A Reel History: THE FANTASTIC FOUR on Film

This week, famed superheroes THE FANTASTIC FOUR finally enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), as the 37^th film in the series that began in 2008. The “first family” of superheroes, which had its comic book debut in 1961, has had an up-and-down career on the big screen. Here is how it began, and what’s next: 

 

The F4 was created by Marvel legends Jack Kirby and Stan Lee as a reaction to rival DC Comics’ success with The Justice League of America. It was Marvel’s first superhero team, and it was made up of Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), the leader of the group with super-stretchy ability, Sue Storm (The Invisible Woman), Reed’s girlfriend and later wife who can turn invisible and render force-fields, Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), Sue’s younger brother who can generate flames, and Ben Grimm (Thing), who has stone-like flesh and tremendous strength. The team was often at war with Dr. Doom; arguably Marvel’s greatest Big Bad. With various personalities and (ahem), fantastic abilities, the team was ripe for big-screen adventure. And it began with: 

 

THE FANTASTIC FOUR (1994, unreleased)

 

This now infamous abortion of a movie was made by low-budget effects specialists Roger Corman and Bernd Eichinger, with no intention of ever releasing it. It was made only for Eichinger to keep the film rights to the property. Although never officially released, the film has been around online via pirated copies. With low budgets, lousy acting, and hilarious special effects, this F4 was probably better off never hitting the big screen, as it may have killed the superhero genre for decades. 

 

 

FANTASTIC FOUR (2005)

 

The movie rights to the F4 eventually went to 20^th Century Fox, and they produced this earnest and fun origin story. Despite mixed reviews and dodgy early CGI in places, this F4 was a box office hit, finishing as the 11^thhighest grossing film worldwide. The cast included Ioan Gruffud as Reed, Jessica Alba as Sue, Chris Evans as Johnny, Michael Chiklis as Ben, and the late great Julian McMahon as Doom. It would be nominated for Best Science Fiction Film at the Saturn Awards, losing to STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH. 

 

 

 

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (2007)

 

The team and cast were re-assembled for this 2007 sequel that had them meeting another one of Marvel’s iconic characters, The Silver Surfer (voiced by Laurence Fishburne), and teaming up to save the Earth from yet another one of Marvel’s Big Bads: Galactus. It was again met with mixed reviews and was a box office hit, although it earned less than its predecessor. 

 

 

 

FANTASTIC FOUR (2025)

 

A third film with the original cast was planned but scrapped, leaving Fox to reboot the series and delivering this joyless mess that deserved to flop. Supposedly directed by Josh Trank, this F4 had chaos behind the scenes, a ho-hum cast (Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell), and watching the film…it was apparent it had gone through a wood-chipper in the editing. It was met with bad reviews and bombed. 

 

 

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (2025)

 

In 2019 Disney acquired 20^th Century Fox and mercifully brought the F4 back home to Marvel. This reboot will forgo any origin story and have the team active in an alternate universe, doing battle with Galactus. The cast includes Pedro Pascal (TV’S THE MANDALORIAN), as Reed, Vanessa Kirby (THE CROWN), as Sue, Joseph Quinn (Eddie from TV’s STRANGER THINGS), as Johnny, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (TV’s THE BEAR), as Ben. Galactus will be voiced by Ralph Ineson (NOSFERATU). The film opens wide July 25^th in IMAX and standard formats.