In 2005, 20th Century Fox released Fantastic Four, and in 2007, they released the sequel entitled Rise of the Silver Surfer. Unfortunately, both of these movies raked in less than desirable critic reviews and fan comments. Comic fans unanimously decided to forget all about Fantastic Four. Even Marvel seemed to have jumped on board when they decided to cast Fantastic Four’s Human Touch (Chris Evans) as Captain America therefore making any Fantastic Four x The Avengers crossover virtually impossible. Throughout the following years, Fantastic Four has been the brunt of Superhero movie-related jokes. But Fox has decided earlier this week that Fantastic Four will be rebooted and released on March 6th, 2015.
Now, I could spend the rest of this post listing all the reasons why the franchise failed in the first place. But the human attention span can only take so much. This leads us to the question: where do we go from here? What would be the best way to make sure that this time Marvel’s first family gets the film and respect that they deserve? Usually reboots are made from films that are successful, whether they are critically, culturally, or monetarily. Critically, Fantastic Four and its sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer garnered a 27% and 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively. Culturally, it’s a tough world out there for Fantastic Four fans; the films bring out groans among loyal fans. Much like how loyal X-Men fans try to forget The Last Stand and Wolverine (Juggernaut, who?). Monetarily, both films gained over $600 million which is pretty big haul considering that together the films’ budget was $230 million.
Still the image of Fantastic Four is tainted by years of taunting and jokes made at its expense. What’s worse is that since Rise of the Silver Surfer superhero movies have dramatically improved in quality. Just a year after Rise of the Silver Surfer premiered Christopher Nolan’s box office behemoth The Dark Knight batarang-ed into our hearts, and since then, audiences have expected more from their superhero films than they did before.
The answer to all this is simple. Stay as far away from the original movie’s plot/storyline as much as you possibly can. Tim Burton’s Batman is immensely different from Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins; those two films are light-years away from each other. Don’t give audiences reasons to compare the two. I love Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan’s takes on the Batman-universe as equally as if they were my own children. I love each for its own reasons. Each film shines for its own reasons. This new Fantastic Four needs to be recreated, remolded and given a brand new universe to shine in. It may be the superhero film nerd in me, but I refuse to close the coffin on Fantastic Four. I will always hold a human torch inside my heart for Marvel’s first family.
Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rotten Tomatoes
Author’s note: Less Jessica Alba is always good advice too
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What else do you want to see from the new ‘Fantastic Four’ ?
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