The Fantastic Four: Marvel's Unfortunate Streak Continues

Marvel Studios has faced a string of unfortunate events during the development of its Fantastic Four reboot, but these hardships are not unfamiliar to the iconic first family of Marvel. The prospect of introducing the Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is incredibly exciting, but the production of the movie has been riddled with problems thus far. Along its tumultuous journey to the silver screen, the MCU's Fantastic Four reboot has experienced changes in directors and writers, and now, progress on the film has been completely halted due to two ongoing Hollywood strikes. While it may appear that Marvel's own Fantastic Four film is plagued, it is worth noting that almost every individual who has attempted to bring the Fantastic Four to life on screen has encountered similar obstacles.

Marvel's Current Fantastic Four Problems

Disney finalized the acquisition of 21st Century Fox in March 2019 after more than a year of negotiations, making it a remarkable $71.3 billion deal. As a result, the film rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters were once again under the control of Marvel Studios. This newfound ownership allows Marvel to seamlessly incorporate beloved superheroes such as Deadpool, Wolverine, and the Thing into the immensely popular Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). During the renowned San Diego Comic-Con, Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, enthusiastically announced plans to integrate the Fantastic Four into the MCU through a franchise reboot. Although slated to be released on May 2, 2025, as part of the highly anticipated Phase Six of the MCU, the reboot might face unfortunate delays due to various challenges encountered during pre-production.

Roger Corman's Unreleased Fantastic Four

: Jon Watts, the director of the MCU’s Spider-Man movies, was initially chosen to lead the upcoming Fantastic Four film. However, he decided to step down in order to take a break from directing large-scale superhero movies. Not long after, at the Mouse House’s D23 event, it was officially announced that Matt Shakman, known for his work on WandaVision, would be taking over as the director of Fantastic Four. Initially, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer were set to write the script, but they were quickly replaced by Josh Friedman. With various changes in writers and directors, the progress of the film was then halted due to the Writers Guild of America strike. Unfortunately, with the recent SAG-AFTRA strike, Marvel has been forced to temporarily halt their casting search for actors to play the Fantastic Four. Although filming was originally planned to begin in January 2024, it is uncertain whether this schedule can be upheld if Marvel is unable to resume their casting efforts in the near future.

During the early 1990s, an attempt was made to create a Fantastic Four film by none other than Roger Corman — a highly renowned producer in the history of Hollywood. Corman's notable contributions to the industry include the production of influential, yet low-budget, genre films, which led to the discovery of legendary filmmakers like James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola. Additionally, he chronicled his successful producing career in the book "How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime." In 1992, Bernd Eichinger of Constantin Film approached Corman to produce a low-budget Fantastic Four movie, solely for the purpose of retaining the film rights to this property. By 1994, Corman successfully produced a film titled "The Fantastic Four," featuring Alex Hyde-White as Reed Richards and Rebecca Staab as Sue Storm.

Trailers for the film were showcased in theaters, and director Oley Sassone embarked on a promotional tour alongside the cast. However, the movie never saw the light of day. The Fantastic Four has faced allegations of being an "ashcan copy," created solely to retain the rights held by the rights holder. None of the individuals involved in the production were informed that it was solely an ashcan copy, never meant for release. Therefore, the actors were just as surprised as anyone when the movie remained stored away. Marvel Comics struck a deal to transfer the rights to 20th Century Fox, ultimately enabling them to produce a high-budget Fantastic Four film a decade later, capitalizing on the rising popularity of comic book adaptations through franchises like Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man. While the original movie was never officially released, either in theaters or on home media, a few illicit copies of the film have made their way into circulation.

Josh Trank's Fantastic Four Fiasco with Fox

Following the critical failure of Fox's initial Fantastic Four films, the studio made an effort to rejuvenate the franchise with a darker, Nolan-esque reboot in 2015 titled Fant4stic. However, once again, chaos unfolded behind the scenes. The production issues surrounding Fant4stic initially came to light when director Josh Trank expressed his dissatisfaction with the final cut in a now-deleted tweet (via Screen Rant). Trank stated, "A year ago, I had an incredible version of this film, which would have received outstanding reviews. Unfortunately, you are unlikely to ever witness it. That is the harsh reality." Trank accused the studio of interfering with his creative vision and releasing a version that did not align with his vision. According to anonymous sources from the set, Trank's original concept of incorporating "body horror" into the movie was potentially even more disastrous than the version ultimately released by Fox. Although the behind-the-scenes challenges faced by Marvel's latest Fantastic Four reboot are undoubtedly disappointing, they are far from unprecedented.