Marvel Studios producer takes a subtle shot at the accuracy of previous ‘Fantastic Four’ movies

There are plenty of iconic characters to have been done an injustice or two in live-action, but few have suffered quite as badly as the never-ending procession of Fantastic Four movies that have never even come close to replicating the titular team’s lofty status among the pantheon of superheroes.

The first adaptation was only made to hold onto the rights and never even scored an official release, while Tim Story’s 2005 blockbuster and sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer could be described as relentlessly mediocre at a push. The less said about Josh Trank’s abominable Fant4stic the better, meaning the bar is very low for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s reboot to clear.

All director Matt Shakman has to do is deliver a competent and slightly above average film to secure the title of best Fantastic Four flick ever, but producer Stephen Broussard went one further in an interview with ScreenRant and criticized the comic accuracy of the previous iterations, even if he’s got a point.

“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.”

Nobody wanted to see Galactus portrayed as an angry cloud, that’s for sure, and there were plenty of bugbears longtime readers and Marvel aficionados had with every Fantastic Four feature so far. We’ve got confidence in the MCU to right those wrongs, though, even if setting a new benchmark isn’t going to be a particularly difficult task.