Why has there never been a good Fantastic Four film?

In this era of somnolent superhero fever, it’s hard to imagine a time when a gang of quibbling cosmic-powered vigilantes felt fresh, exciting and novel.

Cast your minds back, if you will, to 1961 – a time of space races, youthquakes and Kennedy-mania. Values and perspectives were changing at a rapid pace, propelled by growing civil unrest, counterculture and an increasingly turbulent atmosphere that swayed fervently between uncertainty and idealism. 

Meanwhile, a small cornerstone comic book company called Marvel Comics was struggling to make ends meet. Its competitor, DC Comics, had recently released a popular series called ‘Justice League of America’, in which an organisation of the world’s most powerful superheroes fought crime together. Writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby took note, then set about co-creating Marvel’s very first family: The Fantastic Four. 

A “fourtaste” of things to come

“The first Fantastic Four issue in 1961 is the first true entry of what we know as the marvel universe,” Alex Grand, author of ‘Understanding Superhero Comic Books’ tells Euronews Culture.

It focused on a crew of adventurers: scientist Reed Richards, his wife Susan Storm, her brother Johnny Storm and their pilot friend Ben Grimm. After launching into space, they find themselves caught in a cosmic storm that crashes their shuttle back down to Earth – and leaves them with superpowers. Reed’s body can suddenly bend and stretch like rubber, Johnny bursts into flames, Susan becomes invisible, while Ben transforms into a boulderous monster. 

Unlike most superheroes, The Fantastic Four never hid their identities, instead embracing a celebrity status under their chosen monikers of Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and Thing. Their family ties also meant they bickered and bonded like authentic people, each with their own vulnerabilities and strengths (an especially rare thing for female characters at the time, who were usually typified as damsels in distress). All of this tapped into a new sense of realism and relatability for the genre.

“The team’s uncertainty, especially the Thing, reflected the anxiety and uncertainty of the 1960s. That became a sensation with readers who felt the same way,” Grand explains. “This comic stood alone among Marvel’s more simple monster comics and DC’s 40s and 50s approach to the un-relatable, perfect superhero behaviour of the Justice League. The success of Fantastic Four paved the way for Spider-Man, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man and more.”

The franchise marked the dawning of a vision that would make Marvel the most popular comic book company in the world, where spectacular people and the world’s they inhabited were the same as ours, just enhanced with possibility. As Lee once said: “Marvel has always been and always will be a reflection of the world right outside our window”. 

A series of fantastic flops

Now a behemoth of box office pop culture, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) actually began with one of their least popular comic book characters: Iron Man. Yet there’s still never been a successful movie version of The Fantastic Four.

The first attempt is one that most forget – mainly because it was never officially released. Produced in the early 90s by the late, great B-movie legend Roger Corman, it was an ashcan movie – made purely to preserve license rights. Kitsch, campy and ridiculous, it’s gained somewhat of a cult status since the release of a 2015 documentary Doomed!: The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four.

20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) took the helm in 2005, releasing the commercially successful but critically panned Fantastic Four, starring Chris Evans, Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd and Michael Chiklis. This was followed up by an equally naff 2007 sequel, The Rise of the Silver Surfer, the lukewarm response to which led to any plans for a third instalment being shelved.

The final nail in the coffin seemed to be Josh Tank’s 2015 reboot, Fant4stic. Plagued by production clashes and a convoluted plot devoid of any fun or real purpose, it was nearly universally hated, leaving the franchise dormant for almost a decade. But could things finally be about to change now that Marvel’s been handed back the reins?

Last week, the first trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps was revealed, due out in July 2025 and starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Most promising is its decision to take things back to the 60s, with slick space age set design and sense of retro sitcom whimsy, reminiscent of ‘The Jetsons’.

This period setting, Grand feels, is essential for connecting modern day audiences with what made The Fantastic Four so beloved initially: “The magic of the FF has always been based in a science fiction family of the 1960s, navigating the uncertainty of the universe around them. I think previous iterations tried to make it flashy and edgy like the X-Men, and missed the mark on what makes the comic enjoyable. By setting the film in the early 1960s, it’s bringing to viewers the Jack Kirby and Stan Lee originality that made the comic successful.”

Fans online have shared similar sentiments about the film adaptations being too concerned with special effects over relationship dynamics, while others have pointed to the tone never being quite right – even trickier in an age of self-serious or sardonically self-aware superhero adaptations. “The first two films tried to make FF too cool, and Fant4stic tried to make them too serious,” a Reddit user writes. “The key to the Fantastic Four is accepting that they’re goofy as hell and rolling with it.”

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Another common criticism is the previous films’ failures in accurately depicting two of Marvel’s most complex and terrifying villains – Doctor Doom and Galactus, turning the former into a mutant and the latter a rather ludicrous-looking cloud of smoke in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. 

“They missed the mark and the look [of Galactus] completely and gave the character no on screen presence, since he spontaneously disappeared at the end of the film as soon as he appeared,” Grand says, noting that the new film looks to rectify this by taking the character back to its original comic book appearance. 

“[Doctor Doom and Galactus] both bring the threat of true status quo change. Galactus may consume our planet. Doom may actually take us all down. Both [have] relatable drives that compel us to both root for and dread them. They’re not necessarily evil, but rather hungry. Something that previous iterations on screen failed to capture in the writing.” 

Doctor Doom, a role now being taken on by Robert Downey Jr. for two upcoming Avengers films, will reportedly not appear in The Fantastic Four – yet, at least.

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Ultimately, it won’t take much for The Fantastic Four: First Steps to be considered the best adaptation so far, but for it to truly capture the original comic book’s magic and surpass a middling response, the key seems to be somewhere between simplifying the spectacle and ramping up the corny yet adventurous spirit at its heart. 

After all, it was never the superhuman abilities that warmed audiences to The Fantastic Four, but rather their comforting realness and drive to explore the universe, which spoke to a world suddenly glimpsing beyond the boundaries of possibility. 

“And Marvel said, Let there be The Fantastic Four. And there was The Fantastic Four,” Lee wrote in his introductions to each comic. “And Marvel saw The Fantastic Four. And it was good.”

Here’s hoping cinemagoers soon agree.

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