In the modern age of comic book movies, there is perhaps no greater failure than Fox’s 2015 reboot ofFantastic Four. As much as people may have their issues withBatman V Superman: Dawn of JusticeandSuicide Squad, those movies were at least successful at the box office and are movies that had a lot of potential. There is very little positive to say about directorJosh Trank’sFantastic Four. Despite the fact that pretty much everyone agrees it was a terrible movie, it looks like Fox still wants to makeThe Fantastic Four 2.
Recently, long timeX-Menwriter and producerSimon Kinbergspoke with Collider in anticipation of the upcoming third and finalWolverinemovieLogan, which, unlikeFantastic Four, has been getting rave reviews. At one point the conversation turned toFantastic Fourand whether or not we would ever see an alternate cut of the movie, since there is quite a bit of footage that didn’t wind up in the theatrically released version.Simon Kinberg’s response made it clear that Fox isn’t done with the franchise yet and thatFantastic Four 2is still very much a possibility. Here is what he had to say.
“I don’t know the answer to that in terms of whether or not fans will ever see it. I think B-roll is probably the place where they will see it. And for us, it’s in the past in the sense of lessons learned and we would love to makeanother Fantastic Four movie. We really believe in that cast, and I think the lessons that we learned would help us make a more consistent movie than we did the first time.”
There was always the possibility of another reboot at some point down the road, but the waySimon Kinbergtalks about it here, it looks like they would like to bring backKate Mara,Miles Teller,Michael B. JordanandJamie Belland let them have another go at it. There are many that hope the rights for theFantastic Fourwould revert back to Marvel Studios, which is still a possibility, but not a likely one. When asked if Fox would actually have to keep makingFantastic Fourmovies in order to keep the rights,Simon Kinbergadmitted he didn’t know the answer to that question, but also made it clear that they wouldn’t just make the movie simply to retain the rights.
“I have no idea. I think the truth is we would not make another Fantastic Four movie until it was ready to be made. One of the lessons we learned on that movie is that we want to verify we get it 100% right, because we will not get another chance with the fans.”
They probably already have blown their chance with fans as there is virtually no desire to seeFantastic Four 2happen, but there are other problems.Michael B. Jordanis one of the most in-demand stars at the moment, despite the failure ofFantastic Four. In fact, he is already getting a shot at anothersuperhero franchise. He will be playing Erik Killmonger in Marvel’sBlack Panther. That movie is being done for Marvel Studios, andFantastic Fouris currently owned by Fox. At the moment, the two studios aren’t really getting along very well, with Marvel pullingX-MenandFantastic Fourmerchandise off shelves, and decreasing the presence of those characters in the comic books. The fact thatMichael B. Jordanhas defected may make it tricky for him to return forFantastic Four 2. Though the actors did sign multi-film contracts, but it isn’t clear where that all stands now. In any case that is something that would need to be addressed.
As it stands,Josh Trank’sFantastic Foursits at an abysmal 9 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with an equally awful 18 percent audience score. The movie also failed miserably at the box office, bringing in only $167 million worldwide on a very high $120 million production budget. Despite that,Simon Kinbergmakes it sound like Fox would want another shot at it. If anyone would know, he would. Not only has he been writing and producingX-Menmovies for more than a decade, but he is rumored to be directingX-Men 7for Fox as well, which would be his directorial debut. So he is very much in the know when it comes to the Marvel properties at Fox. Let’s just hope they are too busy makingDeadpoolmovies to dedicate any resources toFantastic Four 2.
