The latest Fantastic Four movie has opened and it looks like it’ll be another failed outing, both critically and monetarily. What this means for the future of the franchise and the license remains to be seen. But it doesn’t seem likely that Fox would want to give it another go. Three strikes and you’re out.
Does that mean Marvel Studios would finally get a shot at it? Again — too early to tell. The bigger question is, has the brand been too damaged at this point for another attempt to ever be possible? Even if Marvel got the chance to reboot the franchise yet again, would audiences be willing to give it another shot, after three poor movies in barely a decade? It would be an uphill battle, but here are some points I think they’d need to follow in order to achieve success.
Skip the Origin
If the Fantastic Four gets another reboot, the producers will need to differentiate themselves from the past installments in a number of ways. The first, best way would be to skip the origin and jump right into an interesting story. Any specific circumstances about their origin can be given as footnote-like flashbacks, inserted at appropriate moments. But there’s no reason to make audiences grind out 90 action-less minutes for a movie they’re already reticent to see. All we need to know is they followed Reed on an excursion where they accidentally got their powers.
Reed is the Lead
Yes, what makes the FF special is that they’re a family. It’s an ensemble film. But it still needs to be somebody’s story. That somebody should be Reed. Will the Thing and/or Human Torch steal the show? Probably. And that’s great. But at its core, it’s not a story about a young hot-head that bursts into flames. It’s about a man whose difficulty relating to others emotionally led him to turn his family into monsters. With this in mind, casting an extraordinarily charismatic Reed is absolutely crucial. You need an actor so compelling that he holds your attention even doing nothing. Someone with the gravitas of a Liam Neeson (if certainly a bit younger). Don’t let Reed’s stick in the mud, emotionally distant character description lead the actor down the wrong path. His detachment is due to passion. A passion for science. For his mission of redemption. He should be taut. A cool surface that covers a boiling pot. The FF never really works when it goes “grim and gritty.” The film needs humor, joy, and adventure. But a serious and compelling Reed anchors it and keeps the world from being entirely goofy.
Forget Doom
Yes, Dr. Doom is the primary FF foe. But he’s also really difficult to pull off in a live-action setting. For one thing, as soon as you completely cover an actor’s face in a film, you’re tying both their hands behind their back. Leaving Doom on the shelf also helps separate a new film from the previous attempts, which mostly included Doom. And there are so many other great FF villains to choose from. Put the spotlight on a new, underused bad guy and you might pique the interest of movie goers who might otherwise think they’ve seen it all already.
Get off the Earth
It’s not a coincidence that the FF’s original costumes look so much like those of Jack Kirby’s old Challengers of the Unknown. The FF have always been, at their heart, explorers. Whether in outer space, inner space, or alternate dimensions, their best stories almost always take place away from Earth. Even the iconic “Coming of Galactus” story, while mainly earthbound, had the tone and feel of an inter-galactic epic. The current movie seems to make a nod at it, but all the previous films have missed this sense of exploration.
I’ve seen some “think pieces” out there over the weekend that suggest the Fantastic Four just can’t work as a live-action feature. Their powers are too goofy. The characters are too one-dimensional. None of that is remotely true, in my opinion. The Fantastic Four characters and stories hold as much, if not more, film potential as any other superhero comic franchise. The problem with the movies to this point is not with the material. It’s been the execution. The problem in the future will be to get audiences to give it another chance. If Hollywood misses again, it will certainly be over for the Fantastic Four.
