Did Fantastic Four Bring In Another Director For Reshoots?

You probably heard the rumors about the tumultuous making-of process of Fantastic Four; director Josh Trank and writer/producer Simon Kinberg were said to have butted heads on numerous ocassions, which reportedly influenced Trank leaving his Star Wars standalone film. But just how bad did things get? New rumors hit the airwaves recently suggesting that another director was brought in to handle the reshoots of the film, though Trank almost immediately denounced them.

The rumors, originating from Superhero News and agreggated by Comic Book Movie, suggested that Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman: The Secret Service) was brought in to oversee the Fantastic Four reshoots instead of the actual director. Trank, however, went on Twitter to directly address these allegations with the outlets.

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Superhero News also stated that Fantastic Four went into reshoots in light of poor test screenings, and that the studio repurposed its budget for a 3D release in order to fund these reshoots and improve the story. Trank, too, denied any truth to these rumors.

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Twentieth Century Fox continues to have a difficult time marketing the Fantastic Four reboot to fans, mostly due to the original films starring Chris Evans and Jessica Alba. Their poor reception tainted this new rework, even before the first trailer debuted, and since then it's been an uphill battle. Michael B. Jordan, who plays Johnny Storm/Human Torch, recently wrote an open letter to all the haters of the film, stating that it's okay to like it.

The first of a planned series of films (Fantastic Four 2 is already scheduled for June 9, 2017) also stars Miles Teller as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Toby Kebbell as Victor Domashev/Doctor Doom. When these five young minds discover the key to interdimensional travel, their trip changes their genetic make-up, granting them superhuman abillities. Depending on who you ask, the first footage from the handful of trailers and TV spots looks like a darker and more interesting take on Marvel's first family, though there are still a number of doubters waiting to tear this film apart if given the chance.

This isn't the first superhero movie to undergo intense scrutiny by the fans, though it does have a number of elements already working against it. The casting of Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck as their respective Batmans, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and Heath Ledger as The Joker, to name a few, were all initially met harsh criticism by comic book fundamentalists. Keaton and Ledger are now widely praised for their performances, and the first looks at the other two have already changed minds. Let's not automatically pass judgement on Fantastic Four when we've only been offered brief glimpses into what's in store.

Fantastic Four hits theaters on August 7.