The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Four sizzle reel may have only shown a placeholder logo for Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four reboot, but that was more than enough to see fans starting to get hyped for the team’s impending introduction into the world’s biggest franchise, which could be happening as soon as 2023.
It’s about time Marvel’s First Family got their due on the big screen, with their previous four efforts hardly setting the world alight. The first live-action adaptation was made in 1994 solely as a means for Constantin Film to hold onto the rights, and it was never released either theatrically or on home video, forcing Marvel Entertainment to shell out millions to get the characters back under their roof.
The most recent attempt, meanwhile, saw Josh Trank deliver one of the worst superhero blockbusters in history and almost torpedo his entire career in the process, with the filmmaker’s disastrous Fantastic Four sandwiched in between Tim Story’s painfully mediocre duology. Speaking of which, sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer is now available to stream on Disney Plus as part of the platform’s Marvel Legacy collection.
It certainly fared better than its predecessor from a critical perspective, but a 37% score on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t exactly worth shouting from the rooftops about, while it made less money at the box office after topping out at $301 million. Not including the credits, though, it doesn’t even run for 90 minutes, so there’s a modicum of brief and undemanding entertainment to be derived from Rise of the Silver Surfer. Norrid Radd is at least a welcome presence and definite highlight of the movie, even if the all-conquering Galactus is depicted as an angry cloud for whatever reason.
