After years of being out of Marvel’s grasp, the Fantastic Four will finally, officially and fully, be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the July 25th release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. In anticipation of the film, we have decided to look back at the other Fantastic Four movies that have been made (not counting Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness or Deadpool & Wolverine, which did feature Reed Richards and Johnny Storm cameos, but weren’t “Fantastic Four movies”) to put together a list of Fantastic Four Movies Ranked. And yes, we will be updating this list after The Fantastic Four: First Steps is released. In the meantime, let’s look at the other four F4 movies, ranked from worst to best:
FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)
The ‘94 film is the one executives tried to bury, but the making of the 2015 Fantastic Four was such a horrible mess, maybe Fox should have just scrapped it and used it for a $120 million tax write-off, Warner Bros. style. The differing opinions behind the scenes are apparent in the finished movie, where the more traditional comic book movie sensibilities of screenwriter Jeremy Slater and writer/producer Simon Kinberg come through in the first half, while director Josh Trank’s wrong-headed attempt to turn the F4 concept into something darker (he mentioned the David Cronenberg films Scanners and The Fly as sources of inspiration) is more apparent in the second half.
The first half kind of works, with young genius Reed Richards (Miles Teller) being recruited straight out of a high school science fair to work on something called the Quantum Gate for Professor Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) of the Baxter Foundation. As Reed works alongside scientist Sue Storm (Kate Mara), troublemaking engineer Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan), and moody genius Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell) in an effort to crack interdimensional travel, it makes for a serviceable updated version of the origin story, influenced by the Ultimate comics. Although why Trank and the producers felt it was necessary to waste 50 minutes of a 100 minute movie on another retelling of the origin story is beyond me. It’s when Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Doom, accompanied by Reed’s childhood friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell), use the Quantum Gate to travel to a world called Planet Zero and the characters gain powers that everything falls apart.
The second half of Fant4stic is dark and dour, with a dash of body horror being followed by a stretch of time spent with a bunch of unhappy people and a scheming Tim Blake Nelson (as a government scientist), until we get a climactic sequence involving a horrendous version of Dr. Doom: Victor, fused with his space suit, blasting people with telekinetic powers.
Those last 50 minutes are (aside from 7 merciful minutes of end credits) awful, verging on unwatchable. Trank has said that he made a “fantastic” version of this movie that was then brought down by studio tampering, but it’s difficult to imagine that some of these ideas ever could have been part of something good.
FANTASTIC FOUR (2005)
Marvel executive Avi Arad was able to get a big-budget Fantastic Four movie set up at a major studio (Fox) pretty quickly after getting the ‘94 movie scrapped, but then it took nearly ten years to get the project pushed through development hell. It ended up being directed by Tim Story, with Mark Frost and Michael France taking credit for the screenplay… and the finished film feels oddly small, despite the large budget. There’s really not a whole lot going on in this movie.
The lead characters (Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Susan Storm, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm, and the late Julian McMahon as Victor von Doom) have made it into space within the first 10 minutes and the cosmic cloud that alters their DNA has hit their space station by the 15 minute mark. You might think the movie is getting the origin story out of the way early on so it can get to some big action and adventure, but that’s not the way it goes. The next hour of the film simply consists of Reed, Susan, Johnny, and Ben dealing with the powers the cloud has given them while Doom gradually reveals himself to be the villain of the film. He has also been affected by the cosmic cloud, developing a metal-like covering on his skin and the ability to produce electricity. Because, for some reason, the bigger budgeted takes on Fantastic Four were very resistant to the idea that he could just be a disfigured man who decides to wear a suit of armor.
The best thing about the movie is the way it handles Ben Grimm, with Chiklis continuing to play the character inside the Thing costume and prosthetics. He is, understandably, disturbed by his new appearance – and so is his fiancée Debbie (Laurie Holden), who dumps him when he comes back into her life. Going to a bar to drown his sorrows, Ben crosses paths with a blind woman named Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington), and the interactions between them are actually pretty sweet.
Aside from a sequence where the heroes use their powers to deal with (and inadvertently cause) a series of mishaps on a bridge, there’s nothing particularly exciting to be found during the middle stretch of the film. There’s just some talking, experimenting, Johnny showboating, and Ben trying to find his way in the world. Sure, Victor kills somebody in a quick moment, but he doesn’t fully emerge as the villain until late in the 105 minute running time. Just in time for the Fantastic Four to come together and defeat him in a few minutes. Yep, this movie has Dr. Doom, one of the most popular and powerful villains in Marvel Comics history, and he’s punked out by the Fantastic Four in the course of just one short fight scene.
Avi Arad got the big budget Fantastic Four movie that he wanted to put out into the world, but it certainly didn’t take full advantage of the concept, nor did it do all of the characters justice. It’s not terrible, but it feels a bit lazy and half-hearted.
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (2007)
Satisfied with the box office of the 2005 Fantastic Four, Fox hired director Tim Story to return to the helm for a sequel, working from a screenplay crafted by Mark Frost, Don Payne, and John Turman, with Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and Chris Evans reprising the roles of Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm. The result was another film that still feels smaller and less impactful than it should have, despite having a larger budget to work with.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer does have bigger and more plentiful action sequences than its predecessor, which makes it an enjoyable ride for a good stretch of the shockingly short 92 minute running time. With the origin story out of the way and the Fantastic Four established as a superhero team, Story was able to bring more excitement into this one, while also increasing the comedy element. The first movie hadn’t been very serious, but Rise of the Silver Surfer boosts the comedy element even higher. There are some really goofy moments in this one, and some comedic moments derived from the fact that, after an encounter with the Silver Surfer, Johnny starts accidentally swapping powers with other members of the Fantastic Four. So we get Johnny turning invisible while Susan bursts into flame, or Johnny taking on Ben’s stone-like Thing appearance while Ben gains his ability to create and control fire.
Brought to the screen through the physical performance of Doug Jones and the voice of Laurence Fishburne, the Silver Surfer is the herald of
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds – and if you were disappointed by the way Doom was handled the first time around, you’ll be appalled to see how the planet-eating Galactus is presented in this one. Doom (Julian McMahon) even returns and drops himself into the middle of the Silver Surfer situation, coming off slightly better in this movie than he did in the first one, but it doesn’t count for a lot when the movie is making such a spectacular waste of Galactus.
It’s in the final third when things get really disappointing and off-putting, as it’s revealed that this movie’s version of Galactus is just a large, cosmic cloud. Not a cosmic entity with a human-like form who can change size, as Galactus is in the comic books. Just a cloud! And, even with Dr. Doom also in the picture and causing trouble, this Galactus turns out to be a fairly simple threat to thwart.
In the end, I would still say that Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is somewhat more entertaining the first movie, largely because there’s more action, but its treatment of Galactus is unforgivable.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR (1994)
The 1994 version of The Fantastic Four has a story behind it that’s more interesting than anything that happens on screen. Producer Bernd Eichinger acquired the property’s film rights from Marvel in the mid-1980s, but couldn’t get any of the major studios to put up the 40 to 45 million dollar budget required to make a proper Fantastic Four movie. So he turned to legendary B-movie maker Roger Corman, who gave him a budget of $1 million and a production schedule of around three weeks. Filming started just three days before Eichinger would have lost the rights at the end of ‘92. Marketing began in ‘93, and when Marvel executive Avi Arad heard that a Fantastic Four movie had been tossed together quickly and cheaply, he was concerned that it would harm the brand. So he paid Eichinger and Corman off to make sure they would never release it. But bootlegs quickly started circulating, and The Fantastic Four might be the most widely available “unreleased” movie to ever exist. And against all odds, given the low budget and short production schedule, it’s actually not that bad. It’s not great, but it’s surprisingly good, despite being incredibly cheesy at times.
Director Oley Sassone and the cast and crew did the best they could under the circumstances, with screenwriters Craig J. Nevius and Kevin Rock telling an origin story that involves a limited amount of expensive displays of power (but did require a lot of screen time for The Thing, who looks pretty good, considering the budget). The effects don’t fall apart until Johnny goes full Human Torch in the climactic sequence.
Alex Hyde-White makes for a fine Reed Richards, with Michael Bailey Smith and Carl Ciarfalio doing solid work as Ben Grimm. Rebecca Staab’s Susan Storm is too milquetoast and Jay Underwood’s Johnny a bit too over-the-top annoying at times (which is pretty much to be expected), but they get the job done. There are some awkward plot elements, the “romance” between Ben and sculptor Alicia Masters (Kat Green) comes off in a ridiculous way, and the tone of the scenes involving the villain The Jeweler (Ian Trigger) – a stand-in for Mole Man – can be cringe-inducing… but Joseph Culp’s Victor Von Doom / Dr. Doom is a great presentation of the character. He’s played almost perfectly and even has disposable “Doombot” lackeys.
Given how short some of the big budget versions of Fantastic Four have fallen, it’s impressive to see just how close this low budget movie came to getting it right. Somehow, the unreleased cheapie is the best Fantastic Four movie we’ve gotten so far.