When looking at something this mediocre, it’s hard not to pick away.
by Shimbo
For some time now, the upcoming reboot of Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four has been an issue of great debate. From the mysterious storyline to the eclectic casting choices, which included Michael B. Jordan and Kate Mara as a now interracial brother/sister combo, something that your humble host wrote about at length in an article last year for Bleeding Cool.
One year later, we finally have a teaser for this summer’s release of the latest attempt to restart the comic book franchise for Fox. After hearing numerous reports about production issues (in fact the film is currently undergoing reshoots in Romania) there wasn’t much hope that this iteration of the beloved comic would be any better than the previous two.
As of this morning, we finally have an initial look at director Josh Trank’s vision of Fantastic Four.
While it’s extremely difficult to accurately judge a two-hour film based on two minutes for cut together footage for a film that’s still in production, the first take away is that Fantastic Four has a dark, dour look that is reminiscent of 1998’s Lost In Space.
What these two seem to have in common is that they rebooted source material that is relatively light into something far darker than it ever should be. In a recent interview, Trank stated he wanted his film to have a different feel.
“I’m a huge David Cronenberg fan, and I always viewed Fantastic Four and the kind of weirdness that happens to these characters and how they’re transformed to really fall in line more with a Cronenberg-ian science fiction tale of something horrible happening to your body and [it] transforming out of control. And the potential for a hard sci-fi take on that material makes me really excited. I don’t really see that kind of potential and that kind of take being implemented on any of the other superhero movies that seem to be coming out in the next few years.”
Looking at the trailer, the Cronenberg influence is certainly there, the question at this point is, “Should it be?”
We’ll find out for sure when Fantastic Four opens in theaters on August 7.
Hashim R. Hathaway (Uncle Shimbo) is the host of the Never Daunted Radio Network, and proud father to NeverDaunted.Net. You can reach him on Twitter @NeverDauntedNet