Following the release of 2012's Chronicle, Josh Trank became one of Hollywood's most sought-after filmmakers. The news that he would reboot the Fantastic Four franchise was met with excitement from fans, but studio interference—and Simon Kinberg's input—doomed the movie.
When all was said and done, Fantastic Four grossed a mere $167.9 million at the worldwide box office in 2015, with Trank disowning the studio-mandated cut days before it arrived in theaters. Boasting a 9% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it remains one of the worst-reviewed comic book movies ever.
Over the years, stars Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Kate Mara, and Toby Kebbell haven't shied away from sharing their disdain for the 20th Century Fox-produced Marvel Comics adaptation.
We may never know the full story of what happened on set, but Mara, who played the Invisible Woman, has one positive takeaway from the "messy" experience.
"[Jamie Bell and I] were friends, but not; we didn’t really know each other," she recalled. "And then we made the Fantastic Four movie together, which was a really interesting experience. How rough, not a great experience."
"It was a mess. Yeah, just a messy experience, but we got to know each other on it, and I thought, oh, he’s so great. I just thought he was the best, and he was single," Mara continued. "I thought, 'God, I’ve set him up with someone. He’s the biggest catch. How is he not with someone amazing? I just didn’t know that I was the person I was looking for. It took me a year to figure that out."
"I think we were, because we were friends for so long that we were both just in our minds, like this is the relationship. And then, yeah, we fell in love on the press tour of that movie. Because it was trauma bonding," she said of their experience shooting Fantastic Four. "We just thought, 'Oh this is gonna be forever. Wonderful.' And here we are, a bunch of kids later, and yeah, it’s the best."
Mara and Bell got married in 2017, two years after Fantastic Four was released in theaters. They now have two children together, and neither actor has returned to the comic book movie realm after what they went through a decade ago.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps was released by Marvel Studios in July and has grossed over $510 million at the worldwide box office. The movie was met with positive reviews from fans and critics, and next December's Avengers: Doomsday will see the MCU First Family once again put front and centre.
You can hear more from Mara in the player below.