5. The Director
Chronicle was one of the best "superhero" movies released in 2012, no easy feat when it came out in the same year as The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Amazing Spider-Man DREDD. Considering the fact that it was a found footage movie and made on a budget the fraction of most comic book movies, Josh Trank did wonders! The final battle was up there with the one between Superman and General Zod in Man of Steel, and it was a great looking movie which wasn't held back by the fact that what we were seeing was supposed to be through a video camera. Trank's grounded and realistic portrayal of superpowers was particularly interesting, something which should have you excited for how he handles the Fantastic Four's unique abilities on the big screen. If you need proof of Trank's skills, look at the performance he got out of Dane DeHaan and then compare that to what Marc Webb got out of him in a similar role in The Amazing Spider-Man 2!
4. The Cast
I'll admit to not being 100% sold on Miles Teller, but he's receiving rave reviews for his performance in Whiplash and a number of other recent roles, so he more than deserves a chance. Kate Mara is a perfect choice for the strong willed Susan Storm (see House of Cards for proof of that), and should help to quickly wash away the bad taste left by Jessica Alba's gormless version. Jamie Bell is another actor who is known for some solid performances, and it should be interesting to see how well he's able to portay the tragic case of Ben Grimm, The Thing. Then there's Michael B. Jordan, a casting decision which has caused a great deal of controversy. Why? Because he's not white. What a sad state of affairs in 2014, eh? He's a tremendous actor, 'Nuff said. The most exciting casting choice though has to be Toby Kebbell as Doctor Doom. The British thesp is going to be a huge star, and you MUST check him out in the superb and demented Black Mirror! (now on Netflix in the UK and US)
3. A Fresh Interpretation
As of right now, we know little to nothing about The Fantastic Four. However, what we do know has upset a lot of fans. It's understandable too, especially with all this talk of containment suits and Victor Von Doom (Latverian dictator Doctor Doom) being transformed into Victor Domashev (blogger Doom). Is any of that really so terrible? Is the team getting "containment suits" - which will likely just look like their normal costumes, minus the "4" logo like in the first arc of the Ultimate comics - all that different to Hawkeye's S.H.I.E.L.D. duds or Captain America's classic suit being turned into a USO outfit? Yes and no, but let's wait and see before writing them off! The same goes for Doom. It's admittedly a drastically different interpretation, but anything is better than what we got in the previous films, and there's a lot more to Doom than just being a dictator. He's grown stale in the comic books as of late, so a new take could be exactly what the doctor ordered.
2. The Writer
Look, there's no denying the fact that Simon Kinberg played a role in royally f***ing up "The Phoenix Saga" in X-Men: The Last Stand. He's admitted as such. However, the writer has done great things with franchises like Sherlock Holmes and Star Wars (he's worked on both Star Wars Rebels and one of the mysterious spinoffs), and this year's X-Men: Days of Future Past. Kinberg is no Kevin Feige, but he seems to care about these characters, and that alone should be reason enough to trust him with The Fantastic Four to at least some extent. It may not have been all that much like the comic book of the same name, but X-Men: Days of Future Past was a smart movie which navigated time travel in a smart way and told a satisfying tale for lead characters like Wolverine, Mystique, Charles Xavier, and Magneto. Hopefully he can do the same for this classic foursome, updating the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby creations for a modern audience and fanboys.
1. The Future
Perhaps we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, but the opportunities for the future that The Fantastic Four presents are massive. Based on comments from those involved with the project and the few details we do know, the team will gain their powers the same way they did in the Ultimate line of comic books through the opening of a portal to the Negative Zone. Comic book fans will already know which iconic villains that opens the door to in future instalments, and a reboot obviously also means we could see someone like Galactus done properly as well. A new series of Fantastic Four movies also means that the possibility for a crossover between them and the X-Men is now very real, something which recently released "Sony Hack" emails revealed is indeed being planned. That's a movie which has the potential to be as big as the first meeting between The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, and another reason to be excited for this reboot!