It's fair to say that 2015's Fant4stic was not what fans were expecting, with Chronicle director Josh Trank serving up a rather dark and uneven take on Marvel's iconic first family. Still, rumours of a follow up have swirled in the wake of its release, with a sequel once pencilled in for a 2017 release.
With that date now firmly in the rearview mirror and a Marvel Studios led reboot on the cards, the likelihood of a true sequel is obvioulsy somewhere between slim and none. However during last night's Oscar Special telethon, actor and HEI Network president Tim Heidecker (Ant-Man and The Wasp, Fant4stic), asked Josh where exactly things stand.
"Josh what's next for you, we've been talking about sequels tonight, are you on board for a FANT4STIC sequel?," Heidecker asked the director. "When are we gonna see the FANT4STIC sequel?"
Trank replied, "Umm... well look y'know, in the Marvel multiverse of it all, I'd say sure maybe in another dimension, another Josh he's working on a Fantastic 4 sequel, starring Tim Heidecker. In this dimension, I'm currently not"
This sounds like a deafening blow to fans of the original, however it's interesting to note that Heidecker's small yet pivotal role of Reed Richards step-father from the first film would factor into plans for a sequel.
Acknowledging that the studio would have a tricky time marketing such a project, Heidecker then joked:
"It must be hard for these folks who make these decisions, for instance you got Fantastic 4, big hit. But then the studio says 'how do we make a sequel to this, with 4 at the end of the movie', you can't call it Fantastic 42."
Let us know what you make of Trank's comments the usual place!