Toby Kebbell Expresses FANTASTIC FOUR Frustrations; Says Josh Trank Cut A "Great" Film We'll Never See
Much of the blame for the mess that was Fantastic Four has been laid at the feet of director Josh Trank, but comments from Warcraft star Toby Kebbell (Doctor Doom) shed some new light on things...
If he wanted, Toby Kebbell could easily throw Fantastic Four director Josh Trank under the bus, especially as the majority of the movie's issues have been blamed on the "troubled" filmmaker. However, could it be interference from Fox and producer Simon Kinberg (who has talked a lot lately about the franchise needing a lighter tone) be the ones at fault for what went wrong with the reboot?
"I tell you, the honest truth is [Trank] did cut a great film that you’ll never see," the actor revealed in a recent interview with The Daily Beast. "That is a shame. A much darker version, and you’ll never see it." B-Roll footage showed off the Fantasticar, while early trailers did point to a much darker tone than the generic blockbuster territory the heavily reshot second half of the movie had upon release.
Kebbell then went on to reveal that he didn't take part in those reshoots and that a sequence featuring Victor Von Doom's (a.k.a. Victor Domashev) horrific transformtion into Doctor Doom ended up being cut altogether . "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! I missed the press tour for 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."
Fantastic Four was never going to be the comic book accurate film most fans hoped for, but it does seem like it could have still been great given the chance. We'll probably never get the full story on what went wrong with this one, but you can't deny it would be interesting to see Trank's first cut...