Not to be too scathing to the four iterations that have come before, but perhaps the greatest thing working in the favor of Matt Shakman’s Fantastic Four reboot is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version doesn’t even have to be all that good to go down in the history books as the team’s best-ever outing in live-action.
Sure, there are people out there who view Tim Story’s duology through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia, but when the 1994 original was made for pennies solely to keep hold of the rights and the other one is the single worst-reviewed Marvel Comics adaptation in history, then the bar hasn’t been set particularly high.
That doesn’t mean the filmmaker isn’t feeling the pressure, though, after he admitted to The Playlist that he’s focusing on getting it right and ensuring it somehow manages to live up to expectations.
“I’m thrilled that people are as passionate about these characters as I am. The fact that there is so much debate, I love it. I have been thinking about who should play these characters before I had the job to direct the movie, and I understand why everybody would be thinking in the same way. Chemistry is super important…It’s Marvel’s first family. I have to get it right. I have to get that chemistry right.” As for a casting announcement: “it’s not going to be immediately when the SAG strike has resolved, but we’ll be able to share some news at some point. And I hope people are as excited about this cast as I am.”
Once the strikes are over the rumor mill will be grinding to a halt when casting is finally announced, and after that it’s off to the races for Fantastic Four, which not only has to follow a quartet of predecessors that range from unreleased to unimaginably awful, but try and go against the grain and become a Multiverse Saga project that over-delivers.