It shouldn't be hard to make a Fantastic Four movie. The comics have been around for many decades. But Disney decided that they needed to use one of the "modern" editions, with a female Silver Surfer. Yes, she was in the comics, for an eyeblink. That series lived for about 4 or so editions, before being canceled. Weeks, versus decades.
I'm begining to believe that Disney just hates money. Fantastic Four: First Steps Undergoing Reshoots Nearly 2 Months Before Release — Alarming Sign of Trouble for Film That Was Supposed to Save the MCU
Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps is entering dangerous territory with late stage reshoots just months before it hits the big screen. With two and a half months until its scheduled July 25, 2025 release date, the highly publicized Marvel reboot is currently undergoing filming once again in Los Angeles—and for many, this echos a familiar disaster for Marvel studios and Disney.
That "familiar disaster" is Captain America: Brave New World, which was released in February. Even Disney Marvel admitted will not break even. And their break-even point, is based on a shooting budget that no one believes, but that is another story. That movie will lose a ton of money.
If you are reshooting things at this point, literally weeks before the scheduled release, it is NOT because you missed some bit of coverage. It is because there is something really wrong with the film, and you are trying to fix it. You should have fixed any problems when the script was being written. You do that by a process that is called PreVis. It is how most effects-heavy movies were made before Marvel decided they could do no wrong. (Pride goes before a fall.)
Now Fantastic Four is showing the same symptoms through these late stage reshoots. While we can’t be sure how extensive these reshoots are, it’s still troubling that this late in the game the studio is still filming.
This is an issue, but honesty forces me to say that I have no interest in this movie. I used to love Marvel movies, in the days before Disney took it over. I would see the movies in the theater, usually at a matinee to save some cash, but then I would rent the video from Hollywood Video or Blockbuster later to watch all of the behind-the-scenes snippets. But I dropped out of that a long way back. Marvel stopped being about characters, and stories, and heroes, and it has become all about virtue signaling, and special effects. Special effects are good, when done well, but they cannot carry a movie.
I will probably see the movie at some point. They usually show up on DVD at my library eventually, or a friend wants to stream it from Amazon/Netflix/Wherever, though I don't think anyone has Disney+, unless someone has a free sub via their cellphone plan.
Also the cast of Fantastic Four, in various interviews, have told us that the movie will explore "gender politics," which everyone takes to mean that Sue Storm is the star of the movie, and the actor playing Johnny Storm has said that his hot-headed, womanizing, brash ways are not in the movie. He obviously doesn't understand the character of Johnny Storm.
Anyway, there is more at That Park Place. If you're interested in movies, or at least have nostalgia for the age when movies were good, read the article linked above.
If you doubt that the old Marvel movies were about character, Watch Sam Raimi's first two Spider-Man films from 2002, and 2004. Spider-Man 2 includes a love story, a classic revenge arc, the hero doubting himself, and more. In the original Iron Man movie staring Robert Downey Jr., we go from disliking Tony Stark to rooting for him, even if there are more than a few cliches about Businessmen are Bad.
Not all of them were good, of course. 2003's Hulk, directed by Ang Lee is incoherent to the point it is not watchable. And most of them could be 20 minutes shorter than they are. But the more Disney got involved, the more everything turned to shit.
