In the wake of Fantastic Four: First Steps' release, plenty of Marvel fans have reappraised the original Fantastic Four movies from the mid-2000s. One such figure is The Thing himself, Michael Chiklis.
"There were a lot of people, I think, critically who got it wrong," Chiklis told Collider. "They really maligned our films, and they were very underrated considering… they were very loved by the audience. It was one of those cases where critics weren’t great to those films, but the audience was, and that still remains."
Chiklis added, "I’ve always sort of quietly gone like, 'Okay, say what you want to say, but the people see it.' And now all these years later, people are sort of acknowledging like, hey, these films are family-friendly, fun movies… they got a lot right. They may be imperfect, but they’re really good movies."
Upon release, 2005's Fantastic Four, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis, was savaged by reviews. It currently stands at a woeful 28% on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Its sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer, didn't fare much better at 37% – though each garnered over $300 million at the worldwide box office.
In the years since, fans have warmed up to Fantastic Four's team dynamics and slightly more cheesy comic book fare in the wake of a sprawling MCU saga that often left viewers scrambling to play catch-up.
"The mindset was that we were going to do three, and I think the second movie was equally successful as the first and equally enjoyable for the fans," Gruffudd told Vulture of previous plans to round out the Fantastic Four series with a third film.
Fantastic Four: First Steps is now showing in cinemas. For more, check out our spoiler-filled breakdown of the Fantastic Four ending and Fantastic Four post-credits scenes.
Then, discover what's next with our guides on upcoming Marvel movies and Marvel Phase 6.
