Made during the superhero boom of 2000s cinema, especially in the wake of the successful X-Men franchise, came the Fox Fantastic Four movies. Despite a big-name cast and some actually pretty fun ideas… these movies are not good.
After Disney acquired Fox Studios in 2019, they added the full back catalog of Fox’s comic book film adaptations, including the Tim Storey Fantastic Four films, to their streaming service Disney Plus. These movies, alongside the X-Men films, were categorized under the Marvel Legacy banner.
Out of nowhere, however, Disney removed both Fantastic Four (2005) and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) on the turn of the new month of December. There hasn’t been a reason given, and curiously the even much more maligned Josh Trank-directed Fant4stic (2015) has remained available to stream.
What this means is unclear. While Marvel has confirmed its plans to reboot the superhero family, and that Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts will helm the project, there isn’t any concrete casting news. Popular rumor and fancast has seen John Krasinski (The Office, A Quiet Place) as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic with his real-life wife Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, A Quiet Place: Part Two) as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman.
Doctor Doom would be the obvious choice for the villain in any Fantastic Four project, but with the character so far 0/3 in adaptations, perhaps a different villain is the way forward. Julian McMahon and Toby Kebbell had previously portrayed the Latverian dictator, but both were severely hamstrung by wobbly writing. Maybe it’s time for the Mole Man to surface?
As for the remaining two members of The Fantastic Four, The Human Torch and The Thing, there’s been very little speculation so far on any actors up for the role. Human Torch has been played by two actors who went onto major Marvel Cinematic Universe roles, with Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan going on to play Captain America and Killmonger respectively. Both were highlights of previous attempts at The Fantastic Four.
As for why the 2000s Fantastic Four movies were removed from streaming, we can only speculate. Sound off in the comments below with your theories, and your fancasts for the upcoming Jon Watts film.
