Re-Reviewed: 2005’s Fantastic Four was better than what came next

Marvel has a lot of classic characters and teams who have made their way to the silver screen over the years, some of them more successfully than others. Unfortunately, the Fantastic Four’s big screen offerings weren’t the most successful.

The Fantastic Four’s big screen excursions have been either mediocre or unwatchable. While the film rights rested with Fox, three terrible movies were made – two of them part of the same franchise.

While fans thought they had it bad in 2005, a reboot of the Fox franchise in 2015 would go on to show how bad things could really get. And after watching that movie, the 2005 Fantastic Four release starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans suddenly seemed a lot better in hindsight.

The Fantastic Four becomes Marvel’s first family

Created by the legendary team of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, the Fantastic Four first appeared in their own comic in November 1961. Cosmic rays gave four adventurers incredible powers, making them the top team in the Marvel Universe.

But they weren’t like other heroes. The Fantastic Four were more focused on science and research than on fighting super villains. That’s not to say that they didn’t end up fighting villains like Doctor Doom or the Mole Man but it was different with the Fantastic Four.

Doctor Doom is arguably the archenemy of the team, yet he’s almost more like family most of the time. It’s a strange, dysfunctional relationship that few heroes have with their villains outside of The Venture Bros. 

That’s what makes the Fantastic Four special. They are a group of cosmic adventurers and scientists traveling the universe with their kids who frequently work with their enemies. It’s actually a more nuanced premise than most comic books.

The big screen welcomes the Fantastic Four

The first film based on the Fantastic Four to actually make it to theaters was Fox’s 2005 film. The best-known member of the cast would have been Jessica Alba who played the Invisible Woman.

In addition to her, Ioan Gruffudd was brought in to play Mr. Fantastic while Michael Chiklis, a long time TV heavyweight, played The Thing. Chris Evans, who would go on to famously portray Captain America in the MCU, was The Human Torch.

Julian McMahon was brought in to play Doctor Doom, though at one point Nicholas Cage was reputedly attached to the project as the iconic villain. What a movie that would have been if that had actually happened. It kind of makes you sad it didn’t when you think about the possibilities.

The movie was a standard origin story, detailing how they got their powers and their first adventure as a team as they took on Doctor Doom. It wasn’t really a best-foot-forward situation for a new superhero film franchise, but it was at least watchable.

Fantastic Four (2005) wasn’t great but it could have been worse

While history hasn’t exactly been kind to the movie, it was actually a worldwide box office success. Fantastic Four did well enough that it garnered a sequel. Released in 2007, Rise of the Silver Surfer was a slightly bigger hit with critics but not with audiences.

The 2005 release was reasonably well-cast, with some great individual scenes and moments for each of the main characters. But it just didn’t hold together well as a complete story. It got bogged down in the traditional origin story nonsense, and missed some big world-building opportunities.

It might not have been the best movie but things got much worse in 2015. Fox rebooted the franchise with Fant4tastic. This film was a commercial and critical dud, made even worse by the inevitable comparisons to the much better movies of the MCU.

There was a lot of blame to share when it came to the utter failure of Fant4tastic but it sure made 2005’s Fantastic Four look a lot better by comparison. That being said, the upcoming MCU debut of Marvel’s first family will inevitably eclipse them all.

What did you think of 2005’s Fantastic Four? Let us know in the comments below!