Producer Says MCU's Fantastic Four Will Embrace The Comics More Than 2005 Film

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Marvel Studios producer Stephen Broussard explains what Marvel has learned over the past twenty years with the MCU that will set Marvel's Fantastic Four apart from Fox's 2005 Fantastic Four. The Fantastic Four is one of the most important superhero teams in Marvel Comics, but they have yet to find success on the big screen. The MCU is an opportunity to change that and has laid the groundwork for a more comic-accurate adaptation, potentially making them the next flagship team after the original Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.

In an exclusive interview with **** about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Broussard also broke down how Marvel's Fantastic Four will be different from the 2005 Fantastic Four movie. He discussed the founding principles of Marvel Studios movies all the way back to the start of the MCU with Iron Man. Broussard also explained how the landscape of superhero movies has changed and what Marvel has learned in the past twenty years that they can apply to Marvel's Fantastic Four.

You've worked with Kevin Feige on Marvel projects, even before the MCU, with Spider-Man 3 and 2005’s Fantastic Four. We've got a new Fantastic Four movie coming out 20 years later. What has Marvel learned in that time that will set this version apart from the 2005 version?
 

 

Stephen Broussard: That's a good question. I wouldn't presume to know everything about that film; I'm not necessarily working on it. But one of the founding principles of Marvel, going back to Iron Man and the casting of Tony that I think has resonated through today, is to embrace the source material and these comics that have been around forever. They're older than me, and I'm guessing they're older than you too. They've been around for a while for a reason, [so we] lean into that.

I think the world has changed a little bit, people understand that now. But in 2005, maybe there was a reticence to fully embrace what it was. In everything; in the embodiment of Galactus and things like that. Whatever form the story takes, whatever characters do or do not appear, that founding principle will be embraced and will welcome them into the MCU.

How The MCU's Fantastic Four Can Learn From Fox's Fantastic Four Movies
 

 

Although Broussard stayed tight-lipped on details, what he did say bodes well for the highly anticipated MCU Fantastic Four movie. In the past twenty years, the superhero genre has become one of the biggest genres in movies and television, with the massive box office success of the MCU being an integral part of that. By building credibility with their financial and critical success and reacquiring the rights to The Fantastic Four and X-Men characters Marvel Studios is in a position to bring them to the big screen in a way that fully embraces every element of the beloved comics.

Kevin Feige has confirmed that Marvel's Fantastic Four will not be an origin movie, already setting it apart from two of the past adaptations. Fox's 2005 adaptation did not fully lean into everything both amazing and bizarre about The Fantastic Four and their corner of Marvel. Marvel Studios has an opportunity to do just that while also making them the next tentpole heroes after the loss of the original Avengers team in Endgame and the upcoming swan song of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel's Fantastic Four has the benefit of twenty years of evolution in the superhero genre, which means a deeper understanding of these adaptations, better CGI, and, with the MCU, an interconnected multiverse.

Marvel Studios can dig into each of these unique characters more thoroughly with an understanding of how to balance movies built around teams. Marvel has also learned the importance of establishing and fleshing out iconic villains. So far, the Earth-based heroes and cosmic heroes of Marvel have been fairly separate, although this will likely change with The Marvels. Marvel's Fantastic Four could set the stage for them to become the primary team protecting both Earth and the Cosmos in a way Marvel has yet to fully explore.