It seems hard to believe now, but there was a time when people were (whisper it) genuinely excited about Josh Trank's Fantastic Four. The director was coming off the excellent Chronicle, and he had assembled an excellent cast that included, among others, Toby Kebbell as Victor Von Doom.
Unfortunately the movie was a crushing disappointment, and fans have given no quarter in sharing just how disappointed they were. Speaking with IGN at Blizzcon, Kebbell himself has weighed in on the film's negative reception: "I was disappointed, but the fans aren’t wrong. The fans want what they want to see and if they don’t get satisfaction, they let you know. I appreciate that as a performer."
The actor also went on to say that he did learn some valuable lessons while shooting the film: "I don’t know if I learned anything from [playing] Doom, apart from, perhaps, when I see something I don’t agree with, to voice that immediately. I think it’s vitally important that if there’s a problem on set, that it’s voiced and we solve it there and I think that collaboration is very important. Not to say that didn’t happen on set, but the collaboration is vital and if we don’t do that, then we suffer."
It's a shame that filmmakers haven't been able to figure out how to best adapt Fantastic Four to the big screen. There's so much potential in the property, and during the current golden age of superhero movies it was doubly shocking that the latest attempt at a reboot failed so miserably. Maybe its time for Marvel's first family to go home? Fantastic Four will be available to own on DVD and Blu-Ray on December 14 2015.
