For better or worse, 20th Century Fox is still moving ahead with Fantastic Four 2. That’s what all the latest intel is telling us, and we just have to accept it, no matter how big of a flop the first film was. With the stage already set, it seems as though the sequel will pose its own set of challenges to whomever directs it.
Hitfix recently published an analysis of the entire Fantastical situation, claiming that the sequel was happening. According to their sources, a few details were confirmed: (1) Fantastic Four 2 is still in the works, (2) it may not make its original release date of June 9, 2017, and (3) this is Trank’s world that we’re living in. Drew McWeeny wrote:
The next filmmaker in is going to start from a difficult position, and they're going to have to work hard to create their own movie while starting with some of Trank's choices intact. For better or worse, Trank was given room to define these characters, and his signature will remain on the next film no matter who writes and directs it. The next movie will be a reaction to this one.
So, let’s recap where we are at the end of Fantastic Four -- be wary of SPOILERS.
This film was a bit more "dark and gritty" than the first run of films; our heroes got their abilities from traveling to the Negative Zone Planet Zero, instead of cosmic radiation in space; these characters are a lot younger than they’re classically depicted; they are given their own facility in a remote location to conduct their work; Doctor Doom was zapped through his inter-dimensional gateway; and Tim Blake Nelson’s character, who was pegged as the man to become Mole Man, is gone.
It doesn’t sound like the most appealing project to work on, especially since you already have to adhere to the rules that have been put into place by a different director, but there’s some wiggle room here. As we learned from Trank himself (and other reports with off-the-record sources), there were a lot of scenes cut from the film. We saw a piece of b-roll, for instance, that featured Reed Richards’ infamous Fantasti-car; and his character’s relationship with Sue Storm never came to fruition with a romance for the ages. So there’s at least two points that can make it into the sequel. And, if you really think about it, how much character development was actually going on in this film? Not a whole lot. So there’s also room to stretch these characters to their limits. Pun intended.
Another plus for the future director of the sequel? The cast: Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Miles Teller and Jamie Bell. Unfortunately, Fantastic Four is still in theaters, so we’ll have to endure talk of this first attempt for a little while longer.
