20th Century Fox’s The Fantastic Four is finally starting to move forward, with Fox and director Josh Trank (Chronicle) said to be testing several actors this month ahead of principal photography starting at the back end of March, and now we may have a plot synopsis for the reboot, which suggests radically different origins for Marvel’s First Family.
“The Fantastic Four will tell the tale of two very young friends, Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. After an event transforms the boys, they find themselves empowered with bizarre new abilities. Reed becomes a scientific genius who can stretch, twist and re-shape his body to inhuman proportions. Ben becomes a monstrous, craggy humanoid with orange, rock-like skin and super-strength. However, the two end up being owned by the government and used as weapons. But after they mature, two others with powers come into the picture – Sue Storm ‘The Invisible Girl’ and Johnny Storm ‘The Human Torch.’“
This synopsis comes by way of Acting Auditions, and there’s nothing to suggest its accurate, but we have heard similar rumours before, suggesting that the reboot would take inspiration from the Ultimate Fantastic Four comic book series, and considering the age of the actors said to be testing for the role, this one seems like it could be genuine. However, the original rumours came before rewrites from Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past), who was said to be “overhauling the script substantially”.
Update – Josh Trank has taken to Twitter to deny the report, stating that the synopsis is false…
that synopsis is definitely not the synopsis or anything close to the synopsis. i don’t know who put that out. byyee.
— Josh Trank (@josh_trank) January 24, 2014
The Fantastic Four is set for release on June 19th 2015, with Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) thought to be playing Johnny Storm, Miles Teller (The Spectacular Now) and Game of Thrones stars Kit Harington and Richard Madden said to be testing for Reed Richards, and Kate Mara (American Horror Story) and Saoirse Ronan (Hanna) up for Susan Storm.
Originally published January 24, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
