20th Century Fox has finally released the trailer for their latest “Fantastic Four” movie. Starring Mile Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, and Toby Kebbell, “Fanstastic Four” ages the group down their twenties.
From Fox:
FANTASTIC FOUR, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel”s original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.
The Good:
• Sue Storm looks like a capable scientist, à la her Ultimate universe iteration.
• Eagle-eyed Collider readers found an Easter Egg that points to Latveria.
• Ben Grimm looks orange as The Thing.
The What?:
• Johnny Storm has exhaust vents on his costume. I can already hear them tying this to his love of muscle cars from earlier in the trailer.
• This feels like a trailer for Christopher Nolans” “Interstellar” sequel. It”s got corn, it”s got weird alien worlds, it”s got stasis pods, it”s even got a dramatic score.
• Why does Grimm have his name painted on the side of his house like it”s his summer camp underwear?
It”s interesting how word of mouth can color reaction to a trailer release. Before seeing a single frame of this “Fantastic Four” film, we knew that Doctor Doom origin story might involve being an angry hacker, and rumors had been swirling about problems on the set.
The teaser goes light on plot, which is totally normal for a teaser. But with all the consternation over the direction of this reboot, this standard operating procedure for a first look at a summer blockbuster feels like an attempt to hide the massive flaws while the crew does reshoots. Maybe “Fantastic Four” will be awesome. I WANT it to be awesome. But maybe it”s the train wreck we all think it is.
We”ll find out August 7, 2015.