Kate Mara Reveals The One Good Thing To Come Out Of "Messy Experience" Making 2015's FANTASTIC FOUR

Kate Mara Reveals The One Good Thing To Come Out Of "Messy Experience" Making 2015's FANTASTIC FOUR

2015's Fantastic Four was a disaster, but Invisible Woman actor Kate Mara has shared the one good thing to come out of the "messy experience" that saw her "trauma [bond]" with now-husband, Jamie Bell.

By JoshWilding - Sep 09, 2025 08:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Fantastic Four

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. 

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MR
MR - 9/9/2025, 8:51 AM
This website is just a dumping ground for unnecessary information. It’s such a lazy place. It could be so much better but they just wanna be in the swamp.
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 9/9/2025, 8:55 AM
@MR - You must be new here.

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It's 2025 and this is the internet. It's best to keep your expectations low.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 9/9/2025, 9:06 AM
@MR - User generated site, if you feel you can write better articles give it a shot as others have :D
BlueSkies33
BlueSkies33 - 9/9/2025, 8:57 AM
Awww. you guys, it's a cute, happy romantic story. Hopefully the rest of your day is just as happy :D
TheVisionary27
TheVisionary27 - 9/9/2025, 9:02 AM
@BlueSkies33 - I’m having the worse day ever lol.
BlueSkies33
BlueSkies33 - 9/9/2025, 9:25 AM
@TheVisionary27 - Yikes! Hopefully this site is a good distraction anyway. Stay strong, CBM friend!
LenSpiderman
LenSpiderman - 9/9/2025, 10:51 AM
@TheVisionary27 - just remember… it can always be worse.
narrow290
narrow290 - 9/9/2025, 1:24 PM
@TheVisionary27 - hope it gets better
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/9/2025, 9:01 AM
I haven’t read the article and I can already tell that this one good thing was her meeting her husband Jamie Bell considering they met on the set of that film…

It was Ultimate Ben & Sue come to life!!.

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Anyway , Fant4stic was a dud but she and the others did as best they could with what they had so I hope that we do get her in a cbm again one day.
TheNewYorkerr
TheNewYorkerr - 9/9/2025, 9:07 AM
I don’t know to read anything other than the headline. I know the one thing was a paycheck.
UltimaRex
UltimaRex - 9/9/2025, 9:23 AM
So happy for them.

Now, let's never mention it again.

Paul is single again.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/9/2025, 10:21 AM
If they ever need a Ben Reilly or Kaine to Tom Holland's Peter Parker, Jamie Bell would be perfect casting
MrDandy
MrDandy - 9/9/2025, 10:57 AM
I would have thought the best thing would be her realizing she needed to fire her agent. I guess finding a husband is good too.
DianaGohan
DianaGohan - 9/9/2025, 11:28 AM
Isn't that what Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively said about the Green Lantern movie? That's where they met and started a relationship but yeah otherwise hated the shoot and knew the film itself wasn't very good? So I guess FF 2015 joins that camp. Which technically for awhile was also the 2003 Daredevil camp as yeah that's where Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner first got together and started a relationship... albeit that one didn't technically last but the two apparently are still sort of friends.
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 9/9/2025, 1:06 PM
At least she admits it, unlike Ryan Reynolds who always shits on Green Lantern even though that movie is the reason why he's with Blake Lively and has a family.
SummersEssex
SummersEssex - 9/9/2025, 1:33 PM
Pretty sure the paycheck was something good to come out of it...

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