Of course it’s debatable which title is really the worst Marvel film ever. But for us, in the end, it’s 2015’s “Fantastic Four” – which ProSieben is airing tonight from 10.40 p.m.
After the two at best mediocre “Fantastic Four” blockbusters with Chris Evans and Jessica Alba, there was still a lot of room for improvement in the franchise – and the signing of “Chronicle” director Josh Trank along with a top-class cast additionally fuelled hopes that the obviously emphatically dark “Fantastic Four” reboot could be really, really good.
But fiddlesticks! Not even Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell as the titular superhero quartet could save anything in the scandal-ridden production, in which the producers and the director did not agree on the direction. “Fantastic Four” turned out to be a lousy movie – grumpy, lousy craftsmanship and completely uninspired.
The flop of “Fantastic Four” including the mud-slinging behind the scenes cost Josh Trank his job as the upcoming “Star Wars” director – and we can understand Kathleen Kennedy & Co. somehow:
This “Fantastic Four” has such a long exposition that after the first 60 tranquil minutes one would at least expect a massive showdown to compensate for all the uninspired groundwork. But then the finale turns out to be just as disappointing as all the rest – and despite the rumoured 120-million-dollar budget, the effects already looked hopelessly outdated when the film was released.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR IN MCU
In early May 2021, Marvel released a trailer for the 4th phase films in the MCU – with first scenes from “Eternals” as well as new titles for “Black Panther 2” (now called “Wakanda Forever”) as well as “Captain Marvel 2” (now called “The Marvels”).
But that’s not all: At the very end of the video, a mysterious logo in the shape of a 4 appeared, which probably doesn’t stand for Phase 4 and also not for “Avengers 4” …
.. Instead, it is the final confirmation that Marvel finally wants to bring the “Fantastic Four” into the MCU after Disney’s takeover of 21st Century Fox – and that still in Phase 4, the current start date is 6 November 2024. However, the new film will not build on Josh Trank’s previous work – the 2015 versioln simply went down far too badly everywhere and also completely tanked at the box office.
After “Spider-Man: No Way Home” director Jon Watts dropped out of the project, “WandaVision” creator Matt Shakman is now to take over the direction of “Fantastic 4”. A cast, however, is not yet known – only Jodie Comer (“The Last Duel”) seems to be set. It seems highly unlikely that fan favourite John Krasinski (“A Quiet Place”) will reprise his role as Mr. Fantastic, which he embodied in a cameo in “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness”, in the MCU reboot.
OTHER CANDIDATES FOR WORST MARVEL MOVIE
Of course, one can argue whether “Fantastic Four” is really the worst Marvel film of all time – after all, there are other hot candidates like “Captain America” from 1990 or the Roger Corman version of “Fantastic Four” from 1994. But better a crazy trash like this, with which you can at least have a little fun, than a soulless studio bore like Josh Trank’s “Fantastic Four”, which isn’t even worth watching with a certain ironic distance.
