Hell, just get Hugh Laurie in there. He can do an emotionally constipated American with a doctorate like nobody’s business.
Gotta be someone significantly younger. I would have gone with Penn Badgley. Glen Howerton as an outlier.
Regarding Jessica Alba as Sue Storm-Richards, if we were forced to use one of the “eye candy” actresses from around that time, and someone in that age range, I would have preferred Elisha Cuthbert,who is one year younger than Alba. And, personally, I think she’s a better actress, and more of a visual fit for Invisible Woman.
Nope - He’ll always be Bertie Wooster.
Haven’t read the entire thread so forgive me if this has already been broached but WHY do you think all of the F4 movies were such flops? I mean the premise and popularity of the comic is comparable to lots of others in the Marvel universe, so why does failure so consistently plague this particular comic when it comes to film adaptations?
The first one with Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis did quite alright for a pre MCU era. It wasn’t a massive hit, but it also didn’t have the MCU’s “billion dollar box office or bust” expectations.
I think the first two attempts also mis-understood Reed’s super-power. It’s not that he’s stretchy - it’s that he has a really big brain.
Judging by all the scenes with Reed at a blackboard, and only one brief moment where he is stretching, this one seems to get it.
I actually liked the first one with Alex Hyde-White, Rebecca Staab, Jay Underwood and Michael Bailey Smith/Carl Cairfalio (as Ben Grimm/The Thing).
The after-credits scene in Thunderbolts* implied as much.
“Implied is understating it.
The ‘05 one, which debuted at #1, grossed more than triple its budget, which I can’t say about THOR or CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER.
Yes, it certainly didn’t flop. It was good enough for a sequel at least. And while that sequel wasn’t quite as financially lucrative, it still grossed over $300M worldwide on a budget somewhere between $120-$130M.
Speculation from me on why there wasn't a 3rd movie
I suspect that one of the reasons why there wasn’t a third film was because much of the money the second film made came in its first week, and dropped sharply afterward, suggesting that the whole thing had run out of steam and it probably wasn’t worth it to try for another entry. Plus, the third Spider-Man film debuted the same year as the second FF movie (2007) and while it made a ton of movie, there was a lot of backlash from it, and that might have been seen as a cautionary tale to not try to push things too far.
Now, its legacy is a negative one. Most people don’t look back fondly on it. The MCU started with Iron Man which premiered right after the FF films and the totality of what the MCU became sort of revolutionized the superhero film genre (and probably film as a whole, for better or worse). The Fantastic Four movie of 2005 and Rise of the Silver Surfer two years later came out just before the MCU, and kind of suffer in comparison. Not to mention, Chris Evans became a huge star based on playing Steve Rogers in multiple films, and when people look back at how shallow his Johnny Storm character was in the FF movies, it just looks bad.
And critical response to both films was not good. The first film has a 28% aggregate approval rating based on reviews. The second film did better with a 38%, as it was considered to be an improvement, but that’s still not something that’s going to get a lot of respect. The movies were designed to make money and they did, with lots of action, big special effect budgets, and some big stars, as well as tapping into the preexisting fandom from those who enjoyed the comic books. But people don’t look back very favorably on them.
I think that over time, people remember the films as a turd. When they weren’t, they were more like a ham sandwich compared to the MCU which is a steak dinner.
Amen to that, brother.
Gotta say, that very perception made for a clever Deadpool&Wolverine gag.
Yup, and I was fooled when I saw that scene for the first time. 
They cheated, they added red to his costume!
This doesn’t really fit here (or anywhere else), but it seemed too cool not to share. Tiki-inspired Galactus cosplay as you’ve never seen it:
That’s hilarious. The little earth between his teeth is cracking me up.
Galactiki, Cracker of Worlds
Coincidentally, I’ve had this shirt for years.
