We are in the Fantastic Four era right now! Due to our excitement for the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps, we revisited previous films. After working The Uncanny Experience and taking a day off to recover, we found the 1994 Roger Corman Fantastic Four on YouTube. This jump started a journey of lackluster writing, questionable characters and an odd fondness for two films.

Since 1994, we have had 1 unreleased low budget adaptation, 3 major studios releases and a documentary on the low budget adaptation. The Fantastic Four on screen is definitely a story of mishaps and what ifs! Stan Lee famously stated his disdain for the Roger Corman produced film in 1994. In this film the fantastic four is played by the following, Alex Hyde White as Reed Richards, Rebecca Staab as Sue Storm, Jay Underwood as Johnny Storm, and Michael Bailey Smith as Ben Grimm (Carl Ciarfalio as The Thing). Its hard to really review this film as it does feel like a made for TV movie and when watching the bootleg on youtube, its easy to see the lack of budget. However, I highly recommend checking out the documentary Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four. This documentary captures the actors passion for the film and how the studio used them to keep the rights to the franchise. It’s more entertaining than the unreleased film and even provides a different perspective while watching the film.

Every ten years, we get an adaptation of Marvel’s First Family. In 2005, Tim Story of Barbershop fame would direct Fantastic Four. In this adaptation, the Fantastic Four are played by Ioan Gruffud as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm. The film would be followed by a sequel in 2007, Fantastic Four: The Rise of Silver Surfer. Which despite negative reviews. The film felt like it course corrected with certain characters and felt like a true adaptation. I believe these films were financially successful due to their cast with standout performances by Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis. The addition of Silver Surfer in the sequel voiced by Laurence Fishburne adds a compelling character to the franchise. However, the characterizations of Dr. Doom and Galactus ultimately killed the franchise. Come on, Galactus was a damn cloud. That being said this version of the Fantastic Four would prove to be the best characterization we had for 20 years.

Before Marvel Studios could get the rights to the characters, Fox Studios gave the franchise one more attempt. This attempt not only failed, it damn near destroyed any interest in the characters for a decade. Coming off his impressive debut with Chronicle, Josh Trank was signed on to direct a new take on the Fantastic Four. A gritty origin story that would slide nicely into the Snyderverse, if it was a DC film. This film gave us a young cast of up and coming actors much like the film a decade before. The casting maybe a great case of what if? Miles Teller as Reed Richards, Kate Mara as Sue Storm, Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm, and Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm. All of these actors have proven they can carry a film and be amazing in other roles.Especially Michael B. Jordan in Black Panther, that would only come out a few years after this film. This film suffers from so much that its a difficult watch with a lot of meme worthy moments. Besides the memes the film generated, its forgettable and that may be the worst thing for a superhero film. Michael B. Jordan is the best part of the movie and we barely get to see him as a true Johnny Storm. In a weird way, this feels like the 1994 film, feels like it was only made to keep the rights.

Revisiting all of these adaptations, there was something that each film struggled with one thing. Doctor Doom! The film that closely understood the character was the Roger Corman film. However Robert Culp’s performance as the villain can come off as soap opera and over the top. The late Julian McMahon plays Victor Von Doom in 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2007’s Fantastic Four: The Rise of Silver Surfer. The script in both films hinders McMahon performance as nothing more than a Norman Osborn ripoff. In the 2015 Fantastic Four, the talented Toby Kebbell had the opportunity to play the villain and the portrayal misses the mark by a mile. The Victor Von Doom comes off more as a horror villain for the last 20 minutes. I know some people are disappointed that Robert Downey Jr. will be playing Victor Von Doom in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, however I believe that it may just be the best version of the character we may see.

As we all get ready for Fantastic Four: The First Steps, it may be best to skip all of the Fantastic Four films and go in with a clean slate. I am envious of those that will experience Fantastic Four for the first time with the love and care of Matt Shakman and Kevin Feige. Growing up I watch the Tim Story films often and loved Chris Evans as Johnny Storm. Now that I have spent the last 15 years reading comics and getting more familiar with the characters. These older films are difficult to get through. I cannot wait to watch Fantastic Four: The First Steps on July 25th to finally see a true version of Marvel’s first family.