It hasn't been a good time to be a Fantastic Four fan, as a lot of books and merchandise have been affected by the fact that Fox's film rights preclude Marvel Comics from really wanting to spend money essentially promoting their competitors. So naturally, Fox is about to get creative with their lifetime pass to make the adventures of the first family of heroism into films for as long as they want, and their latest approach is something pretty inventive. If the rumors are true, it's time to meet the kids of Reed Richards and Sue Storm.
A report has been circulating that dictates the new Fantastic Four movie will still feature Ben "The Thing" Grimm and Johnny "Human Torch" Storm, but will substitute Reed and Sue with their son and daughter, Franklin and Valeria. The big reasoning behind this switcheroo is because Fox apparently wants to start cashing in on the kid-friendly market the last Fantastic Four reboot didn't exactly corner. So along with the protagonists comes a change in tone, which aims more for the kiddos in a vein similar to The Incredibles.
The surprises don't stop there, as a previous writer/director on The Flash, Seth Grahame-Smith, is the man supposedly behind this new Fantastic Four script for Fox. But in addition to those credentials, Smith was also known as the writer who helped polish the Josh Trank reboot of Fantastic Four that didn't do so well back in 2015. While this is all rumor, courtesy of a trusted Bleeding Cool source, it does seem like something that Fox would do in order to keep their stake in the franchise.
So long as Fox makes Fantastic Four movies, they're allowed to keep the rights to the film franchise. With their gritty reboot earning poor reviews two summers ago, and the comic movie market still skewing mostly towards children, this could be a sound move towards diversifying their comic film portfolio. Of course, seeing as we've invoked the name of The Incredibles, there's a chance that Disney's sequel slated for release next summer may take a bite out of the potential market for Seth Grahame-Smith's possible project.
With Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige being very hot and cold about any possible talks to work with Fox on a Fantastic Four film, it looks like this rumored project may just be the reason why we won't be seeing an MCU reboot any time soon. As soon as we hear anything definitive about the Fantastic Four rumors we've reported here, you'll be the first to know. In the meantime, The Incredibles 2 will be in theaters on June 15, 2018, while the last Fantastic Four reboot is still available on Blu-ray and DVD, in case you're curious.
