Harry Potter and Home Alone director Chris Columbus could have added Marvel producer to his already impressive career with the original 2005 Fantastic Four, but the filmmaker said he was fired from the project due to having too many opinions.
"I had worked on a script. There were a lot of writers involved. They were about to make a movie and I was producing it. I met with the director and had some ideas. I basically said, ‘Some of this conceptual art should feel more like Jack Kirby, the creator of the Fantastic Four, and should feel more like the Silver Age of Marvel,'" explained Columbus on the Fade to Black podcast. "I left that meeting and on the way back from my house, I got a call from the head of 20th Century Fox saying I was fired and had too much of an opinion."
Starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis, Fantastic Four acts as an origin story, introducing Marvel’s first family to the big screen. But the 2005 movie couldn't have felt any less comic book-esque, with the film adapting that unforgettable early ‘00s superhero movie style with dark and trendy settings, and sleek super suits.
Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing’s dark navy, almost black suits were a far cry from the four’s royal blue outfits in Kirby’s colourful comics. This seemed to be the trend at the time, with the first set of X-Men movies also ditching the original vibrant outfits from Marvel comics. Who could ever forget those black leather catsuits donned by every mutant in the movie?
However, it seems as though Columbus was ahead of his time, as now many superhero movies seem to be adapting that classic comic book style. This year, Marvel’s new first family was introduced to the MCU in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which pays tribute to creator Jack Kirby in more ways than one. Set in a retro-futuristic ‘60s, the vibrant movie features many details from the comics, including lighter and brighter suits.
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