As everyone in the comic book world knows, 20th Century Fox has been mostly crappy when it comes to making CBMs. They’ve brought us X-Men and X2: X-Men United, both commonly considered some of the best in the genre, while every other comic film they’ve made - Fantastic Four, Rise Of The Silver Surfer, Daredevil, Elektra, and especially X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine - have all consistently been ranked in various lists of some of the worst CBMs ever created. However, it seems like they might be ready to bring us more of what we want in the near future.
First up, we have the just released X-Men: First Class - a film that was bashed from conception, but now many are going as far as to say it’s one of the best CBMs ever made (if not the best). Other than the first two X-Men films, First Class is the only CBM by Fox that hasn’t been bashed by the thousands. Why’s that? Perhaps Fox is actually serious about making some decent CBMs.
Below will consist of upcoming/planned CBMs to be released by Fox in the near future.
Perhaps the first post-First Class CBM to be released will be The Wolverine, which was originally slated for a mid/late 2012 release but due to director Darren Aronofsky’s departure, the release is currently unknown (it might be released in 2013 for all we know). Hugh Jackman (and apparently others behind the work on the film) has stated that the script is great. Either they’re just messing with us (which won’t be the first time), or they actually mean it. Let’s see, Aronofsky came on board AFTER the script was finished, right? If the script was crappy, then why would Aronofsky, an experienced and well-received director, be interested in the project? Also, Hugh Jackman has stated that they’ll ONLY allow a director as good as Aronofsky (if not better) to direct The Wolverine. I’m hesitant in this, but perhaps we should actually give this film a chance. It does sound pretty promising and (hopefully) they’ll bring in a good director for the project.
Another project that’s been anticipated is Deadpool, with Ryan Reynolds attached to star. It’s been said that the film will be a complete reboot from the character displayed in Origins: Wolverine, and it’d be a ‘hard R’ and done right. There’s also the leaked script that fan boys have been raving about, but whether or not that will be the script used for the film is unknown. There’s been some concern about visual artist Tim Miller (who’s worked on the effects of both of Bryan Singer’s X-Men films) directing this, as it will be his directorial debut, but I guess we’ll have to see about his directorial skills before totally judging. Also, it’s been said that filming should start within a year or so, so hopefully we’ll get some casting news and stuff in the coming months.
Fox also has two reboots in development - Daredevil and Fantastic Four. Fans have clamored for a Daredevil reboot under Marvel Studios since the very mixed reception to the 2003 flick (and the subsequent spin off, Elektra…oh wait, that movie existed?), and just as it seemed like Marvel would finally get the rights back, Fox came out all of a sudden and announced a director for the reboot, David Slade. I know a lot of people questioned the idea of a Twilight director doing this film, but face it - Eclipse is probably the best of the Twilight Saga (although it isn’t saying much at all). Plus, Slade did 30 Days Of Night, and he also said on his twitter than he wanted a character-driven story for Daredevil. Looks like hiring this guy to take care of a dark character like Daredevil might’ve been a good decision on Fox’s part. More recently is the confirmation that the storyline ‘Born Again’ will be adapted into the film. As I said in a previous editorial, the ‘Born Again’ storyline sounds like a great choice for a film adaptation, and it could work as a loose continuation of the 2003 flick (much like Hulk 2003/Incredible Hulk). I’m also hoping that they do Kingpin right this time around.
Finally, we have the Fantastic Four reboot - reportedly titled Fantastic Four Reborn. As all of you CBMers, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Marvel would somehow get the rights back for F4 and do the reboot themselves. Unless Fox pulls a move identical to Daredevil, I can see the Fantastic Four film rights following the route of the Hulk and The Punisher - having a film (or two or three!) be released to mix/negative reception and poor box office, and Marvel getting the rights back. Fox’s plans for the film are reportedly to make it with a darker tone (which seems to be done with every other big CBM these days), and (should they make the reboot) it sounds like it could be a vast improvement over their previous F4 flicks.
For their first CBM after the critically-panned X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fox hired Matthew Vaughn - an experienced director who’s directed successful films such as Kick-Ass and Stardust - to revive the X-Men franchise in a pre-boot, First Class (which, as stated before, is probably the most critically acclaimed X-Men flick to date). Could it be the first of hopefully a series of CBMs from Fox that will actually be great and that we can look forward to? Only time will tell, but for me, I’m definitely giving The Wolverine, Fantastic Four Reborn, Daredevil: Born Again, and Deadpool a chance when they come out. Hopefully they’ll be as good as Fox makes the films sound.