It's been months since 2015's Fantastic Four failed at the box office, and Josh Trank's assertion that he cut a superior version of the film that audiences will never see is a big reason why talk still persists about what might have been. The latest actor to chime in on the discussion is Toby Kebbell - who played iconic Marvel villain Doctor Doom in the movie - and the actor defended Trank's statement.
"I tell you, the honest truth is [Trank] did cut a great film that you’ll never see", Kebbell told The Daily Beast. "That is a shame. A much darker version, and you’ll never see it".
Additionally, while it's no secret that Fantastic Four had a lot of reshoots - as evidenced by Kate Mara's wig(s) throughout the movie - it sounds like Kebbell may not have been present for them; "Unfortunately, I played Doom in three points: Walking down a corridor, killing the doctor and getting into the time machine, and lying on the bench. They were the only times I played Doom. Everything else was some other guy, on some other day… doing some other thing. I was infuriated that he was allowed to limp like that!"
There was a big sequence that Kebbell was very much involved in, but it was left on the cutting room floor; “I missed the press tour for [Dawn of the] Planet of the Apes because I was lying under rubble, slowly rising out of the ashes to be Doctor Doom. Never made it to the film! There are always frustrations with these tent poles. But it generally comes from the script changing, sadly enough. But I’m very proud of my work. I’m also just as heartbroken as the fans are".
When you add these comments to the B-roll footage of the movie - which shows the film at one point included the fantasticar, among other things - the studio meddling narrative becomes harder to ignore. Indeed, from the moment 'One Year Later' appears on the screen it's as if someone other than Trank is calling the shots. This makes me very curious to see what the director's original cut might have looked like, but we won't be seeing it any time soon.
Directed by Josh Trank (and others), and starring Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, and Toby Kebbell, Fantastic Four is now available to own on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Images: 20th Century Fox
