What If- 'Fantastic Four'

Last month I did the first of my 'what if' articles where I look at potential film ideas that almost happened, could possibly happen or existing films that need better treatment. This is the second installment of 'what if' (you can read the first one here) and in this post I will be looking at the superhero team, The Fantastic Four. The Fantastic Four are known as Marvel's first family and consist of Mr. Fantastic, The Human Torch, The Invisible Woman and The Thing. The team are iconic members of the Marvel universe yet when it comes to cinematic adaptations, they are not so successful. The first attempt at bringing them to the big screen was in 1994 with The Fantastic Four, the film was completed, a trailer was released and the cast went on a promotional tour however it was never officially released. Eleven years later another attempt was made with 20th Century Fox' Fantastic Four which was not so bad. I enjoyed this film and felt it really captured the family aspect of the team, however it didn't do much justice for its bad guy Doctor Doom. Its sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer was disappointing and with last years reboot 'FantFourStic' being a flop, Marvel's first family have seen better days. So what if a good Fantastic Four film was made? Well here's how I think it would go.

First of all I think in order for it to be good, the film rights to the characters should revert back to Marvel Studios (sorry Fox) as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been thriving in the past few years. Secondly, I don't think it should be an origin story. There are too many origin stories in the superhero genre these days so I think to make this film stand out it shouldn't be an origin story. So how would the four fit into the MCU? Here's how I see it:

The Plot

In the comics, the four gain their powers after being blasted with cosmic rays during a space mission. In this version, the four would be a team of astronauts sent on a space mission after the events of Avengers Assemble which would make sense considering there was just an alien invasion. The four go on an ambitious mission into space before being blasted by cosmic rays and crash landing back on earth, realising their powers several days later. The initial space accident will be shown in a dream sequence by Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in the opening scene before getting into the action.

For the events to take place it would need to be during a time of weakness in The Avengers so that they are not available during the events. With films such as Captain America: Civil War and the Infinity War movies it's safe to say that there will be a huge fracture in the team to come. So that's where the four come in, but where have they been till now? Well the way I see it is that during their brief existence they have been residing in the Baxter Building under the supervision of Dr. Franklin Storm. He believes they need to learn to control their powers before using them and has kept their conditions a secret since the accident. So what calls them into action all of a sudden?

Why Doctor Doom of course! Doom is the primary antagonist of the team and the cruel ruler of the fictional country of Latveria. In this version, Doom would be essentially that, a leader of rebels who overthrow the current rulers of the war torn Latveria and take over. To the citizens of the country, Doom would be a hero but to the rest of the world he is a threat. After coming to power, Doom would go all Iron Man 3 on America, threatening it and condemning it etc. and after he launches an attack on somewhere in America, the president decides to react. But oh wait? The Avengers have split, who you gonna call?

Reed Richards recognises Doom as his former college friend Victor Von Doom. Richards prompts the other three to take action, to be sent to Latveria to combat Doom, however Franklin Storm is reluctant. Eventually he agrees and the team are sent to combat Doom. So that's the basic premise, the four head to stop Doom who is building superweapons or whatever evil villains do, and at some point someone says 'fantastic four'. It's not exactly original but I think it could work.

The Cast

Reed Richards/ Mr Fantastic: The super stretchy team leader and intellectual powerhouse would be played by Matthew Gray Gubler. The lanky actor has shown that he is used to playing intelligent characters and also looks the part so I think he would be a good choice.

Sue Storm/ Invisible Woman: Reed's lover and matriarch of the four would be played by Jessica Chastain. She is a talented actor who is used to playing strong female roles and I believe she would excel as Sue Storm.

Johnny Storm/ Human Torch: The comic relief and ladies man of the team would be a perfect role for Garrett Hedlund. The actor has shown that he can play charming and humorous characters like Johnny and I believe he would make a good human torch.

Ben Grimm/ Thing: A hulking character who is slightly unhinged but at heart he is really a sweet guy. I think Tom Hardy would be brilliant as Thing as he as all the qualities needed to play such a complex character, along with having the build for it.

Victor Von Doom/ Doctor Doom: This is something that the films still have not gotten right but I think a good actor for the role would be Andrew Scott. Scott has become well known for his role as the villainous Moriarty in Sherlock so if he could channel some of that into the role of Doom I think he would make a formidable foe.

Franklin Storm: Sue and Johnny's dad who looks after the team. I think a veteran actor would be good for the role, someone like Martin Sheen or even Henry Winkler would make a good Franklin Storm.

So those are just my thoughts on the matter, maybe someday we will get a good Fantastic Four adaptation and maybe Marvel Studios will get the rights to the characters back but until then I like to think this is what the film would look like. I will have more 'what if' next month but until then I'll be talking Twin Peaks and Oscars in the coming weeks so stay tuned!