It’s fair to say that the Fantastic Four movie series hasn’t been plain sailing, at least compared to its comic book and animated series counterparts.
Believe it or not, before the terrible Fantastic Four movies that began in 2005, there was nearly another. The Fantastic Four was almost released in 1994 and all I can say is that it’s probably the most cheesy 90s movie ever. Move over Mortal Kombat (1995)!
Check out the trailer for the unreleased The Fantastic Four below!
On average, at least according to Rotten Tomatoes, the Fantastic Four live-action movies score between the high 20s to high 30s, which tells you all you need to know about these adaptations. However, this series hit an all-time low with Fantastic Four (2015) which scored a pitiful 9%. Many will be hoping now that Fantastic Four is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the movie franchise will have better luck. So when the next attempted reboot arrives, it will have to knock it out of the park and then some.
In recent months we’ve heard various rumours as to who will be cast in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. For example, to be cast as Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic, both Pedro Pascal and Matt Smith have been thrown into the speculative hat. As for Invisible Woman aka Susan Storm, names such as Vanessa Kirby and Mila Kunis have been mentioned.
Traditionally, one of the main characters in the Fantastic Four franchise, Silver Surfer has been male. In the 2007 movie, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer the character was voiced by Laurance Fishburne. Yet, if rumours are true, that tradition is being flipped and the Silver Surfer will apparently be played by a female, none other than Anya Taylor-Joy.
The news of Anya Taylor-Joy playing the role of Silver Surfer was first reported by industry insider DanielRPK and later by Jeff Sneider who also claimed that we can “expect to see a female Silver Surfer”. It’s also perhaps worth keeping in mind that it was DanielRPK who reported that Pedro Pascal is being considered for Mister Fantastic.
Anya Taylor-Joy is a ‘fantastic’ actress, truly. If you haven’t watched The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, go watch it. While this may initially seem like an odd casting choice, there has been a gender-swapping version of the Silver Surfer in the Marvel comics and if there’s one actress that can flip this character, at least with the movie franchise, it’s Anya Taylor-Joy.
At this time, Fantastic Four doesn’t have a solid release date but it is currently scheduled to be released in February 2025 and will be included in Phase Six of the MCU