Fantastic Four.
“Fantastic Four in the comics was always the pinnacle of Marvel, the crown jewel — they were the first family of Marvel Comics,” Reed told Yahoo! News. “The two existing versions did massive pendulum swings from each other. One was very pitched toward younger kids and very broad, and the second was a much darker version of it. I just personally feel like they have not gotten the tone right. And man, it’s a bummer. I think the tone has got to be one of optimism, and you’ve got to take it seriously.”
He added that he would “love” to direct a Fantastic Four movie, but is working at the moment on developing Ant-Man and The Wasp.
“I think they haven’t really gotten Mr. Fantastic’s powers right visually on screen,” the director said. “I think there’s some really badass ways to make that [character] work. I just know there’s a great Fantastic Four movie to be had. I’m convinced that it can work.”
Originally published November 12, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
