Fox’s “Fantastic Four” Reboot Gets Universally Panned By Critics And Bombs At The Box Office
Fox’s “Fantastic Four” reboot opened in theaters on August 7th and even before it did, several websites and reviewers decided to break the review embargo that Fox had set for the day of release. “Fantastic Four” has the lowest rating for a superhero movie currently on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 9%. The movie was expected to be at the number one spot for the weekend and gross around $45 million dollars. But once the negative reviews started flooding in, it affected the box office gross of the movie and it came in at #2 behind “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation” and grossed around $26 million dollars domestically and it appears now that the foreign box office is not going to save the movie either.
So what happened? I wanted to point out that I haven’t seen the movie but have read several reviews and spoilers for the film. There was a part of me that did not want to go see it with hopes that the rights would go back to Marvel and Disney but if it did receive favorable reviews, I would have seen it at some point. Director Josh Trank is putting the blame on Fox for studio interference and Fox is blaming Trank for his erratic behavior and not wanting to film re-shoots for the film. More than likely, it is a combination of both but I have been following this disaster since it was first announced and I clearly blame Trank. I think the big problem is that Trank didn’t know the subject matter and wanted incorporate his own spin on the story. One problem is that the Fantastic Four is considered Marvel’s “First Family” and it sounds like there is no real family dynamic in this movie. In the movie, Sue is the adopted sister of Johnny Storm but it appears that their relationship is barely addressed. In the comics, Johnny is portrayed as being wild and Sue is the big sister that is always there to bring him down to Earth but also defend him. Reed had a relationship with Sue and eventually they marry. And Ben has always been portrayed as a brother to Reed and eventually the uncle to Reed and Sue’s children. Another problem is you could tell from the very first trailer that they were going dark with the movie. It works for Batman and it works for X-Men but not the Fantastic Four. The Fantastic Four should show light hearted fun and be family friendly. I actually enjoyed the first two Fantastic Four movies that Fox did and they fell into that category of being light hearted and fun. Another problem is that they got Dr. Doom wrong again. Dr. Doom is considered by some to be comic books’ greatest villain but for some reason Fox just doesn’t understand the character. Darth Vader was partly inspired by Dr. Doom and Doom should be more like Darth Vader in the movies: a ruthless leader, dark, intimidating, powerful, someone who is seen walking and creating fear with every step. That should be Dr. Doom. In the end, the strayed to far away from what the comic book was and Trank decided to make his own dark and dismal movie and just add the names of the characters of the Fantastic Four to his vision but barely any movie goers found his vision enjoyable.
What’s Next For The Fantastic Four?
Fantastic Four 2 was scheduled to be released in 2017 and directed by Josh Trank. I’m pretty sure that is not going to happen now regardless of what Fox says. Most fans would love to see the Fantastic Four movie rights go back to Marvel but what is the likelihood of that happening? Here are some possibilities and things to consider:
- The Fantastic Four has to be shelved for several years – With Fantastic Four doing horribly at the box office and being panned by the critics it has made them less marketable and valuable for whoever will own them in the future. They may have to be shelved for several years.
- Fox needs to make a Fantastic Four movie every 7 years or else the rights will go back to Marvel – The last Fantastic Four movie was “Fantastic Four: The Rise Of The Silver Surfer” and came out in 2007. 7 years later Fox had to start working on a Fantastic Four movie and that is how we got the latest reboot. How likely is this? It happened with Daredevil. The first Daredevil movie was made in 2003 and a new Daredevil movie was to go into production in 2010 but Fox had no confidence in the movie and decided to scrap the movie and just let the rights go back to Marvel.
- Fox does not sell the rights back to Disney/Marvel – Both Disney and Marvel have a bad relationship with Fox. Marvel has openly spoke out against the way Fox has gone with their superheroes in Fox’s movies and Fox has responded by saying they do not need or want Marvel’s help with the franchises that they acquired from Marvel. Disney purchased Lucasfilm and that was Fox’s bread and butter since they distributed all of the Star Wars films. I can understand Fox being upset with that more than anything else because most people associated Fox with Star Wars and now it will be Disney. I am sure that Disney has tried to acquire the Fantastic Four from Fox in the past and Fox is just not budging. The franchise is not really profitable for Fox and Disney still owns the merchandising rights
- The failure of the Fantastic Four reboot somewhat helps Disney and Marvel with acquiring the rights back from Fox – As I mentioned, the Fantastic Four is less valuable now after the failure of the movie. How much worth does the Fantastic Four have to Fox? Not much. They may scrape a small profit after the release of the movie to home video but most people that saw the movie despite the negative reviews will probably not want to spend money on the sequel. Also Disney/Marvel own the rights to merchandising and that is a big piece of the pie. There are no toys out there for the movie and Marvel cancelled the Fantastic Four comic book series because Disney/Marvel did not want to promote the movie. If Fox holds onto the movie rights to the Fantastic Four it is because of the bad blood between Fox and Disney/Marvel. Another problem is that even if Disney does acquire the rights, the Fantastic Four is more than likely tainted in the public eye. Does Disney want to acquire a franchise that will not make them money? I doubt it but I think the one thing Disney/Marvel needs is villains: Dr. Doom, Galactus and Skrulls. We could also see a Thing vs Hulk fight in a movie and all comic book fans would love to see that.
- Fox and Disney/Marvel can come up with a similar deal to the Marvel and Sony Spider-Man deal – Fox is doing great with The X-Men and Wolverine movies but they are lost when it comes to the Fantastic Four. They need help from Marvel. Marvel has shown that has a great track record with their movies because they understand their characters. Sony realized that they were having difficulty with the public adapting to their version of Spider-Man and a mutually beneficial deal was made where Marvel would help Sony with the Spider-Man films and Marvel could use Spider-Man in there movies like “Civil War” and “Infinity War”. Fox is aware of this deal and they could be open to a deal where they still retain the rights of the Fantastic Four movies but also have some of Marvel’s characters show up in a Fantastic Four movie and having the Fantastic Four in an Avengers movie would help promote their property. It was just revealed that Fox is currently in negotiations with Marvel with bringing some of the X-Men to their own TV series. Fox is all for it but they do not have the rights for a TV series, which means they need Marvel to sign off on it. That could open the door to some sort of deal with the Fantastic Four coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Fantastic Four is a great superhero team and one of my favorite comics growing up. Can a great Fantastic Four movie be made? Yes and one has actually been made and it’s called “The Incredibles”. “The Incredibles” movie was basically the Fantastic Four and my favorite Pixar movie. Get a great director, great writers and just get that family dynamic right and you will have a fantastic “Fantastic Four” movie.
“Spider-Man” May Have A Larger Role Than Expected In “Captain America: Civil War”
Recent rumors have hit the internet that Spider-Man’s role in “Civil War” would be very small and just a cameo. But now according to BMD.com, Spider-Man’s role will be much more than a cameo and he will have a battle with someone well known in the MCU.
From BMD.com
It’s important here to know that Tom Holland shooting his bit isn’t the same as Spider-Man shooting his bit. Spider-Man has been on that set for a while, played by stunt men. All you need Tom Holland for is any Peter Parker scenes, because otherwise he can come into a local recording studio and loop Spidey’s dialogue at any point between now and release. Basically if Spidey’s mask is off you need Tom Holland, but every other scene happens without him.
How many scenes will Spider-Man be in? I don’t know the exact number, but sources have recently made it clear to me that there’s more Spider-Man in this movie than I expected. Spider-Man doesn’t just swing by and say hi – he gets his hands dirty in this Civil War. He fights. And his fight scene might be the one that really gets fandom excited – not because of how top tier the face-off will be, but because of how profoundly dorky and unlike any other big screen superhero fight it will be.
So for the record: Peter Parker will have a cameo, while Spider-Man will have a few scenes and at least one fight that will be jockeying for a spot on the best superhero battles ever list.
Source: Birthdeathmovies.com
Possible Sides Revealed For “Captain American: Civil War”
The big question that most fans want to know is who will be on Captain America’s side and who will be on Iron Man’s side during “Captain America: Civil War”?
According to Heroic Hollywood the teams will be:
Team Captain America:
1) Captain America
2) Hawkeye
3) Falcon
4) Scarlet Witch
5) Ant-Man
6) The Winter Soldier
Team Iron Man:
1) Iron Man
2) The Vision
3) Spider-Man
4) Black Widow
5) War Machine
These teams actually seem really good to me but Black Widow on Iron Man’s side? In the movies and the comic books, she has shown a lot of loyalty to Captain America so it’s hard to believe that she would be against him. But she could be on Iron Man’s team as a double agent? Black Panther is still unaccounted for and it is possible that we may see still other characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe show up on one of the teams.
Source: Heroic Hollywood
First Look At Marvel’s “Star Wars: Shattered Empire”
Marvel released a few panels and synopsis for the upcoming comic book, “Star Wars: Shattered Empire #1″. This series takes place right after the events of “Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi”.
From Marvel:
Charge headlong into a new era of Star Wars comics as the first Marvel series to take place after “Return of the Jedi” kicks off this September! Today, Marvel is proud to present your first look at JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS – SHATTERED EMPIRE #1 – a brand-new series from the critically acclaimed creative team of Greg Rucka and Marco Checchetto. High above the forest moon of Endor, the Rebel Alliance makes their desperate last stand against the might of the Empire. Though they are successful in the destruction of the second Death Star, the Empire is far from beaten. Now, follow Shara Bey, an A-Wing pilot in the Rebel Fleet in the days following the Battle of Endor. Though their super weapon has been destroyed, Shara will discover that just how dangerous and unpredictable a shattered Empire can be! Don’t miss the explosive first issue as Marvel takes a deeper look into a part of the Star Wars universe yet unexplored in JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS – SHATTERED EMPIRE #1 comes to comic shops on September 2!
Source: Marvel
Sideshow Collectibles Corner:
“Spider-Man Symbiote Costume”
Spider-Man has had a lot of costumes throughout the years and the black symbiote costume has always been by far my favorite.
When Peter Parker’s classic red and blue costume is damaged, he unknowingly uses a Symbiote creature to reconstruct it, causing the alien form to morph with his body. As a living, thinking entity, the Symbiote bonds with Spider-Man, increasing his powers to create the high-flying, butt-kicking superhero seen in this fantastic gravity-defying sculpted figure. The Symbiote clings to every muscle of the web-slinging hero in his jet-black suit, physically displaying the intense connection between alien and human as he leaps into action, careening over a falling beam, just inches from the deadly explosion below!
The perfect representation of a harrowing and exciting chapter in the Spider-Man legacy, this meticulously sculpted statue is certain to make your Spidey-Senses tingle!
The “Spider-Man” Symbiote Costume premium figure is available for pre-order exclusively through Sideshow Collectibles at a price of $469.99 and will ship in the third quarter of 2016.
Source: Sideshow Collectibles
That’s it for this week!