Ever since he launched Ant-Man onto the big screen several years ago, Peyton Reed has always flirted with the idea of developing a Fantastic Four movie of his own.
Should the stars align, said film would bring Marvel’s First Family into the 1960s, where they become part of the fabric that makes up New York City. It’s an awesome pitch, and it seems it may now materialize – and soon. According to a new report from Geeks WorldWide, the studio is looking to reboot the Fantastic Four in time for 2022, when Kevin Feige and co. will launch the beloved heroes into theaters and hope for a better outcome than their last few outings.
Meanwhile, MCU Cosmic backs up these claims and says that the project is a high priority for Marvel due to the fact that the property means a lot to them, given that they were Stan Lee’s first superhero creation. And the best part? Apparently there’s already a director attached: Peyton Reed, along with his 1960s pitch.
Unfortunately, no casting was mentioned in either report, but if true, we imagine things will heat up soon. And if Reed is indeed the one who’ll be calling the shots, that’s certainly good news. After all, he’s already shown that he has a firm grasp on the property and understands why the last few FF movies failed.
“Fantastic Four in the comics was always the pinnacle of Marvel, the crown jewel–they were the first family of Marvel Comics,” Reed said a few years ago. “The two existing [film] versions did massive pendulum swings from each other. One was very pitched toward younger kids and very broad, and the second was a much darker version of it. I just personally feel like they have not gotten the tone right. And man, it’s a bummer. I think the tone has got to be one of optimism, and you’ve got to take it seriously.”
Whether it’s Reed at the helm or not, it’ll certainly be a tough task to get things right. After all, the Fantastic Four have a pretty unfortunate track record when it comes to film adaptations, from the officially unreleased 1994 version, to the 2015 box office disaster that director Josh Trank probably wishes went unreleased. Though now that the group is finally home and where they belong, maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to get the FF movie we deserve.