Home Entertainment Director Josh Trank talks FANTASTIC FOUR, plus new pics of the cast in costume!

Director Josh Trank talks FANTASTIC FOUR, plus new pics of the cast in costume!

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When I first heard about the Fantastic Four reboot, my first response was “why?”. After all, we had already suffered through two movies that starred the first Marvel family. But then that first trailer hit for director Josh Trank’s film, and it looked surprisingly…different. And that got me curious. Speaking to Empire (via CBM), Trank revealed that he had a very specific idea for his Fantastic Four film in order to make it stand apart from the previous two films that had preceded it, with the help of producer Simon Kinberg:

“The original two films to me are very similar to a lot of recent movies that have come out, in terms of that kind of cartoonish. It’s just not something that me and Simon are interested in as storytellers.”

Which then resulted in the movie having a far different tone, that leaned towards science run amok and the consequences of such actions:

“There’s the opportunity to make something that is challenging and tragic and dramatic. The opportunity is right there in the material. We’d rather steer it in that direction as opposed to just embracing a tone that comes right off the page.”

The biggest controversy however, has been around the casting of Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. Because some hardcore fans can’t get over the idea that a fictional character who has the ability to set himself ablaze, could also be retooled to have a different skin colour that is more reflective of the mixed marriages of the world today. To which Trank had the following to say:

“I had just come off working with Michael B. Jordan and his character, Steve, in Chronicle had a lot of similar characteristics to Johnny Storm.  And I thought it would be interesting to take the family dynamic of the Storms, which is brother and sister, and bring that more into the 21st century in terms of what we consider the norm.  I have mixed family in my own family and it’s something that isn’t out of the ordinary anymore but we don’t really see it portrayed in the casual reality of the movies.  That’s something I felt that would be interesting and challenging, to have mixed siblings.”

As for Sue Storm (Kate Mara), Trank explained this his Invisible Woman would have something else going for her. Namely, actual smarts for once:

“There have always been two categories of Sue – the slutty secretary version, and this brilliant scientist version. This is a really, really smart Sue, and one that is dignified and has integrity.”

And then of course, no conversation would be complete without mentioning the Yancy Street brawler, Ben Grimm. Also known as the expert in Clobbering time, The Thing. And according to Trank, actor Jamie Bell was perfect for the role, as he embodied the best aspects of the character:

“Ben is supposed to be a smaller guy in terms of height. That idea of Ben being Reeds best friend in the archetypical way, you want that character to have warmth and strength, qualities Jamie has.”

Fantastic Four is out later this year, and I’m interested enough now to be cautiously optimistic for it. Here’s a bunch of new images of the cast in costume, to tide you over:

Fantastic Four (1) Fantastic Four (2) Fantastic Four (3) Fantastic Four (4)

 

 

Last Updated: February 27, 2015

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