We live in a golden age of superhero cinema, but the sad fact of the matter is that they can’t all be winners. Sometimes these movies divide audiences into “love it” and “hate it” camps, like Batman v Superman or Iron Man 3 did, and sometimes we all basically come together as a culture and agree that yes, the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot sucked.
Heck, even the film’s producer, Simon Kinberg, admitted it in an interview this week.
“We didn’t make a good movie,“ Simon Kinberg told Den of Geek, “and the world voted, and I think they probably voted correctly. And you can’t make a good movie every time out – not everybody does. We actually have a pretty good batting average, all things considered. But I think we made many mistakes when we made that movie – mistakes that we learned from and we wouldn’t repeat.”
Still, Simon Kinberg thinks there is hope for the Fantastic Four franchise, and even with the exact same cast as Josh Trank’s ill-fated reboot. The film featured an acclaimed cast of actors – including Miles Teller (Whiplash), Michael B. Jordan (Creed), Jamie Bell (The Adventures of Tintin) and Kate Mara (House of Cards) – and hardly anybody seems to think that the movie was their fault. Instead, a plodding plot and unnecessarily dark tone were singled out as the problematic factors.
![](https://www.mandatory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/mandatoryt_image_place_holder_r01.jpg?w=1024)
20th Century Fox
Also: Six Reasons Why Roger Corman’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Was Better Than The Reboot
Simon Kinberg seems to be aware of those problems, adding “We’ll try to be truer to the essence of the tone of Fantastic Four, which is completely – well, not completely, but largely – distinct from the X-Men, which is brighter, funner, more optimistic tone. I think we tried to make a darker Fantastic Four movie, which seemed like a radical idea but we were kind of messing with the DNA of the actual comic instead of trusting the DNA of the comic.”
20th Century Fox doesn’t have an impressive history of “trusting the DNA” of their comic book properties. Their first few X-Men movies took major liberties with the comics, from the costumes to the characters, and although there were a lot of things those films did get right, the franchise has been forced to produce multiple prequels in order to finally set up a world that looks more like the comic book series the fans loved in the first place. And although Deadpool became one of the most successful R-rated movies of all time specifically because it adhered closely to the comic book’s tone, the studio refused to make the movie for years for exactly that same reason.
Hopefully the success of Deadpool will remind 20th Century Fox that the comic books are popular for a reason, and that although some changes are always necessary when adapting a story for a different medium, it is hardly ever a good idea to change the fundamental building blocks of the original.
We DO want another Fantastic Four movie. But does this version deserve another chance, or would it be best to let the franchise idle again and give a new filmmaker a clean slate to work with?
We’ll see.
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved, Rapid Reviews and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
The 20 Best Superhero Movie Posters
Top Photo: 20th Century Fox
The 20 Best Superhero Movie Posters
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3 Dev Adam
Also known as That Turkish Ripoff Film Where Captain America and El Santo Team Up to Fight Evil Spider-Man. The film is at least 70 times more spectacular than anything cooked up by Disney, and this poster reflects that.
Image: Tual Film Arsel
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Ant Man
To assure viewers that Ant-Man was tied in the The Avengers series, the marketers released a series of posters showing our tiny, tiny hero to scale with his future teammates.
Image: Disney
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Batman (1966)
Camp was the word of the day in 1966, and this is still perhaps the most enjoyable Batman film of them all.
Image: 20th Century Fox
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Batman (1989)
It may be difficult to describe just how huge Tim Burton's 1989 film really was back in the day. To tease us, the posters only displayed the Batman logo.
Image: Warner Bros.
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Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
In its own personal continuity, the animated Batman feature had an appropriately stylized poster.
Image: Warner Bros.
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Batman Returns
While there have been numerous iterations of Catwoman over the years, this single image has become the defining image of the character in the minds of many.
Image: Warner Bros.
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Although the film has been largely panned, it cannot be denied that these street art renditions of the two title heroes are pretty cool.
Image: Warner Bros.
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Darkman
Sam Raimi's over-the-top vigilante movie came from the era of hand-painted posters, when they all looked way cooler.
Image: Universal
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Deadpool
The snarky, self-aware superhero comedy film faked you out with these Nicholas Sparks-inspired romance posters. Surprise! It's an R-rated comedy!
Image: 20th Century Fox
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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
The best thing about Ghost Rider is the way he looks like a living tattoo. This poster highlights that to an amazing degree.
Image: Columbia
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Guardians of the Galaxy
Although it is just a few glory shots of the team, a graphic designer thought to add some color. It certainly catches the eye.
Image: Disney
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Hellboy
This poster, painted by the legendary Drew Struzan, wasn't used in the U.S. Our loss, I suppose.
Image: Columbia
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Mystery Men
One of the funniest of all superhero movies, the clever Mystery Men took not-too-impressive superheroes (like The Shoveler and The Spleen) and made them look epic.
Image: Universal
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Spider-Man 3
Non-fans see a moral conflict. Fans see a glimpse of an evil alien blob that takes the form of a costume. Either way, good choice.
Image: 20th Century Fox
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Supergirl
Often jeered, this goofy Superman spinoff has a poster that outdoes most of its peers.
Image: TriStar Pictures
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Superman III
This hand-painted poster was only used in international markets, but the images and the colors translate all over the world.
Image: Warner Bros.
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The Amazing Spider-Man
No one asked for this reboot, but this image did lend an air of mystery to a story we already knew from a few years before.
Image: 20th Century Fox
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The Dark Knight
The kid gloves are off, and buildings got blowed up. The image became iconic. Question: Did Batman burn that building in a bat shape, or did the Joker do it to discredit Batman? I always saw it as the latter.
Image: Warner Bros.
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The Shadow
I loved how shiny and glossy blockbuster posters were in the '80s and '90s. This image became a logo for the film, and the colors are still unique to this day.
Image: Universal
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X-Men: Days of Future Past
X-Men 7 was when they started to mess around with alternate timelines in earnest, and the posters let us see the overlap.
Image: 20th Century Fox