Josh Trank Could Direct The Fantastic Four Reboot

20th Century Fox seems to have directors lined up for their current Marvel projects. Those names include James Marigold (The Wolverine), David Slade (Daredevil), Tim Miller (Deadpool) and possibly Matthew Vaughn for the First Class sequel. The one film that has been in limbo for years is their Fantastic FourShowBlitz reports the studio is strongly considering Chronicle director Josh Trank for the new film. They are just waiting to see how critics and audiences react to Chronicle before making an official offer. The micro-budget superhero indie is gathering a lot of buzz and is expected become very successful. The studio has to make a new movie soon because the rights will eventually revert back to Marvel if they don't. reboot.


I just hope that Fox does for Fantastic Four what they did for X-Men First Class. Hiring aspiring talent and seasoned actors to fill roles instead of flavors of the week. The spandex costumes could also use a massive overhaul. The studio also holds the rights to a slew of other Marvel characters such as Doctor Doom, Galactus, Silver Surfer, Super Skrull, Ronan and Blastaar. Fox has a real chance to make Fantastic Four the cosmic adventure film that Green Lantern aspired wanted to be.

Writers Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz Want A Crack At Fantastic Four

Fantastic Four is one of the most popular and recognizable Marvel properties. The comics themselves introduced us to Silver Surfer, Galactius, Rama-Tut (Kang The Conqueror) and Doctor Doom (one of the greatest villains in comics). So it's puzzling how three attempts to make a decent film has ended up in ethier disaster (Roger Corman's version) or average at best. Fox is giving the foursome one more shot before the rights revert back to Marvel/Disney. The relaunch has been stuck in development limbo for years now and it's status has yet to be updated.

Screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (via ComicBookMovie) think they have a way to reinvent the characters while keeping the fantastical aspect of the comics intact. Miller and Stentz are best known for their work on Thor as well as writing credits for X-Men First Class.They believe the Fantastic Four reboot  should be playing up the cosmic aspect of the comics.


"We would absolutely love to reboot the Fantastic Four. There is a franchise that's crying out for it. The Fantastic Four are adventurers, not superheroes, and we have not seen that so far.

"It should all be about venturing into the unknown, space, the Negative Zone, the Microverse. They are explorers. It should be Star Wars meets superheroes."


I have to agree with them as Thor and Green Lantern seem to be proving that science fiction can be included in the superhero genre. Considering they get their powers in space and a majority of their villains are aliens this makes a lot of sense. With Fox's massive success with Avatar they should understand the power of a space adventure spectacle. It would be interesting to see a Fantastic Four film on the edge of Star Trek and Star Wars. The studio doesn't seem to be revamping their recent comic properties without thinking things through. First Class brought the X-Men series back to it's roots while The Wolverine, Daredevil and Deadpool are expected to be on the nose faithful reinventions. Hopefully they will go the same route with Fantastic Four and putting the time into giving fans a solid film.

James Gunn Open To Making A Marvel Film, Could It Be Deadpool?

LatinoReview was able to speak with James Gunn while he was promoting Super. They posed the question if Gunn would ever consider making a film based on a Marvel character.

"Yeah, I mean there's a lot of things that I would like to do and I've even talked to people about it. I've had discussions with Marvel, even from the beginning of the career. I remember being offered to write 'Fantastic Four' ten years ago or some that I didn't do. If something inspired me I would.


"A lot of things I'm attracted to may not be may not be the most popular superheroes in the world and so it's just a matter of finding the right project. But I would do it if it was something that inspired me. You never know, some morning I could wake up with an idea in my head for anything and it could be a western, a comedy, a superhero movie, a melodrama and that's what will take me over for that day.


"I don't think my next movie is going to be an ultra-low budget movie like 'Super,' but I don't think -- I love doing it, I'm happy I did it, but if I do it again for another year I think it might kill me. So I think I'm going to do something with a little bit of a bigger budget, more of an entertaining pop-show and that's what I plan on doing next."

The interesting part of this whole thing is that Fox had interest in him writing Fantastic Four. I would be inclined to believe he could be hinting at the Fantastic Four reboot. That project has yet to announce either a writer or direct and Gunn is a double package. I'd also be in the mind set if Fox is indeed looking for a comedy director to make Deadpool Gunn would be an excellent choice. There has also been talk of the studio making a film based on Taskmaster with Joe Carnahan (A-Team, Smokin' Aces) attached to direct. He's a super villain who has amazing photographic muscle memory and can mimic any fighting techniques just by witnessing them.

20th Century Fox has recently embraced more artistic directors for their superhero films. Hiring James Gunn for any of them would be a step in the right direction wether it's a reboot, new hero or a spin-off. There have been rumblings of Fox trying to have all their new Marvel films set in the same universe similar to what Marvel Studios has done with their superhero films.

Fox Wants Bruce Willis For Fantastic Four Reboot

CBM has another exciting tidbit for the new Fantastic Four reboot. They've heard from their studio source at 20th Century Fox that an offer has gone out to Bruce Willis. He would voice the fully CGI character the Thing and would stand in for the brief Ben Grimm scenes in the opening credits. Hopefully Fox is using the Incredible Hulk as an influence for the reboot. It seems like they're ditching the Thing's suit and taking the series in a more serious direction. I've mentioned I'd love to see Willis play the new Ben Grimm (The Thing), so I'm excited for the possibility.

Fantastic Four Updates (Casting & Directors)

CMB reports 20th Century Fox is moving quickly on their Fantastic Four reboot and plans on releasing the film in the summer of 2012. They've come up with some interesting bits of casting and director choices from their studio source.


The previous rumor of Adrien Brody for Mr. Fantastic is spot on. They also report that Stephen Moyer (True Blood) is up for Dr. Doom, Alice Eve is up for The Invisible Woman and Kevin Pennington is up for The Human Torch.


Now the directors who could be hired to take on the task of the reboot. They include Joe Carnahan (Smoking Aces, A-Team), David Yates (Order of The Phoenix) and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta).

RUMOR: Brody & Heard Up For Roles In F4 Reboot?

There are rumors online suggesting that both Adrien Brody and Amber Heard could be starring in the Fantastic Four reboot.

RUMOR: Fox Developing Their Own Marvel Film Universe?

There is talk circling Twitter today (via Poni_Boy from CBM) that 20th Century Fox is considering their own Marvel film universe. This could mean that in future films we could see the X-Men/X-Force/Deadpool interacting with Daredevil, Elektra, Silver Surfer or the Fantastic Four. It would make sense since they are somewhat rebooting the X-Men franchise with First Class. There are also planned reboots of both Daredevil and Fantastic Four. Even Deadpool will get a complete character reboot in the upcoming spin-off. I'd like to think somehow Bryan Singer could be involved in creative/consulting/producing role with these projects to tie them together. The studio is flush with money from Avatar and could take a shot similar to what both Marvel Studios and possibly DC Entertainment are attempting with their own superhero universes.