Josh Trank's Fantastic Four will be in theaters in a matter of days, and box office predictions are all over the map. No one is expecting a runaway blockbuster smash, but Fox is of course hopeful for at the very least a financial success, which seems probable.
Fox is so optimistic about the movie's prospects, it's already scheduled a sequel for 2017. While none of the filmmakers have yet commented on what the focus of a second film might be, a few members of the young cast are speculating on what they'd like to see — and who they think the team should go up against.
First up, Jamie Bell voiced an interest in seeing the Silver Surfer as the sequel's villain. Bell stars as Ben Grimm, who's transformed into the enormous, rock-skinned Thing. The actor is well aware that the previous Fantastic Four films, directed by Tim Story, already went this route.
"You can't get away from Silver Surfer," he told reporters at a recent press event. "I know chronologically speaking that was the next villain in the previous franchise, but I think Silver Surfer is cool looking." Bell was referring to the 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which starred human chameleon Doug Jones as Norrin Radd, aka the Surfer. As for what he wants for the good guys in the second flick?
"I'd like to see more of how the characters interact with each other famously from the comic," said Bell. He went on to explain that this first film, being "90 minute" origin story*, doesn't give the characters much of a chance to interact the way comic book readers are used to. "Things between me and Johnny [should] get very antagonistic. More of a blossoming love story between Reed and Sue. More of a family dynamic."
Michael B. Jordan, who stars as Johnny Storm, the hot-headed young man who gains the ability to manipulate fire as the Human Torch, had a more provocative idea for a villain.
"Namor is a cool one," he told reporters. "By far, he's the strongest mutant... It would be a pretty interesting battle — the Fantastic Four vs. Namor." Proving his geek cred, Jordan expanded on the story he'd like to see Namor involved in.
"The classic one where he's running rampant and the only way he'll stop is if he gets a kiss from Sue right in front of Reed," Jordan said, referring to Namor's longstanding infatuation with Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman (and Reed Richards' wife). "I think that would make for a good movie and storyline."
Namor is a mutant, just like the X-Men, but he's the ruler of Atlantis, a civilization beneath the sea. Fox owns the film rights to the X-Men as well, so you'd think that would be an easy match-up to arrange. Unfortunately, the Namor rights are currently tied up in legalities; Universal held the rights up until last year, and Marvel Studios is ironing out contracts and deals to regain the rights to Namor.
In either case, Fox would never be able to use Namor in a movie, so Jordan's hope is merely a pipe dream.
August 7, 2015 is when you'll be able to watch Fantastic Four on the big screen and judge for yourself if it's worthy of a sequel.
* According to Fandango, the actual running time of Fantastic Four is 1 hour, 45 minutes.
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